BREAST CANCER RESEARCH RIGHT NOW! 8: Soldiering and Breast Cancer Create the SAME Post Traumatic Stress Disorder!

From the first moment my wife discovered she had breast cancer, there was a deafening silence from the men I know. Even ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer seemed to have received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did little more than mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started this blog…Every month, I’ll be highlighting breast cancer research that is going on RIGHT NOW! Harvested from different websites, journals and podcasts, I’ll translate them into understandable English and share them with you. Today: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/02/130228124030.htm

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is something we associate with The War On Terror; the War In Afghanistan; the War In Iraq; drive-by shootings; school shootings; disaster relief and emergency medical personnel – it’s certainly not something the cancer care doctors told us about two years ago.

What is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (also known as PTSD)?

“The cause of PTSD is unknown. Psychological, genetic, physical, and social factors are involved. PTSD changes the body's response to stress. It affects the stress hormones and chemicals that carry information between the nerves (neurotransmitters).”

Some of the symptoms of PTSD might be:

Symptoms of intrusive memories:

a) Flashbacks, or reliving the traumatic event for minutes or even days at a time

b) Upsetting dreams about the traumatic event


Symptoms of avoidance and emotional numbing may include:

a) Trying to avoid thinking or talking about the traumatic event

b) Feeling emotionally numb

c) Avoiding activities you once enjoyed

d) Hopelessness about the future

e) Memory problems


Trouble concentrating

Difficulty maintaining close relationships


Symptoms of anxiety and increased emotional arousal may include

a) Irritability or anger

b) Overwhelming guilt or shame

c) Self-destructive behavior, such as drinking too much

d) Trouble sleeping

e) Being easily startled or frightened

f) Hearing or seeing things that aren't there


Post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms can come and go. You may have more post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms when things are stressful in general, or when you run into reminders of what you went through.

Someone asked me recently if a double mastectomy was an amputation. I looked up the definition of amputate:

“verb (used with object), am•pu•tat•ed, am•pu•tat•ing; 1. to cut off (all or part of a limb or digit of the body), as by surgery; 2. to prune, lop off, or remove; 3. Obsolete . to prune, as branches of trees.”

I would say that a double mastectomy is by definition (though not by custom…how much would you like to bet that the people that resist defining a mastectomy as an amputation are male or women who have not had mastectomies…) an amputation.

So – if you experience the symptoms of PTSD, then talk to your doctor. If you need proof of what you are experiencing, then go to the link above, print out the article and help your caregiver move into the 21st Century.

Resources: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001923/,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Posttraumatic_stress_disorder, http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/post-traumatic-stress-disorder/DS00246/DSECTION=symptoms
Image: http://www.theredheadriter.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/2012-04-05-ptsd1.png