{"id":171,"date":"2022-10-17T22:47:26","date_gmt":"2022-10-18T03:47:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/beatingbreastcancer\/?p=171"},"modified":"2026-01-28T12:02:48","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T18:02:48","slug":"distress-reduction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/beatingbreastcancer\/distress-reduction\/","title":{"rendered":"Distress Reduction"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"panel body-content\"><div class=\"panel__container\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Distress Reduction<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Mills _ Psychology\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9jAE6QgvZD8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Adam Mills, PhD, Licensed Clinical Health Psychologist, Nebraska Medicine <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Almost all people diagnosed with cancer experience some amount of distress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What is Distress? Distress is the term used to describe the unpleasant experience people have that affects them mentally, physically, socially and\/or spiritually when they have cancer. Distress can make it hard to cope and affect how a person and their family members think, feel and act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most people with cancer experience a mild level of distress. But, around 30% and as high as 60% of women with breast cancer experience a more severe distress that can last much longer, sometimes years past cancer treatment and may lead to diagnosable problems like anxiety or depression. Younger women are more likely than older women to experience distress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>People with cancer-related distress are NOT \u201cgoing crazy\u201d and it is not a failure to accept help for distress. Actually, it is your RIGHT to receive assessment and recognition of your distress symptoms and referral to in-person counseling, support groups or informational self-management programs that allow you to receive this care at home. You should EXPECT and not be ashamed to be offered help with distress after a cancer diagnosis. Distress changes in degree and what may be causing the distress over time, but simply having treatment most of the time will not solve distress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>If you are experiencing distress, you may have symptoms such as:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Worry, anger, fear about cancer and cancer\u2019s affect on your family and plans<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Depression and\/or anxiety<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Difficulty sleeping, loss of appetite<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Inability to concentrate or thoughts of cancer or fears that recur over and over<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Questioning the meaning of life, death, and illness<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Difficulty interacting with people (avoiding or role issues in family or at work)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>It is usually not helpful to \u201cput on a mask of happiness\u201d in front of family and friends if you are really having these symptoms. It is better to find people with whom you can share your thoughts and feelings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You will likely receive a form when you visit your cancer center that asks you about how much cancer is bothering\/distressing you and in what ways. Please be honest \u2013 the team is there to help \u2013 we can only help if we know your concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>To learn more about the distress self-management program for women&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/nursing\/research\/research-publications\/caring-guidance.html\">CaringGuidance After Breast Cancer Diagnosis&nbsp;<\/a>to learn how you\/your patients can gain access to this free at home program.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"panel feature-block\">\n\t<div class=\"panel__container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"panel__main\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"feature feature--flexible \">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"panel__side panel__side--left panel__side--alt panel__side--top\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"panel__shape panel__shape--overlay\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"panel__shape panel__shape--red\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"feature__container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"feature__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"feature__image\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/beatingbreastcancer\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/national-cancer-institute-NFvdKIhxYlU-unsplash-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"doctor typing at a computer\"\/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"feature__main\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"h4\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/beatingbreastcancer\/feedback\" target=\"_top\">Your feedback is appreciated. Help us improve the site.<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Submit your feedback here!<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"panel feature-block\">\n\t<div class=\"panel__container\">\n\t\t<div class=\"panel__main\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"feature feature--flexible \">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"panel__side panel__side--left panel__side--alt panel__side--top\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"panel__shape panel__shape--overlay\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"panel__shape panel__shape--red\"><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"feature__container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"feature__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"feature__image\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/beatingbreastcancer\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/angiola-harry-SJCalEw-1LM-unsplash-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"woman holding pink ribbon\"\/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"feature__main\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"h4\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/beatingbreastcancer\/about-us\/\" target=\"_top\">About Us<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Learn more about the Beating Breast Cancer project.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is Distress? Distress is the term used to describe the unpleasant experience people have that affects them mentally, physically, socially and\/or spiritually when they have cancer. Distress can make it hard to cope and affect how a person and their family members think, feel and act.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":495,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-videos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/beatingbreastcancer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/beatingbreastcancer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/beatingbreastcancer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/beatingbreastcancer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/beatingbreastcancer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/beatingbreastcancer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":869,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/beatingbreastcancer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171\/revisions\/869"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/beatingbreastcancer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/beatingbreastcancer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/beatingbreastcancer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/beatingbreastcancer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}