Being diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer can be overwhelming. You may feel angry, scared, stressed, outraged, and depressed.¹ Psychological distress is common during the journey of breast cancer. For most individuals, this distress will naturally decrease over time but for some, it may significantly disrupt their comfort, quality of life, and ability to make informed treatment decisions and adhere to their treatment plan.² Keep in mind that metastatic disease is not hopeless. Many people continue to live long, productive lives with breast cancer in this stage. There is a wide variety of treatment options for metastatic breast cancer, and new medicines are being tested every day.¹

Some common psychosocial needs of women with breast cancer include:²

• Fear of recurrence
• Physical symptoms like fatigue, trouble sleeping, or pain
• Body image disruption
• Sexual dysfunction
• Treatment-related anxieties
• Intrusive thoughts about illness/persistent anxiety
• Marital/partner communication
• Feelings of vulnerability
• Existential concerns regarding mortality

Dealing with these needs is very important as they can affect the patients' will to recover and thus also hamper the treatment. Some ways of dealing with these needs are:²

• Acceptance
• Spiritual practice like meditation, yoga etc.
• Having a good communication like joining a support group
• Getting psychological counselling
• Having a healthy lifestyle
• Joining expressive therapies like art, dancing, music, writing etc.