Afraid of getting cancer because of high stress levels

[sunshinepas1982]

hello everyone,

i would like to ask some advice. my whole adult life i have had lots and lots of stress because of my health anxiety. Mainly due to the fear of getting breast cancer. Every month i have new lumps and things and almost every day i wake up with an anxious feeling. This is somewhat manageable, but still i can imagine that my immune system suffers from this.

But it is also proven that stress and an immune system that does not work very well can cause breast cancer. Because the bad cells are not killed by the immune system properly.

So in short; stress can cause breast cancer. And that made me thinking; o dear, if i get breast cancer it is my fault because i have had so much stress the last years. Ironically about the fear of getting breast cancer. So my fear is getting breast cancer and stressing about that makes the change of getting it even worse

Does anyone have any insights on this? my boyfriend says that getting cancer is not solely due to stress but i am afraid this stressing will cause breast cancer in the future and it was my own stupid fault....

thanks a lot for reading am looking forward to tips, thoughts and advice....

[Blonde123]

Hi, I didn’t want to read and go so here’s my little piece of advice. As a medical professional I’ve never heard of stress causing cancer so I’m not sure where you’ve got this from? However, stress will weaken your immune system and also exacerbate your systems. Cancer works at a cellular level not hormonal like stress. Too much stress will make you run down and when you’re immune system is low you might pick up viruses like coughs and colds more but cancer isn’t something you pick up. Please don’t worry. X

[sunshinepas1982]

yes it makes the immune system low so it can't kill cancerous cells. that is proven. but how do i cope with this feeling? i am worried of cancer, but my stress makes the change of getting cancer much higher. so i am being so stupid!!

[Fishmanpa]

Stress doesn't make the chance of getting cancer much higher at all. As was said, you could be more susceptible to viruses and such due to a lowered immune system but you don't 'catch' cancer so.... I'm sorry, but this really is a non-issue

Positive thoughts

[sunshinepas1982]

I hope so but the research states otherwise.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles...202.01492/full


https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5808262/

Maybe they mean lots of stress, which i have. I dont know. Buy the guilt trip continues...

[pav1984]

I personally wouldn't read up on such things because the end result is that you start getting stressed over the effects of stress and that really is a viscous circle. You cant do anything about the stress of the past, you can work on controlling your stress in the future if that makes sense?

I advise you research things like cbt or other relaxation techniques.

[sunshinepas1982]

Yes that makes sense! But i think: why did you stress so much, you could have gone to therapy. I am such a loser for all that stress. Now you have given yourself possibly cancer. And that is what you are so afraid of.

So in my opinion i totally gave myself an illness, breastcancer, if that would occur in the future.

Is that such a stupid thing to think? No one else thinks like this :( ?

[Fishmanpa]

So in my opinion i totally gave myself an illness, breastcancer, if that would occur in the future.

Is that such a stupid thing to think? No one else thinks like this :( ?

TBH, no. It's like saying an xray you got 5 years ago is responsible. I'm a survivor and while I'm not a sufferer, I've had plenty of stress in my life. It didn't cause my cancer I assure you! Besides, you could never prove it if it did happen and there's not a case on record to affirm your skewed belief. It's quite apparent you're pretty deep in a rabbit hole right now :(

Hope you feel better soon.

Positive thoughts

[sunshinepas1982]

Yes i know :( seeing my gp tomorrow. I would blame myself so bad because i am doing everything to prevent breastcancer and a risk factor is stress and I am always stressed. How stupid is that. So that is why i feel i created the environment for breastcancer.

[pav1984]

You cant change the past so why beat yourself up over it. Just change how you behave in the future. You will be happier for it.