The Importance of Mental Health in Cancer Treatment
When it comes to cancer treatment, the focus is often limited to mechanisms by which the disease itself can be managed, through standard regimes such as chemotherapy, radiation, and surgical interventions. However, the mental health challenges that accompany a life-threatening diagnosis are just as critical and frequently overlooked. Many cancer patients face profound psychological struggles, including anxiety, depression, and PTSD, yet mental health support is rarely integrated into standard oncology care.
NCODA, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving oncology care through education, advocacy, and patient support, recently sat down with Nancy Gregory, an Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) patient, to gain insight into the current state of mental health care in oncology and why this vital aspect of treatment is often neglected.
Surviving AML and Advocating for Mental Health Support
Nancy’s journey began in 2016 when what seemed like a lingering cold turned into a life-threatening AML diagnosis. She was immediately hospitalized for high-dose chemotherapy, enduring severe side effects such as infections, full-body ulcerated rashes, fainting, chemo brain, nausea, and extreme fatigue. After months of grueling treatment, she achieved remission in 2017. Unfortunately, in 2019, her AML relapsed, requiring a stem cell transplant. With no perfect match in the bone marrow registry, she proceeded with a 50% sibling match, facing additional complications, including near-fatal reactions to chemotherapy, a prolonged recovery, and months of isolation—only to be met by the COVID-19 pandemic upon reentering society.
Throughout this incredibly tough journey, Nancy experienced profound mental strain and the weight of uncertainty. She struggled with fear, isolation, PTSD, and was left to navigate these challenges with minimal psychological support. Despite receiving care at a top cancer center, she had limited access to mental health professionals—just one social worker for two floors of leukemia and stem cell transplant patients.
Nancy’s experience highlights a major gap in cancer care: the lack of integrated mental health support. There is an urgent need for a shift in how we approach patient care, ensuring that mental well-being is treated with the same priority as physical health. Fighting cancer is grueling. It is important to recognize the gap in standard of care protocols and advocate for change, as no patient should have to endure the mental toll of cancer alone.
Accessing Mental Health Care is Challenging
One of the biggest barriers to integrating mental health care into cancer treatment is access. Many patients face financial constraints, and insurance coverage for mental health services is often inadequate. Even when support is available, patients may not seek it due to stigma or a lack of awareness about how mental health care can improve their overall well-being. Health care providers may also be undertrained in recognizing and addressing patients’ emotional needs, leading to missed opportunities for early intervention.
Another crucial but often overlooked aspect of mental health in cancer care is survivorship. While it is often seen as the light at the end of the tunnel, many survivors continue to face emotional and psychological challenges long after treatment ends. The transition from active treatment to post-cancer life can bring feelings of uncertainty, fear of recurrence, and even a loss of identity as individuals adjust to a “new normal.” Anxiety, depression, and PTSD often continue in survivors after treatment is technically concluded, yet mental health support is rarely emphasized in follow-up care.
Providing ongoing psychological resources, peer support groups, and access to therapy can help survivors navigate this complex phase, ensuring their mental well-being is prioritized just as much as their physical recovery. True survivorship means healing both the body and the mind.
Improving Patient Outcomes
By making mental health services more accessible and reducing stigma, we can improve patient outcomes and ensure that those enduring cancer treatment receive the full spectrum of care they need—not just for their bodies, but for their minds as well.
Today, we are happy to report that Nancy is in remission and is now even more passionate than ever about advocating for mental health support in oncology. She dedicates her time to virtual patient support groups and works with organizations to share her story. Nancy urges health care professionals to recognize that emotional and psychological support is as vital as physical treatment:
“What good is the science behind treating the disease if a patient’s mental state will compromise their chance of not only surviving but thriving?”
To hear more of Nancy’s story, you can tune in to NCODA’s PQI Podcast here.
About NCODA
NCODA is the leading medically integrated oncology non-profit organization dedicated to empowering cancer care professionals to deliver positive, patient-centered outcomes through leadership, expertise, quality standards, and best practices. NCODA believes that the coordination of care facilitated through a medically integrated approach enhances quality by engaging all stakeholders on the care team, reduces the opportunity for waste and errors, and avoids needless costs to patients. NCODA offers education and resources to oncology professionals and industry partners through the development of quality standards, best practices, and advocacy. Founded in 2015, NCODA has helped over 3,000 medically integrated oncology sites of care and over 12,000 professionals across the world, in delivering better, personalized oncology care. Our team is a group of committed, patient-centered community builders who connect medical providers with the vital information and resources they need to transform the outcomes of those fighting cancer. For more information, visit www.ncoda.org or follow us on LinkedIn.
Editor’s Note: NCODA is one of the HealthWell Foundation’s valued Alliance Partners. Are you or a loved one living with cancer and/or a behavioral health condition and need assistance affording your treatments? The HealthWell Foundation offers a range of financial assistance funds that may help. For more information and to determine eligibility visit healthwellfoundation.org/disease-funds/
***If you or someone you know needs immediate help, please call 988 or visit https://988lifeline.org for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.***
