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Multiple Myeloma an incurable disease, but I have spent the last 25 years in remission using a blend of conventional oncology and evidence-based nutrition, supplementation, and lifestyle therapies from peer-reviewed studies that your oncologist probably hasn't told you about.
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Anxiety and Depression With Myeloma
Yes, according to research anxiety and depression can come with a myeloma diagnosis. Not sure we needed a study to prove that one but I guess it’s important to be specific.
The question is, what does a MM patient do about their mental health? The English gentleman in the video below offers a view of “scanxiety” and depression that makes sense to me.
One of the first things that the gentleman in the video talks about is…talking about MM. While I couldn’t agree more (I went to a psychologist starting in year 5 post diagnosis), I want to add that we can now talk to MM patients online. No one understands MM better than a fellow MM survivor.
Emotional effects of living with myeloma
I am a MM survivor. I’ve come to believe that our mental health is just as important as our physical health.
Further, there are mental health therapies discussed in the posts linked below.
- Multiple Myeloma-10 Mind-Body Cancer Therapies Better than Chemo-
- Diet as Mind-Body Therapy
- Mind-body Therapy and Multiple Myeloma
- Multiple Myeloma Survival- Positive Thinking, Mind-Body Therapy
- Multiple Myeloma Diagnosis, Exercise as Mind-Body Therapy
Email me at David.PeopleBeatingCancer@gmail.com with questions about your mental health as well as your MM.
Hang in there,
David Emerson
- MM Survivor
- MM Cancer Coach
- Director PeopleBeatingCancer
Blood Cancer Blues: Can Dx Take a Toll on Mental Health?
Key Points
- Over half of patients newly diagnosed with lymphoma or myeloma had clinically significant anxiety and/or depression symptoms.
- Depression was associated with lower QOL, underscoring the need for psychological interventions for patients with lymphoma or myeloma…
Abstract
Although lymphoma and myeloma confer physical and psychological burden, data are limited regarding anxiety and depression symptoms in affected patients.
We conducted a survey between July 2021 and September 2022 to characterize anxiety and depression in a cohort of adult patients, within 6 months of a lymphoma or myeloma diagnosis. Clinically significant anxiety and depression symptoms were defined as scores of ≥8 on the corresponding subscales of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale.
We assessed sociodemographic factors associated with anxiety/depression symptoms and examined the relationship between anxiety/depression symptoms and quality of life (QOL) in multivariable analyses.
Our cohort included 200 patients (response rate, 74.9%), of whom 45.5% were female, and 55.5% were aged ≥60 years. Over half of the cohort (56.2%) had clinically significant anxiety and/or depression symptoms, with 52.0% (95% confidence interval [CI], 44.9-59.1) meeting the cutoff for anxiety and 27.5% (95% CI, 21.6-34.3) for depression.
Lower financial satisfaction (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 2.43; 95% CI, 1.25-4.78) and greater levels of medical mistrust (AOR, 2.09; 95% CI, 1.10-4.02) were associated with higher odds of anxiety. Lower financial satisfaction (AOR, 2.12; 95% CI, 1.07-4.30) and lower levels of social support (AOR, 2.88; 95% CI, 1.42-6.00) were associated with higher odds of depression.
Depression was associated with lower QOL (adjusted mean difference, −22.0; 95% CI, −28.1 to −15.9). More than half of patients newly diagnosed with lymphoma or myeloma experience clinically significant anxiety or depression symptoms, with associated detriment to their QOL. These findings underscore the need for systematic mental health screening and psychological interventions for this population…
Psychological symptoms for patients with hematologic malignancies have been historically underrecognized and thus, undertreated. Our analysis demonstrates that the psychological toll of lymphoma or myeloma is high, with most patients experiencing anxiety or depression symptoms early in their disease trajectory.
In addition to the distressing nature of these symptoms, depression symptoms substantially worsen overall QOL.
Taken together, these data underscore the urgent need to systematically screen patients newly diagnosed with lymphoma or myeloma for anxiety and depression symptoms, and to refer affected patients for appropriate psychological interventions….”
anxiety depression myeloma anxiety depression myeloma anxiety depression myeloma