Lung Cancer and Anxiety: A Special Case
While anxiety is common with many forms of cancer, there are some issues unique to lung cancer that make patients particularly vulnerable.
Another widespread source of anxiety for people with NSCLC is a sense that other people blame them for their condition. “The very first thing many people say upon learning that someone has lung cancer is not ‘I’m sorry’ but ‘Did you smoke?’” says Ellen Ormond, PhD, a psychologist in the biobehavioral oncology program at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center’s Hillman Cancer Center in Pittsburgh.
Other common sources of anxiety for those with metastatic NSCLC include fear of death and fear of the unknown, says Lanie K. Francis, MD, the director of the wellness and integrative oncology program at the Hillman Cancer Center.
“Many people are also anxious about the particulars of treatment — whether they will have nausea or pain or lose their hair,” says Dr. Francis. “Concerns about finances are enormous, as is a sense that they will need to depend on others during treatment and beyond.”
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