INDIANAPOLIS – For those living with the stressful reality of cancer, holidays with their emphasis on joy can be especially difficult.
“Throughout the holiday season — a tender time, a meaningful time for many people — the defenses of those living with cancer may be lowered,” says Regenstrief Institute Research Scientist Shelley Johns, PsyD. “It’s a time when many people count their blessings and think about their hopes for the future. But individuals undergoing cancer treatment or with a cancer history may not be joyful and may perceive their future as uncertain. It can be particularly difficult for them to participate in holiday cheer and engage in optimism for the new year.
“As a clinical health psychologist one of the best suggestions I make to individuals living with cancer is to practice as much self-compassion as possible. Be kind to yourself. Also, I invite family, friends, neighbors, community members and others to be kind to those undergoing treatment and to those who have completed it and are living with the fear of recurrence.”
Anxiety, depression, loneliness or other cancer-related psychosocial issues may be amplified as individuals living with cancer see or hear holiday decorations, food, song, movies, TV commercials, internet content and so much more focusing on joy and festivity when their spirits are not bright.
Individuals being treated for cancer, as well as those who have completed active treatment, may experience chronic pain and a variety of other side effects as well as concern about spread of the disease and fear of recurrence, notes Dr. Johns. As a health services researcher she explores fear of recurrence in breast cancer survivors and mechanisms for coping with this fear.
“People may try not to think about their cancer. Although you try not to think about something its still there. So, if I say to someone ‘don’t think about a purple elephant,’ it’s probably the first thing they are going to think about. Its impossible not to think about your cancer. Avoidant coping doesn’t really work well during the holidays or anytime.”
She encourages both current cancer patients and survivors to carve out as much time and energy as they have available to think about their body’s needs and to focus their energy on what is most meaningful and authentic to them in the moment – whether it be spending time with family and friends, participating in spiritual activities, exercising or whatever is feasible and comfortable to them. And then, she adds, let everybody know that this is how it’s going to be this holiday season.
Shelley A. Johns, PsyD
In addition to her role as a research scientist with the William M. Tierney Center for Health Services Research at Regenstrief Institute, Shelley A. Johns, PsyD, is a board-certified clinical health psychologist for the Eskenazi Health Palliative Care Program. Dr. Johns also serves as an associate professor of medicine and is a Walther Scholar in Psycho-Oncology at Indiana University School of Medicine. She also serves as a clinician-scientist at the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center.
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