Stress Awareness Month: Stress Management During Cancer Treatments

April is Stress Awareness Month, which was created to bring attention to finding techniques to cope with your stress and discover healthy ways to deal with troubling situations. It's especially hard for those fighting cancer and undergoing treatments to keep their stress in check. Cancer patients may find it challenging to maintain balance in their lives while fighting the disease, along with treatments that might include chemotherapy or radiation therapy.

It's essential to ensure you're taking care of your mental and physical health. So the team has some great tips for you. 

Exercising Helps

Even if you only have time for 10 or 15 minutes a day, staying active will help lower your cortisol levels, which is your body's primary stress hormone. Exercise also stimulates the production of endorphins, chemicals in the brain that act as the body's natural mood elevators and painkillers. So when you keep up with regular workout routines, you can better manage your stress levels and promote good health; just check with your doctor about what exercises would be appropriate to do in between your treatments. 

Set Manageable Goals

One way to manage your stress is by setting manageable goals for yourself that you can check off of a list as you complete them. It's also important to make sure you are eating well and staying active throughout the day to increase your energy levels. Finally, taking time for yourself every day will help keep your mind at ease to handle your stress and cancer treatments one step at a time. 

Learn Calming Techniques

You can keep your stress in check during cancer treatments by finding an outlet for all of the thoughts running through your head daily. This could be anything from going for a walk outside or coloring in one of those fancy adult coloring books. 

Another option is to manage the body's response to stressors by learning how to relax, breathe deeply, and focus on positive thoughts. Find out what works best for you. 

Make Treatment a Little Easier

There are many ways to cope with stress during cancer treatment. However, you should know your options before starting the treatment process to make informed decisions about how you want to take care of yourself throughout your journey. 

Plan by prioritizing what you need or want from treatment and medical appointments, avoid driving yourself, if possible, to treatments, and stay in contact with your doctor.