I feel I need more help. What can I do?

If you need support with your mental health (whether you have recently had a diagnosis of cancer or you are a supporter of someone with cancer) our FAQs page has extra hints and tips. The More Support page also has a list of charities that provide specialist help and support including telephone helplines, peer support, complementary therapies, counselling, psychology and more. Your GP, specialist nurse or healthcare professional will also be able to provide personalised care and support.

Relaxation

Relaxing will help with your wellbeing. You can relax with activities you enjoy, for example, gardening, listening to music, spending time with friends, family or pets, yoga, singing, or walking.

Relaxation exercises can help you relax your body and mind which may be helpful before, during and after treatment. Visit our FAQs page for information on relaxation exercises.

Sleep

You may have trouble sleeping following a cancer diagnosis.

This could be because of:

• Stress or anxiety
• Your surroundings
• Food or drink
• New medication
• Disruption to your routine
• Pain or bladder problems
• Not enough activity/exercise over the day

You may worry if you feel you aren’t getting enough sleep. However, the amount of sleep needed varies from person to person, so you may need less than you think. Sleep is a natural process that is not directly under our control. Our bodies take what they need. Also, you tend to need less sleep as you get older.

Things that could help you sleep include:

• In the hour before you try to go to sleep, avoid bright lights in your home and blue-tinted light from electronic devices such as mobile phones/tablets.
• It is important your bed and bedroom is quiet and comfortable. If it is noisy, wearing earplugs might help.
• Consider black-out curtains or using an eye mask to block out light.
• You might find it useful to create an ‘end the day well’ routine that helps your body and mind relax and sleep. You can develop your own list of things to remind your body that it is time to sleep – you might find it useful to do relaxing stretches or breathing exercises for 15 minutes before bed.

For more information about sleep please see our FAQs page.

Fatigue

People who are being treated for cancer often feel fatigued. Whilst tiredness can be relieved by rest and sleep, fatigue cannot. You may feel totally exhausted and have no energy for your normal day to day activities. This can make you irritable, emotional and affect your concentration. It is common to try to cope with fatigue by resting and sleeping but it is important to balance rest periods with activity/exercise. Whilst we cannot “cure” fatigue, the following can help you to reduce the impact it has:

Prioritise: Decide what needs to be done today, could some things wait or be done by someone else?

Pace Yourself: Know your limits. Try to spread tasks throughout the day and stop when you feel tired

Planning: Try to plan ahead to prevent doing lots of activities in a short space of time. Tiredness can sometimes affect your ability to concentrate and remember things so it may be helpful to keep a notepad to keep a note of appointments and key words to jog your memory. If possible, plan when family/friends are visiting so they don’t all come at once.

Some everyday tasks may be more tiring. It can be helpful to think about how they could be changed. For example, having a seat in the shower, sitting on a stool to prepare meals etc. Your health care professional will be able to refer you to an occupational therapist for advice if needed. 

Please see our FAQs page for more information.

Next steps and support

If you feel like you need to make changes to improve your mental wellbeing and you’d like more information about goal setting and long-term change, please visit our Next Steps page.

If you need more general support, a list of cancer charities and the services they offer are listed on the More Support page.