for today’s “frozen pea friday” post on cancer, and because it’s national mental health week, i’ve interviewed someone on how she deals with the emotional effects of cancer. here’s what she says:
- i have 100% permission to have all the meltdowns i need to have (i.e. anger, crying spells)
- have a relationship with a psychotherapist whom i see regularly; that helps me remind me of self-care, putting my family in perspective and making sure i get my meltdowns
- i have buddies. we’re in a group and i strongly request my buddies corner me four times a week and get me to focus on what i want. they do it and also get me to look at the guilt monsters because guilt is huge for me
- maintain sleep, exercise and a regular eating schedule
- i get help with sleep with sleep medication
- i schedule regular meals and make sure i eat them
- i manage anxiety by being really practical and taking things that i want seriously and making steps towards them if i can’t actually do them right
- i very rarely tell myself “absolutely not!” usually it’s, “yes” or “yes, later” or “probably, later”
- i let myself care about other people, even though right now it’s “me first time”
other info on the connection between mental health and cancer:
this study suggests that people with mental health issues have a larger chance of getting certain types of cancer, and getting it at an earlier age
this site has a large section on the emotional effects of cancer. what i find most helpful about that is that it shows the many effects – seeing this in print, knowing that these feelings are normal and experienced by many can in itself be helpful.
yoga may help with breast cancer
(refracted pea image by fellow canadian ecstaticist, whose blog is here)