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Mental Health and Urothelial Bladder Cancer
Female doctor, woman of color, talking to female patient: doctor looks caring, patient looks concerned.
Finding out you have urothelial bladder cancer can be overwhelming and scary and lead to feelings of anxiety and depression.
Patient — around 55 years old — with lots of question marks around her head.
And, on top of the diagnosis itself, you may be managing other medical conditions. These additional conditions are called comorbidities.
Graphic images to represent:
Congestive heart failure
Irregular heartbeat
High blood pressure
Diabetes
Common comorbidities among people with bladder cancer include congestive heart failure, irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure and diabetes.
Patient feeling anxious and depressed
Dealing with all of these medical concerns can take an extra toll on your mental health and worsen conditions like anxiety and depression.
It’s common to feel worried and sad when you’re dealing with uncertainty and medical issues.
Images depicting:
Getting treatment (sitting in chemo chair)
Cost of care
Living with an ostomy
Looking at medical records with HCP
It can be scary and stressful to worry about all the unknowns — things like how well you’ll tolerate your treatment, the cost of your care, whether you’ll need an ostomy or not, knowing whether your cancer may come back.
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Help is available.
The good news is that help is available — and there are a variety of ways to improve your mental health.
Patient practicing mindfulness and meditation
Some of these methods can be done by yourself — like practicing mindfulness or meditation.
These next few frames portray patient going in for psychotherapy: Patient can sit on a couch and talk to psychotherapist and meet with a doctor for psychiatry, who gives the patient a prescription. Bottle of medication can be depicted as well, if appropriate.
But other methods require the assistance of mental health experts.
Talk therapy with a psychotherapist or a counselor can help you address your depression and anxiety.
Sometimes you may need to work with a psychiatrist who can prescribe medications as well.
833-ASK-4-BCA
It can also be helpful to talk to other people who’ve been through what you’re going through. So, support groups or advocacy groups like the Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network can be good resources.
It might take a combination of methods to start feeling better.
Mental health is important.
Remember: taking care of your mental health is just as important as taking care of your physical health.
Reach out to a mental health professional.
If you feel depressed or anxious, reaching out to a mental health professional is a good place to start.
For more information, please visit HealthyWomen.org
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