Depression and suicidality in cancer survivors

 Depression and suicidality in cancer survivors

According to a 2014 study by the World Health Organization in Nepal, 14,300 people die every year due to cancer. According to another report two years later, 30,000 cancer patients are added every year. Officials of concerned agencies say that the number of people who commit suicide due to psychological problems is also high.

General Secretary of Cancer Care Society Dr. Sarita Ghimire says that there is no systematic study on the mental condition of cancer patients and their suicide rate in Nepal. However, looking at this situation, his number is alarming.

Many people analyze people with cancer from a one-sided angle. However, they did not discuss about their mental condition. Various studies have shown that there is such a problem all over the world. The studies done about their mental problems have shown its terrible condition.

According to the data of the World Health Organization, more than 9 million people died from cancer in 2018 alone. However, it has also been mentioned that 20 percent of patients choose the path of suicide due to mental problems.

Many patients say that many patients go through mental problems due to the practice of interpreting cancer as an incurable disease. This problem is seen not only in Nepal but also in developed countries. Another study conducted in the UK in 2019 found that 20 percent of all cancer patients worldwide have depression. Likewise, it has been found that 10 percent are surrounded by anxiety.

Experts say that cancer and mental problems are interrelated, although no study has been conducted in Nepal linking these two aspects. Doctor of Nepal Cancer Hospital and Research Center Dr. Sudip Shrestha complains that although psychological counseling is mandatory for cancer patients, there is not much interest in this regard in Nepal.

Saying that ``psycho-oncology division'' is very necessary in every hospital, he mentions that when he analyzed the patients who came to his hospital, it was found that more than 60 percent of the patients required psychological counseling. There have been many studies about this in the world. Those studies have shown that serious problems are caused if psychological counseling is not given immediately to the patients of both types of cancer.

The general secretary of Cancer Care Foundation, which deals with the treatment and care of cancer patients, Dr. Sarita Ghimire says that there is very little psychological counseling for cancer patients in Nepal. She says that the main problem of cancer patients is mental problems rather than cancer, but they do not pay much attention to it.

Many people think that they will die after getting cancer. This is the first stage of mental problems. Even though the death rate of cancer is very low as before, due to the lack of counseling, even the patients I am taking care of are committing suicide in large numbers. After going to the diagnosis after going to depression, many people take the path of suicide. That is our weakness.

What is the main problem?

We take cancer as an incurable disease. Many of us tend to think of ways to prevent or reduce cancer after it occurs. But how can it be changed easily? We do not think about that.

The study of the Canadian Cancer Society also states that mental problems are very common among people with cancer, and counseling should be made mandatory for this. From the tests done by the society on different people, it has been confirmed that the mental health of a person is also affected by the cancer treatment method.

It has been shown that the psychological counseling service to control mental problems is applied only to very few people. In the course of the study, it was found that among the cancer patients, mental problems were more common than those who were consulted by psychologists. Psychologist Amy Wilson, who was hired for counseling during the same study, says, 'Cancer causes mental health to deteriorate.

According to my study, due to lack of attention to mental health during cancer, a patient lost his mental balance before me. The result of which can even lead to suicide.