Anxiety

Introduction
Anxiety is a normal reaction to a cancer diagnosis. When people feel threatened, their stress level naturally goes up. Cancer can be very dangerous and so many patients become anxious. ⁽¹⁾ Symptoms include shaking, fast or irregular heartbeat and extreme levels of worry. Anxiety can occur at any and all times during caner screening, diagnosis and treatment. ⁽¹⁾About 48% of cancer patients report high levels of anxiety and 18% experience anxiety disorders. ⁽²⁾

Watch the video and find how lung cancer survivor Edward Levitt deals with the stress of living with cancer.

Importance
Patients who are unmarried and undergoing treatment are at a higher risk of suffering from anxiety. ⁽³⁾ People who have anxiety at the time of diagnosis, severe pain, lack of social support, advancing disease, and previous anxiety disorders are also at high risk to develop anxiety disorders during treatment. <^{(2) (4)} The fears associated with anxiety may cause enough mental suffering to prevent patients from performing activities normally. ⁽²⁾ Anxiety can interfere with a patients quality of life and the ability to follow through with their cancer therapy. ⁽¹⁾ Higher levels of insomnia, pain expectation, and depression may also be a result of anxiety. ^{(1) (2)}

Treatment
A patient can alleviate anxiety by learning more about their cancer, though psychological interventions and with the help of drugs. In cases in which anxiety is caused by pain, a hormone producing tumor, or side effects from medication, treating the source can relieve anxiety. ⁽⁵⁾

Click here to watch the entire interview with Ed Levitt.

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2. Stark D, Kiely M, Smith A, et al. Anxiety disorders in cancer patients: their nature, associations, and relation to quality of life. J Clin Oncol (2002) 20(14): 3137-48 [PUBMED]
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4. Green BL, Krupnick JL, Rowland JH, et al.: Trauma history as a predictor of psychologic symptoms in women with breast cancer. J Clin Oncol (2000) 18(5): 1084-93. [PUBMED]
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