Active Surveillance Causes High Levels of Anxiety Which Can Be Mediated By Practicing Mindfulness Mediation

[JoelT]

Men on active surveillance (AS) experience resilience and less anxiety after learning about and practicing mindfulness meditation, a study found. AS in men diagnosed with prostate cancer causes high levels of anxiety and uncertainty. So much so that one in four men seek out definitive therapies within one to three years, even when there is no sign of tumor progression.

sciencedaily.com/releases/2...

Joel

[CERICWIN]

As I wrote in another article, published in the Philadelphia Inquirer last December,

everything about prostate cancer causes anxiety. Not just Active Surveillance, but even moreso for those of us with advanced metastatic disease.

I've found that for me, the best kind of meditation is music---listening to it and burying myself in the sounds, or, since I play piano, trying to concentrate on playing, which blocks out every other thought.

Prostate cancer is a scary disease for all of us---it hits us squarely in the center of our "maleness," and is life-changing.

Reading, jogging, walking, cooking, praying, singing, hobbies and crafts are all excellent ways of sublimating or meditating each in our own ways.

And the worst times I experienced having anxiety were the hours that I lay in bed awake with insomnia, a side effect of the meds, unable to sleep and just unable to stop thinking about what was happening to my body. For awhile I had to take Ambien to sleep, but now I'm going through a lot of fatigue, so I have no trouble at all going to sleep, a refreshing change.

There are many ways to cope with anxiety, but sometimes we need meds to help us, and my doctor prescribed Ativan, which also helps but doesn't completely alleviate it, pills aren't always the answer to everything. I wish that I could meditate like some do with Zen Buddhism, but somehow it doesn't work for me; my mind wants to be too active.

CERICWIN