A 2015 poll conducted in the United Kingdom for Breast Cancer Care, a U.K. breast cancer charity, found that almost a fifth of women — 17 percent — who had been diagnosed with breast cancer after spotting a potential symptom waited more than a month between noticing that symptom and seeing their doctors. The poll also found that one in 20 women — 5 percent — waited more than six months, which could have potentially deadly consequences depending on the type and stage of breast cancer. With most cases of breast cancer, earlier diagnosis can lead to earlier treatment, which often means an improved outlook and higher survival rates.
So what’s preventing these people from seeking the care they need? For some it’s a lack of insurance or a lack of financial wherewithal. For others, a lack of awareness of the potential danger could also be at work. But for many more who may be fully aware of the implications of finding a lump or noticing a change in the texture of breast skin, fear is a massive stumbling block that could keep them from seeking care in a timely fashion.
[See: Breast Pain? Stop Worrying About Cancer.]
Fighting the Fear
Fear goes along with breast cancer at virtually every step of the process. From the fear of waiting for a diagnosis to the ongoing fear of recurrence that follows survivors long after they’ve completed treatment, the anxiety of what lies ahead at every turn is a very real thing. For some people, it’s also a problem right from the beginning, and a barrier that prevents them from getting routine mammograms or following up when a test shows an abnormality. This “scanxiety” may take hold before the first screening test and follow a patient for the rest of her life, cropping up before every routine procedure and causing significant distress.
In a videotaped presentation from 2013 posted on the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center website, Dr. Laura Liberman, a radiologist specializing in breast cancer and a cancer survivor herself, explains scanxiety from the unique perspective of both the doctor and the patient. In the presentation, she says as a radiologist, she noticed that when she needed more than the standard two mammogram images per breast to get a better look at something on the film, this often triggered severe anxiety in the patient, particularly those who had a history of breast cancer.
“It wasn’t until after I had experienced cancer that I realized that really, what this is, is sort of a trigger for post-traumatic stress disorder — like a war veteran might [feel] if he hears a car backfire and thinks it’s a gunshot and it reminds him of the gunshots he heard when he was fighting in the war. Sometimes, our studies or scans can trigger this post-traumatic stress disorder,” Liberman says. The unpredictability of the outcome is the issue, and it gets triggered by the knowledge that the scan could lead to bad news. So, naturally, some people get very upset or make great efforts to avoid these situations, even if it means foregoing their routine screening tests.
But skipping the scan isn’t the right solution, Liberman says. “Now, if loud noises bother you, you can try to avoid loud noises. But if you’re a woman who’s had breast cancer, it’s not a great idea to avoid your mammograms. So we have to figure out a way of dealing with this.”
In essence, figuring out a way of dealing with scanxiety is the message of a grassroots educational campaign launched earlier this month by Breastcancer.org, a national nonprofit offering information and resources about breast cancer. Founded in 2000 by Dr. Marisa C. Weiss, Breastcancer.org reaches some 20 million people annually with a wealth of up-to-date information about the disease and support resources.
[See: A Tour of Mammographic Screenings During Your Life.]
With the organization’s new campaign, ” Take the Fright Out of Breast Cancer,” the aim is to address head-on the fear that can prevent women from getting their annual screening exams and from following up after an abnormal finding. “Over the 18 years of Breastcancer.org’s history, what I have observed every single day is that this fear is often a barrier to people getting the best care possible,” Weiss says.
These fears can run the gamut from apprehension about the mammogram being painful (it usually isn’t painful, but may be uncomfortable for some women) to the dread of what it could be if a lump turns up, and even alarm about what the treatment would be and how life will change after a breast cancer diagnosis. “Because there’s such a flood of fears, that brings on a huge amount of anxiety; for many women, instead of gaining answers to a question or checking out a lump, they go the other way. They avoid the very step that could potentially save their lives.” When we react this way to fear, that gives it the upper hand and increases the chances that the very thing we fear the most will come to pass.
Weiss says the best antidote to this fear is education and having access to reliable, factual information. In the sobering light of fact, fear often takes a back seat to action as treatment options are explained and a plan of attack is developed. Weiss herself is a breast cancer survivor who knows well the fear of recurrence and how anxiety can creep up in the small hours. But by acknowledging the fear and creating an empowering campaign that combines October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Halloween seasonal activities, the “Take the Fright Out of Breast Cancer” program aims to reduce the crippling effects of fear and make “orange the new pink.”
If fear is a problem for you or it’s preventing you from getting screening or seeking follow-up care, take some time to get the facts about this disease. Talk to your doctor, a counselor or a friend or family member about your concerns. Realize that it’s OK to be afraid. But it’s also important to prevent that fear from paralyzing you.
[See: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Breast Cancer.]
Two facts that you can start with in your efforts to overcome your fears: Weiss says that “only 10 percent of breast cancers are largely due to an inherited genetic mutation, such as BRCA1 or BRCA2,” so changing key lifestyle factors such as improving your diet, getting more exercise or losing weight “can lower your risk of breast cancer by 50 percent.” And secondly, the American Cancer Society reports that the five-year relative survival rate for women with stage 0 or stage 1 breast cancer is nearly 100 percent, meaning that the earlier you get checked out and the earlier breast cancer is diagnosed, the less likely you are to die of the disease.
Certainly, breast cancer is a scary thing. But knowledge is power. Save the fear for the haunted house this Halloween and take care of yourself with routine screenings and visits to your doctor when warranted.
More from U.S. News
10 Things You Didn’t Know About Breast Cancer
A Tour of Mammographic Screenings During Your Life
Breast Pain? Stop Worrying About Cancer
Why Is Fear Such a Problem With Breast Cancer? originally appeared on usnews.com
