Most of the cancer survivors suffer from PTSD
According to the researcher’ new review a cancer diagnosis can leave lasting psychological scars akin to those inflicted by war. It is more than decade after being told they had the disease, nearly four out of 10 cancer survivors said they have been still exhausted by symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
Those symptoms include being additional nervous, having disturbing thoughts about the cancer and its treatment, or feeling emotionally numb toward friends and family.
“Each 10th patient also has told that they avoided thinking of their cancer and one in 20 has told that they avoided situations or actions which have reminded them of the disease. This can amount to a medical problem, in addition to the psychological toll,” said lead researcher Sophia Smith from the Duke Cancer Institute in Durham, North Carolina. "You worry if the patient is refusing medical care, you worry they might not be getting follow-ups," she told. "We don't have data to support that, but we concern about it."
The review is based on 566 patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a relatively common kind of cancer that strikes about 66,000 Americans every year.
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