Breast cancer patients may develop PTSD

Posted on March 4, 2016

Photo: flickr

The majority of women suffering from breast cancer develop symptoms of post-traumatic stress in the months following receipt of the diagnosis. The latest results of the Cognicares study, led by Dr. Kerstin Hermelink of the Breast Cancer Center in the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) Medical Center, show that such symptoms can still be detected a year after patients have been informed of their condition. The new findings appear in the journal Psyco-Oncology .

During the interval between diagnosis of cancer and the initiation of treatment, 82.5% of all patients were found to exhibit symptoms of PTSD, such as recurrent and intrusive reminders of the experiences associated with cancer, feelings of detachment and emotional numbness, increased arousal, sudden outbursts of anger and an exaggerated startle response. Although a full diagnosis of PTSD was found in only 2% of patients one year after the cancer diagnosis, more than half (57.3%) continued to display one or more symptoms of the disorder at that point.

In contrast, the rate of PTSD symptoms due to other traumatic events was very low in the controls and the patients alike. "That the high level of stress should persist for such a long time is particularly striking," says Kerstin Hermelink. Indeed, the severity of the psychological and emotional impact of the cancer diagnosis is underlined by another result reported in the study. When patients who had already had a traumatic experience - such as a serious accident or a violent assault - prior to the development of malignancy, some 40% of them rated having breast cancer as the more severe traumatic event.


Category(s):Health / Illness / Medical Issues, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) / Trauma / Complex PTSD

Source material from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München