Chemotherapy is a medical process where medicines are injected to the cancer patient’s body through various ways which reduces or stops the growth and division of cancer cells in the body for some time which helps the doctors to have a better control over the disease and relieves patients from the pain. Chemotherapy is a long process that lasts for several days depending upon the stage and severity of the disease. If you are taking the therapy in the chemotherapy day care center, you can get back home the same day which eliminates the fatigue and you can sleep on your bed comfortably.
Chemotherapy causes many side effects on the patient’s body some of which are temporary while some arise after a few years. Apart from physical impact, the patient has a huge mental impact as well which needs to be treated as well to keep them healthy both mentally as well as physically
Mental health impact on the patient
As discussed earlier, chemotherapy is a time taking process and the patient has to be admitted to the hospital times during the whole process so that they can be treated well. When the patient gets to know that he is suffering from cancer, he is completely devastated and starts to lose hopes from life and when he has to get admitted to the hospital for chemotherapy, it weakens him mentally every day. Even in a day care chemotherapy unit, a patient has to visit regularly as he goes back home after every session which leaves a huge mental impact on him seeing the doctors every day.
Apart from this, after a few sessions of chemotherapy, the patient starts to lose hair, starts to look weak, sees changes on his skin which are the common side effects of chemotherapy. Whenever he looks at himself in the mirror, he loses hope from life and starts to believe that he will not live for much longer as his body as well has started to show symptoms now. Researches have shown that all the cancer survivors have one thing common which is their positive way of looking at life and always being hopeful. If the patient starts to think negative about his life, it will be very difficult for the doctors to treat him.
Treating mental health conditions of cancer patients
It has been observed that cancer patients suffer from extreme depression and anxiety which is not good for their health and it is very important to treat it as increased stress levels might give rise to other medical conditions which should not happen. Hence a proactive approach must be followed so that cancer patients are always happy and hopeful towards their lives and give their best to come out victorious from this deadly disease. Various stress management techniques such as Yoga and meditation help patients a lot to keep themselves calm and composed during the whole chemotherapy session. Patients with severe anxiety and depression are sometimes treated with medicines as well.
Mental health impact on family members
Not only the cancer patient himself but his family members too are impacted in a big way mentally during the chemotherapy sessions. The feeling and fear of losing your loved ones is very bad and gives rise to severe anxiety, stress and depression which must be treated immediately. If the family members lose hope, the patient will not have any hopes left as well which might worsen his health. There are a variety of sessions online which helps the family members to deal firmly during the tough times. The best Oncologist in Nairobi Kenya believe that the family members and caregivers of the cancer patient must be as healthy mentally as the cancer patient himself so that they can give a very good care to the patient and enhance his life span.