Anxiety and depression linked to increased cancer death risk

Conclusion Studies like this can be distressing for people with mental health difficulties and their families and friends. It's important to point out that having anxiety or depression, which are common illnesses, does not mean you will go on to get, or die from, cancer. It may be your risk of it higher, but cancer risk is complex. It includes many factors such as our genes, our environment and our lifestyle. We don't know from the study whether mental distress is a cause of cancer, or of cancer mortality. It could be a reflection of another confounding factor – for example, people with poor mental health may have a poor diet, and diet is linked to cancer. Or mental distress could be a result of poor physical health, which itself could have increased the chances of death from cancer. Even if mental distress is causally related to cancer, this could be for many reasons. Theories of a direct effect of mental health on cancer include the effect of stress on hormones and our immune system, which usually protects us against cancer. But behavioural factors, such as whether or not we attend cancer screening, show that mental ill health could have an indirect effect on our chances of surviving cancer. Regardless of the link to cancer, anxiety and depression are serious illnesses that cause a great deal of distress. Treatments, including talking therapies and medicines are available and help many people. Getting help for mental health problems is worthwhile in itself, whether or n...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Mental health Cancer Source Type: news