Stress-Management Therapy Reduces Depression Among Breast Cancer Patients

Cancer’s scars aren’t just physical.

Sufferers and survivors alike must wage war on a separate front to combat the effects of depression and mental illness. As reported by Chris Weller at Medical Daily, the results of a new study find that current efforts to keep depression rates low among breast cancer patients are working. These efforts include practiced techniques and a form of therapy called cognitive-behavioral stress management. Weller explains:

Generally, they’re short-term strategies for controlling certain emotions through thoughts. But they’ve also been used to promote lasting mental health, as the techniques help people clear away the irrational assumptions and beliefs they may hold and substitute them with a clear-headed picture of the world. They also have been shown to improve physical health, as stress weakens the immune system. For people whose immunity is already compromised from prior disease, such as breast cancer survivors, maintaining lasting mental health can have whole-body effects.”

Medical advances have made surviving a bout with breast cancer much likelier today than in the past. As Weller notes, this means the number of survivors is increasing and efforts to keep that population well-balanced and healthy need to catch up.

You can access the study here.