Should you be fighting to quickly put yourself back in the same environment you were in when you got sick?
Talaya Dendy, Cancer Doula and Podcaster, posed this question in our recent conversation about helping people move forward after cancer.
We talked about how traumatic the cancer experience is and how so many people are not getting the support they need.
It’s important to slow down and reflect and use the opportunity of diagnosis to think more deeply about what you want from the rest of your life.
But this can be hard to do when you are stuck in a trauma response! Why?
Because in trauma, your nervous system gets stuck in fight/flight/freeze.
When you were first diagnosed, how did you react? Did you get angry at doctors who didn’t catch the cancer and write them multiple letters, as I did (fight)? Did you miss appointments, avoid discussing the diagnosis and refuse to share with anyone (flight). Did your response change as time went on?
When you get stuck in fight/flight/freeze is when the problems can start including symptoms like:
- Rumination (thinking about the same thing over and over)
- Avoidance (of activities, people, feelings)
- Feeling numb (inability to feel much of anything- anger, love, hope)
- Difficulty thinking clearly or making decisions
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Insomnia
- Irritability
Talaya and I also talked about how trauma from earlier in your life prior to cancer impacts people in treatment. As cancer therapists, we are not solely focused on the immediate cancer experience, but the WHOLE person and the experiences that have brought them to where they are today.
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