It's not surprising that a woman's breast cancer diagnosis can wreak as much havoc on her emotions as it does on her physical health.
Just hearing the words "you have breast cancer" is enough to make you feel like crawling into a hole and not coming back out. Mothers with breast cancer who experience bouts of depression during their diagnosis and treatment period may find that the effects reach far beyond their own psyches to those of their children.
This news is based on a study presented by University of Pittsburgh researchers and reported at the American Psychosocial Oncology Society's Fourth Annual Conference in Austin, Texas, on March 3, 2007.
While children's emotional responses to their own illnesses are well documented, this is the first study that examines the relationship between children's concerns and a mother's cancer-related depression.
"We need to think about the impact depression has on the breast cancer patient's entire family as she undergoes treatment for her cancer," states Beth R. Grabiak, M.S.N., C.R.N.P., one of the study authors.
"Well-intentioned parents may hesitate to talk openly about the disease's emotional impact in an effort to protect their children, who in turn may attempt to hide their concerns and suffer in silence. Yet, the child's anxieties never disappear. They often are manifested in other ways, such as withdrawn behavior," Grabiak said.
Most estimates suggest that nearly one quarter of women diagnosed with breast cancer have young children, meaning that as many as 100,000 children will be impacted by the diagnosis this year alone. Grabiak suggests that, while not every breast cancer patient will become depressed, health care providers who are involved in cancer treatment should look for signs of depression in their patients, too.
Unfortunately, doctors don't often take the time to ask the breast cancer patient about her children, other than how many she has. So speak up. Ask for literature for your children that is written specifically to help them cope with your diagnosis and treatment.
There are even good books to read to children as young as age four. ("Kids Speak Out About Breast Cancer" is the title of one of them). Keep your children informed of your progress, too. This isn't a time for secrets and whispering, which only promote concern and doubt in youngsters and teens.
Consider family therapy, too. Some breast centers offer cancer-counseling programs for families. Take advantage of them. Everyone will benefit, especially when your kids are older.
