Thoughts and Feelings
Joanna’s story 2024
Living with cancer can be difficult. There are many thoughts and feelings you may experience from the moment you go for tests, through diagnosis and treatment, to when then your treatment ends. Thoughts are words or pictures we create in our minds, which may be about the future or memories of past events. Feelings are our moods, emotions and the physical sensations that often accompany thoughts.
You may feel there is pressure on you to be "brave", "strong", or to show the world you are determined to "fight". Or you may have been told it is important you "stay positive". Not everyone finds these words, or this pressure, helpful. Tricky, painful feelings such as sadness, worry or anxiety are felt by many people as they experience cancer. They are a completely understandable reaction to a threatening situation. These feelings can come and go. For some people, these feelings can last a long time, even if it has been years since treatment has ended.
Sometimes we don't know what to do with painful feelings and our instinct may be to try and ignore them or push them away. Unfortunately this doesn't always work, and Evidence shows just how important it is to seek help should you find your self struggling with these kinds of feelings. The following emotions are often felt by people who are living with cancer. Click on them to find out more. Later in CAN-EMPOWER, you can find out how to use general coping techniques or targeted coping techniques to help with these thoughts and feelings.
Anxiety
Feeling anxious or having a sense of dread is felt by many people with cancer. Cancer can make people anxious about the impact on their future, on everyday responsibilities, jobs, family and finances. People can experience particular types of anxiety, such as social anxiety, where there may be concerns about changed appearance or worrying about what people think. Anxiety can affect people differently from a general unease to health anxieties or an anxiety disorder. Common symptoms include:
- Changes in appetite
- Feeling sick
- Difficulty sleeping
- Tension in muscles
- Tightness in chest
- Racing heart rate
- Diarrhoea
- Difficulty concentrating
- Feeling irritated
- Dry mouth
- Shortness of breath
- Feeling faint or dizzy

Fear
It is natural to feel frightened when diagnosed with cancer. Many people are scared about what will happen to them as a result of their cancer. Common fears include:
- Fear of uncertainty
- Fear of whether the treatment will work
- Fear of the side-effects of treatment
- Fear of the long-term effects of taking treatment
- Fear of what happens when treatment ends
- Fear the cancer will come back
- Fear of dying
- Fear of changes to life plans (eg work)
- Fear of the impact of cancer on others

Distress

Shock

Anger

Denial

Guilt
- doing things in their life that they think might have increased their chances
- not seeking help or noticing symptoms sooner
- taking time away from work because of treatment
- being a burden to partners, family or friends and feeling you have let them down
- their sense of role changing (e.g. not being the one others can turn to, or the one who takes care of the house or family)
- surviving cancer when others haven’t
- the amount of support your are receiving from your clinical team.

Loneliness

Loss of Sense of Self

Depression
It is normal to feel sad when diagnosed with cancer at the loss of health, control or doing the things you enjoy. However, sometimes these feelings don’t seem to go away and get in the way of your daily life. Issues associated with depression include:
- Loss interest in things
- Persistent thoughts of ‘What’s the point?’
- Withdrawing from other people
- Tearful
- Irritable
- Difficulty concentrating
- Sleeping more or less
- Eating more or less
- Persistent very low mood
- Thinking you would be better off not being around.

If you think you might be depressed, click here.
Personal development
Not all emotions related to cancer are negative. People with cancer can find the experience of cancer and its treatment teaches them new things about themselves and helps them to become stronger. Having cancer can, for example, result in a shift in life goals or a new appreciation of life. It may create a new sense of life's purpose or spark greater creativity. You can read more about these positive experiences here.
- Changes in appetite
- Feeling sick
- Difficulty sleeping
- Tension in muscles
- Tightness in chest
- Racing heart rate
- Diarrhoea
- Difficulty concentrating
- Feeling irritated
- Dry mouth
- Shortness of breath
- Feeling faint or dizzy

- Fear of uncertainty
- Fear of whether the treatment will work
- Fear of the side-effects of treatment
- Fear of the long-term effects of taking treatment
- Fear of what happens when treatment ends
- Fear the cancer will come back
- Fear of dying
- Fear of changes to life plans (eg work)
- Fear of the impact of cancer on others





- doing things in their life that they think might have increased their chances
- not seeking help or noticing symptoms sooner
- taking time away from work because of treatment
- being a burden to partners, family or friends and feeling you have let them down
- their sense of role changing (e.g. not being the one others can turn to, or the one who takes care of the house or family)
- surviving cancer when others haven’t
- the amount of support your are receiving from your clinical team.



- Loss interest in things
- Persistent thoughts of ‘What’s the point?’
- Withdrawing from other people
- Tearful
- Irritable
- Difficulty concentrating
- Sleeping more or less
- Eating more or less
- Persistent very low mood
- Thinking you would be better off not being around.
