Cancer can certainly hurt people's loved ones - physically and spiritually. But after cancer, people would often say "get back up in the saddle." However, things are not as easy as they seem. Depression post-cancer is another battle that women must face on the road to recovery.

According to the National Cancer Institute, depression occurs because women are worried that cancer might come back, especially the first year after treatment. This depression can lead to several different negative effects: no enjoying life, not sleeping well, not eating well, or even not going back to follow-up visits.

Based on a new study by Ann Bettencourt, a professor of psychological sciences at the University of Missouri, single women and women with children in the home were more likely to be depressed during the year following treatment.

Because of these findings, Bettencourt suggests that those who came from cancer should still have a strong social support system all throughout the entire year following breast cancer diagnosis and treatment.

In addition, research shows that depression levels are related with women's income and age. Women with higher income suffer from decreased symptoms of depression as opposed to those who have different incomes, while younger cancer survivors get more depressed than those of age.

Because of this crippling fear and depression, the National Cancer Institute suggests to try and keep the following in mind:

  1. To stay informed - learn about the cancer and focus on health in the now
  2. Express feelings - expressing one's feelings such as fear, anger and sadness is found to be a good way in dealing with them
  3. Look for positives - try and look at the silver lining to be hopeful instead of thinking for the worst
  4. Do not blame self for the cancer - cancer can happen to anyone, and not because of what one has done or did not do
  5. Don't force it - stay true to one's feelings
  6. Find ways to relax - learning how to relax has been proven to help people when they are worried
  7. Stay active - going out and being active can help focus on other things in life
  8. Look at what you can control - try to dwell on controllable things such as one's health, appointments, and lifestyle