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POGO > Blog > anxiety
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MY CHILD SURVIVED CANCER, SO WHY AM I DISTRESSED?

Posted on January 29, 2020 by Claire Slaughter

At 10 years old, Tyler was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer called acute myeloid leukemia. His only chance for survival was a stem cell transplant. With no full match on the horizon, his brother Jahni (a partial match) eventually became his donor. Read the full story: How Jahni Saved His Brother’s Life. 


By: Melody D

It was only five months between Tyler’s diagnosis and his last cancer treatment, but every moment during that period was so intense and foreign to anything I’d ever experienced; it actually felt like years.

When we were in the hospital, my friends and family would comment on how admirable it was that I could stay calm and strong through it all. Looking back, I really don’t know how I managed. Two years later, my anxiety is still overwhelming and at times I find it hard to cope with the normal things. For example, if my son comes home tired from school, I panic and look for other symptoms like a temperature. The thought of him going on an overnight school trip will trigger my anxiety and “what ifs”. My mind thinks of worst-case scenarios and I get overwhelmed. The post-traumatic stress is very real.

What it takes to be a “strong mom” changes when your child is a cancer survivor.

Sometimes people ask why I’m stressed—after all, Tyler is in remission and doing exceptionally well. I can’t explain it except to say that when your child is diagnosed with cancer, your body and mind go into survival mode; you have no other choice. I did what I needed to do to get through it one day at a time. I wasn’t able to fully process everything that was happening at the time, so I guess this is what I’m doing now—processing it.

POGO-supported research explores the mental health of mothers and siblings of children with cancer.

Tyler has crossed many milestones which I’m grateful for, but there are days when I dwell on uncertainty. Vivid memories randomly pop up when I do normal things, like run errands or when I’m driving. Some good, some not so good. Sometimes memories make me cry. When I have these days, I can get sad, irritable or worried. It’s a unique thing to go through, to say the least, but talking through it with other cancer moms who can relate is very helpful.

Perhaps I’ll feel better when he hits the third-year remission mark, or fourth, or fifth—I don’t know. For now, if I’m feeling crappy, I won’t suppress it. I acknowledge that I’m still healing and let myself feel my way through my emotions one day at a time.

Posted in Misc | Tagged AML, anxiety, BellLetsTalk, Childhood Cancer Survivor, mental health, Mental Health Awareness, parenting, psychosocial

A Healing Journey by Yasmin Nasrati

Posted on January 29, 2019 by Kelly Zorzi

Yasmin Nasrati

#BellLetsTalk #mentalhealthawareness

I am 23 years old, a college graduate and a current student in York University’s Sociology and Human Rights programs. My education is very important to me but it can be overwhelming sometimes. The workload combined with rising debt is stressful, while splitting my spare time between volunteering and family and friends has become difficult to balance.

I’m also a four-time cancer survivor. I had my first diagnosis, a brain tumour, at age 13. I’ve also had colon, colorectal and, most recently, breast cancer. At age 12, my brother was diagnosed with colon cancer and later with metastatic adenocarcinoma of the duodenum. Because screening was never done and we weren’t aware of our genetic disorder, my brother passed away from colon cancer. I have an inherited gene mutation, which increases my lifelong risk of acquiring malignancies and an ongoing anticipation of serious health concerns.

My life is filled with medical appointments, medical treatments, school work and other everyday commitments, and so I have always tried to be strong and brave, pushing my feelings down so I could just keep moving forward. But there is a price: fatigue, change in appetite, poor concentration, feelings of restlessness, loss of interest or pleasure in activities, irritability/lack of patience, dry mouth and shortness of breath/tightness of the chest, to name a few. These are all prominent when there are multiple things happening at the same time in my life.

Until recently, I just interpreted these events as “stressful,” but what I didn’t realize until I learned more about the symptoms of depression and anxiety, is that what I was feeling was not just stress, but a blend of mental health issues.

These symptoms don’t just affect me, they take a toll on the people around me. And while I know this is the time when I need to acknowledge what I am going through and ask for help, I often feel that I don’t have any options or that others won’t understand.

I realize that I play the biggest role in my own self-care. Yes, I am going through many issues, medically and psychologically, but what I’ve experienced so far has only made me stronger. So how can I use that strength to achieve a better quality of life? How can I minimize the stress in my life and increase the things that bring me joy, like volunteering? How do I find the time to connect with other survivors who understand what I am going through, when I feel exhausted from the medical appointments and school work? And how do I maintain a hopeful outlook when I know that I may continue to battle various cancers for the rest of my life?

To be honest, I haven’t exactly figured it out. But I do know that it is a process that I need to consciously work on each day, and that my psychological well-being is worth fighting for.

POGO’s Childhood Cancer Care Plan has as one of five goals integrated psychosocial care at all stages of the cancer journey. A key objective is to ensure integration of psychosocial care into standardized care planning to improve quality of life for patients, families and survivors like Yasmin. Learn more.

Posted in Misc | Tagged anxiety, BellLetsTalk, childhood cancer survivors, depression

Is Overprotective Parenting Linked to Anxiety and Depression?

Posted on January 30, 2018 by Kelly Zorzi

#BellLetsTalk #mentalhealthawareness

Ms. Amanda Sherman, BA, MA, PhD(c),  discusses her POGO-funded research study.

Your study looked at overprotective and overcontrolling parenting. Can you give us some examples of these two parenting styles?
I would define overprotection as a style of parenting that does not allow the child or emerging adult to experience stressful things. These parents might try to reduce harm even where the situation doesn’t require it. An overprotective parent might call their child’s friends to solve a problem or insist on driving them to destinations where they can easily walk or ride a bike. It is excessive care. Overcontrolling parenting has more to do with discipline and getting a child to behave in a specific way. A parent might say, “You can’t go out tonight because I don’t like some of your friends.” It is excessive control.

What is non-productive coping?
Coping strategies that are not effective in helping that person feel better (worrying, swearing,
avoidance and isolation, for example) are nonproductive because they may lead to more distress and anxiety. In children, one correlate of the development of anxiety disorders is overprotective parenting.

Are childhood cancer survivors more at risk for depression and anxiety?
When looking at levels of depression, we did not find that our sample differed significantly from  normative populations; but we did find that anxiety levels were markedly higher than the general population—participants’ scores on our questionnaire were within one standard deviation from the mean score of people with anxiety disorders. That was surprising to me and something we don’t yet know how to account for. Maybe for this population so much of their childhood was focused on getting better, that learning to cope with stress was less important than getting by and managing their illness. Now they are emerging adults and they are facing the potential late effects of their childhood disease, as well as regular life stresses, and perhaps they are less equipped to cope. These are hard questions to answer.


Amanda Sherman, BA, MA, PhD(c)

Ms. Amanda Sherman, BA, MA, PhD(c) was the recipient of the 2013 POGO Fellowship Award. Her research focused on maternal overprotection/overcontrol and its relationship to coping strategies, anxiety and depression in survivors of childhood cancer. Her study looked at 109 survivors aged 18-30 attending the POGO AfterCare Clinic at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. POGO AfterCare Clinics  monitor survivors at regular intervals so that potential long-term effects of treatment can be identified as early as possible.


You are doing your PhD in psychology. How did your career path lead you to study childhood cancer patients? 
I did a practicum placement with Norma D’Agostino at Princess Margaret, where I was doing therapy exclusively with young adult survivors of childhood cancer. We noticed that problems with lack of autonomy, separating from parents and non-productive coping strategies kept coming up.

What can we take away from this research?
Now that we have this evidence that says overprotective parenting and anxiety are an issue in this  population, we can target those parents and teach them how to socialize coping in their children. Even the oncologist can spend five minutes asking the parents and children a few targeted questions to
determine if there is a bigger issue, flag it, and refer the family to a psychologist to help them develop better coping skills. 

What do you hope will come from your study?
This is preliminary research but even posing the question is opening doors and people are looking for potential issues when perhaps they weren’t looking for them before. Next steps from a research standpoint: our measure of overprotective and overcontrolling parenting needs to be validated and the study needs to be replicated with a non-cancer control group. I want to disseminate this research any way I can. 

What does this POGO Fellowship Award do for your career?
This grant has allowed me to have time, space and community to do research. What I have enjoyed so much about POGO is how open minded everyone is about psychosocial issues, and psychosocial  development. It has been nice to be accepted and encouraged for studying these kinds of issues, and working with medical professionals has helped provide a different perspective. It has been humbling, rewarding and encouraging at the same time.

Posted in Misc, Research | Tagged anxiety, depression, emotional health, late effects, parenting, psychosocial, stress

Lifting the Veil: Assessing and Treating Depression and Anxiety in Children with Cancer

Posted on November 6, 2015 by admin


VIEW THE PRESENTATION

Presentation Description: 
Children and adolescents with cancer may have pre-existing psychiatric diagnoses, and are also vulnerable to developing mood or anxiety problems in the context of the psychological and medical challenges of treatment. When behavioural interventions are not enough, effective psychotropic medication may also be used to treat depression and anxiety. These medications can be used safely in children receiving oncology treatment, although robust studies are lacking.

This presentation described an approach to assessment and treatment for depression and anxiety in youth undergoing treatment for cancer.

Speaker:
Anna C. Muriel, MD, MPH
Chief, Division of Pediatirc Psychosocial Oncology,
Department of Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care
Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston MA

 

Posted in 2015 Pre-Symposium Psychosocial Seminar, Pre-Symposium Seminars | Tagged 2015 Pre-Symposium Psychosocial Seminar, anxiety, depression

New & Now – Four Innovative Studies that are Changing the Landscape of Care

Posted on March 4, 2014 by admin


Presentation Description:
This presentation highlighted four innovative studies that are having a major impact on the diagnosis and/or treatment of childhood cancer.

Impact of Ethnicity on the Donor Search for Pediatric Patients Considered for Stem Cell Transplantation

Speaker:
Julia DiLabio, MSc, MD Candidate
University of Toronto, Toronto

Neuropathic Pain Related to Vincristine: A Pediatric Descriptive Study

Speakers:
Catherine Goudie, MD
Fellow in Pediatric Hematology-Oncology
McGill University, Montreal

Christine Racette, MD
Pediatric Resident
Laval University, Quebec City

Bringing 131I-MIBG Therapy Closer to Home

Speaker:
Denise Mills, RN(EC), MN, NP Pediatrics, CPN, ACNP
Division of Haematology/Oncology
The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto

Relations Among Anxiety and Depression, Autonomy and Mothers’ Overprotective Parenting Practices in Young Adult Survivors of Childhood Cancer

Speaker:
Amanda Sherman, MA, PhD Candidate
Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto
POGO Research Fellow

Posted in 2013 Symposium - Innovation in Pediatric Oncology, Education for Health Professionals | Tagged 2013 Symposium, adolescents, anxiety, ethnicity, MIBG, neuropathic pain, parents, Pediatric Stem Cell Transplantation

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