Coping emotionally

Most people can vividly remember how they felt when they were told they had breast cancer. Whatever your initial feelings, you may go on to experience many different emotions over time.

It is natural to be anxious when you are coping with a potentially life-threatening illness. Stress and tension can make you touchy and irritable, stop you eating and sleeping properly, make your muscles tense and your heart race. Concentrating may become difficult. Sometimes anxiety can become so overwhelming that it leads to panic attacks, causing further fear and worry.

How you feel is individual to you. There’s no list of right or wrong, good or bad feelings to have and no order you must have them in. The way you feel about your cancer and how it has affected you and your body will change over time.

Don't be afraid to ask for support from those who care about you. Talk about your feelings and try not to distance yourself from people.

For some people, meeting with others who are in a similar situation can help to decrease feelings of anxiety, isolation or fear. Our online community has proved to be a great help to people affected by breast cancer and can provide an opportunity to share your experiences and learn different ways of dealing with problems.

You may also wish to consider meeting face to face with people in a similar situation and breast cancer support groups can be found across the country. Try taking a look at our map of services to find meetings in your local area.

In the other pages in this section, we cover some of the common issues that arise. You can access this information using the navigation menu on the left hand side of this screen.