Managing Emotions
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It is all right to feel sad, mad or upset about having cancer. A common misconception that burdens people with a cancer diagnosis is that you always have to be positive. You may impose that feeling on yourself and others may impose it on you. It is natural to want to feel good and to be happy. However, it is also absolutely normal to feel sad, discouraged or upset at times.
Self-Caretaking Responses:
- You are appropriately grieving when you let yourself know about the difficult things you are feeling. During these times, it may be hard to feel good or positive but that does not mean that you are giving up hope.
- In fact, the best way to take care of yourself is to let yourself know what you are really feeling, even when it includes difficult feelings, and then share it with someone who can really listen and support you.
Self-Defeating Responses:
- You keep painful feelings inside of you instead of sharing them with someone who can listen to you and support you. You feel sad or mad and instead of letting yourself grieve, you try to force yourself to be positive. This is not helpful because your true feelings stay buried inside of you and deep down you still feel bad. However, when you take the time to let yourself know what you are really feeling and share it with someone who can really listen to you, you can help yourself feel much better.
