What are the psychological effects of breast cancer on patients?

  Patients with breast cancer suffer from the removal of one breast, loss of femininity, and changes in physical appearance, thus causing significant psychological and somatic damage to the patient. Some data show that about 60% of breast cancer patients experience depressive symptoms and about 45% experience anxiety symptoms two years after surgery.  In fact, breast cancer is not as terrible as imagined, and it is completely curable with regular medical checkups, early detection and active treatment. At the same time, early stage breast cancer does not require mastectomy.  Of course, we should also realize that: the psychological disorder of breast cancer patients is a more prominent problem and there are different psychological problems in different periods: 1. Diagnosis period: most of them present high anxiety, anxiety and fear when breast cancer is suspected. After the diagnosis is clear, there are often psychological and behavioral changes such as depression, pessimism, fear, despair, anger and loss of reason, and the anxiety is further aggravated.  2. Perioperative period: fear and anxiety about surgery before surgery, psychological reaction to anesthesia (including nervousness, fearfulness, ambivalence, experience of life and death). Post-operative pain about breast loss, worry about treatment effect and prognosis, low self-esteem, depression and personality change.  3.Chemotherapy period: mainly showing anxiety about the side effects of chemotherapy, accompanied by insomnia and depression.  4.Recovery period: It mainly shows the fear of tumor recurrence and metastasis, impaired self-esteem, low self-esteem, feeling of discrimination and reduced self-worth caused by the change of breast appearance.  Therefore, for breast cancer patients, we should choose the appropriate way of informing, mobilize social support power, demonstration of recovering patients, downward comparison, verbal implication, provide real information (objective and subjective) about the disease and treatment, and carry out psychological pre-treatment to face the missing breast. To strengthen doctor-patient communication, relaxation training, encourage communication between patients (e.g. participation in patient friendship groups, yoga, tai chi, etc.), communication and emotional catharsis, life guidance, encourage patients to resume normal working life as soon as possible, introduce new medical advances and information, and give timely guidance to patients with specific psychological problems.