Initial Reaction Following Diagnosis
Most men who find out they have prostate cancer may feel a mixture of emotions such as anger, denial, despair, anxiety, loneliness, and confusion. Then they will have to worry about a lot of things...its impact on the family expenses, work, insurance coverage, things like those.
But if you come to think of it prostate cancer is actually a slow growing cancer. It means that the cancer cells usually progress or advance so slowly that you may even die of other causes first before you even exhibit its symptoms. And when diagnosed in its early stage prostate cancer is actually 100% curable. Another reason to be hopeful for is that prostate cancer has a 100% 5-year survival rate and a 91% 10-year survival rate.
Still no matter how hard you try to convince a prostate cancer patient that a rainbow comes out after every storm, you can't control what goes through his head. Depression may set in at any time, be it after diagnosis, during treatment, or after treatment. Though usually it starts to sink in once the side effects of prostate cancer treatment start to come out.
Dealing with the Side Effects of Treatment and Their Impact
Basically the side effects depend on what kind of cancer treatment is used. Things to expect are impotence, erectile dysfunction, fatigue, hot flushes, muscle loss, and bowel dysfunction. And it's not just these they need to deal with. Their impact on the mental health of every patient could be greater.
Overcoming the Male Ego
Let's face it. Men have to feed their egos. And knowing that your performance in bed which used to have five star ratings can now only be rated as zero to one is certainly a major downfall. So you lose your self-confidence. And you get depressed over time.
So how do you deal with depression?
The best advice is to voice out your fears. Sure it's not easy for any man to tell the whole world that you're weak. But you're no superman. Even superheroes get hurt. One reason why men get depressed is that their feelings are always kept bottled up inside. So you have
Most men who find out they have prostate cancer may feel a mixture of emotions such as anger, denial, despair, anxiety, loneliness, and confusion. Then they will have to worry about a lot of things...its impact on the family expenses, work, insurance coverage, things like those.
But if you come to think of it prostate cancer is actually a slow growing cancer. It means that the cancer cells usually progress or advance so slowly that you may even die of other causes first before you even exhibit its symptoms. And when diagnosed in its early stage prostate cancer is actually 100% curable. Another reason to be hopeful for is that prostate cancer has a 100% 5-year survival rate and a 91% 10-year survival rate.
Still no matter how hard you try to convince a prostate cancer patient that a rainbow comes out after every storm, you can't control what goes through his head. Depression may set in at any time, be it after diagnosis, during treatment, or after treatment. Though usually it starts to sink in once the side effects of prostate cancer treatment start to come out.
Dealing with the Side Effects of Treatment and Their Impact
Basically the side effects depend on what kind of cancer treatment is used. Things to expect are impotence, erectile dysfunction, fatigue, hot flushes, muscle loss, and bowel dysfunction. And it's not just these they need to deal with. Their impact on the mental health of every patient could be greater.
Overcoming the Male Ego
Let's face it. Men have to feed their egos. And knowing that your performance in bed which used to have five star ratings can now only be rated as zero to one is certainly a major downfall. So you lose your self-confidence. And you get depressed over time.
So how do you deal with depression?
The best advice is to voice out your fears. Sure it's not easy for any man to tell the whole world that you're weak. But you're no superman. Even superheroes get hurt. One reason why men get depressed is that their feelings are always kept bottled up inside. So you have
