To think it's impossible to escape cancer reminders

[Worridoncemore]

I have health anxiety, for which I'm receiving treatment, and one of the biggest triggers for me is the constant reminders of cancer in day to day life. On a daily basis there are tragic stories and "don't ignore these symptoms" type articles on my newsfeed. Then I switch on the TV and it's all the Macmillan ads and the like. I assumed the stuff on my newsfeed was caused by my googling, but now I've stopped, cleared history, cookies etc they still appear!

While it's a good thing there is so much more awareness, potentially saving lives, I feel much of this is bordering on scaremongering.

Finally, I realise there may be people reading this who do have cancer, or have a loved one who does, and escaping reminders of the disease is not an option. Huge sympathies to you.

Does anyone else feel than cancer seems to be everywhere??

@Worridoncemore Yes, it is & having lost family to cancer it is upsetting at times, but then I think that I'm prepared to be upset (frequently) if it saves others going through what we have.

What would you change if you could?

I mean I don’t want to add to your anxiety but cancer actually is everywhere. Not just the reminders of it but the actual disease.
It wasn’t long ago that the cancer statistics were 1 in 3, now it’s 1 in 2.
We recently lost my MIL so I am also more sensitive to noticing it like you. It seems like I can’t watch tv without seeing a cancer research add, or see a news story on cancer care, or pay for an item at a self service without being reminded of breast cancer charities.
However I don’t agree that it’s scare mongering. Early diagnosis is key and cancer is unfortunately a very real and very big part of life and we should probably all get a bit more comfortable talking about it.
Overall the benefit probably outweighs the problems imo.

It's more important to get people to go to a Dr for early diagnosis than to pretend it doesn't exist by calling it scaremongering so yabu. At the end of the day we are likely to get cancer or know people who have it. The good news is more and more people can survive it.

50% of people will get cancer at some point. It is everywhere. It's generally much more treatable if caught earlier so of course people should be prompted to keep an eye out.

🤷‍♀️ Lots of things are anxiety inducing - rising costs, energy prices, Putin…

We live in an era of 24 hour information, and everyone has to figure out how to limit the flow of info to a level they can manage.

Focus on doing that, and getting treatment for your anxiety if necessary. It’s much more empowering to actively manage your life, than get upset about the fact the world won’t change for you (it won’t).

OP one reason I don’t use mass media eg never watch TV ads is that it’s crammed with depressing stuff. I still get annoyed with ads on the Tube and bus telling me about how my cough is cancer. I looked after my dad with it. I know it exists. Seeing those ads makes me want to light up a fag 😂

I don’t get them on personalised ads because never google that. Maybe after you’ve googled diamonds, ballet and country houses, you will stop getting them?

turn off mass media as much as you can. It helps with everything. The ads about disease I used to see, half the time I couldn’t tell you what they were for. My brain just groaned and switched off.

It’s not scaremongering, it’s raising awareness, which can and does save lives. YABU

I'm with you. I have health anxiety. Every advert or article in the paper is. Do you have these symptoms could be cancer...usually non descript everyday symptoms we all get sometimes but enough to scare crap out of you . Same as on TV. My fav advert and the one they did right was the one where it said, not everything is cancer, and the guy gets a clear diagnosis, but get it checked anyway. Reverse psychology and much less scary.
The adverts make me think about cancer a lot more than what is healthy. I know cancer is everywhere but I also know a lot of people who don't have cancer. And for those worrying, or going through it, it must be never ending in their thoughts.

Yes I notice it a lot. Now especially. DH was diagnosed a couple of weeks ago and we were watching a movie to take our mind off it and someone made a flippant cancer joke.

Thing is, DH had been having symptoms for a while but was ignoring them - perhaps if the symptoms for his certain cancer had been more well known and advertised about then it could have been caught earlier? Who knows.

You notice these adverts, stories more than other people because you have health anxiety. You need to focus on the help you are getting with that.

Most people think that if they got cancer they wouldn't be able to cope but the truth is that people do cope because they have no choice, and when you don't have a choice on something it's surprising just how strong you can be.

We’re programmed to notice things that we’re already aware of. So because it’s on your mind, you’ll notice every advert etc.

If you’ve just been chatting about dog food you’ll probably notice a dog food ad that you’ve never noticed before.

You might have completely not noticed 10 adverts for diet pills (for example) but someone who’s on a diet might say they are constant.

So I think it’s less about the amount of advertising and more about how it occupies your mind.

I'm convinced the rise in people suffering from things like health anxiety is linked to the 24 hour 'always on' digital culture we live in now. Even 20 years ago, it was much easier to bubble away from triggers like the ones you describe.

I don't actually agree it is scaremongering - and my sibling is dying from cancer right now - but I do appreciate it's difficult for you. Unfortunately though, you can't change the world, you can only change yourself. Digital detox, get a brick phone, stop reading the papers, only watch TV on streaming services where you can avoid ads - there's lots you can do.

I just get annoyed because they say if you have these symptoms see a doctor.
My question is how? Not been able to see a doctor since pre Covid.

Thank you for the replies so far. To add, I too have lost several people to cancer, including my own father so I guess the knowledge that it's not a rare thing that only happens to other people makes it scarier! I get that awareness & early diagnosis is key, but I just wish it wasn't being forced upon me on a daily basis!

I have health anxiety too, especially around cancer. I'm afraid I think YABU but I say that with compassion.

Ultimately, it's not the world's responsibility to adjust itself to your anxieties. Only you can do that. You need to find ways of managing your anxiety better. Otherwise you're its servant. And how helpful is that?

Think of your mind as being a car, with an adult and a child in the front. With health anxiety, the child is driving the car. But the child should never drive the car; it is not in control, reacts disproportionately and is much more likely to crash.

You have to find ways to put your adult back in the driving seat.

I can recommend a couple of books;

• Overcoming Health Anxiety by Willson and Veale
• The Chimp Paradox by Steve Peters

I find the constant campaigns really distressing because when my sister had very obvious signs of cervical cancer it took several months before someone would physically examine her cervix.

Lots of telephone fob offs, several face to face "it's just part of being a woman" appointments. Complete refusal to conduct a smear because she wasn't due one. It took a complaint to the practice manager to get a nurse to agree to examine her cervix. Nurse immediately called through the doctor and my sister was referred urgently to gynaecology. Stage 4, she didn't have a chance - maybe if someone listened and acted when she first sought help it would have been caught much earlier and her prognosis would have been different. Within 18 months of being diagnosed we lost my sister, in her early 30s.

For all the good the campaigns intend to do, the health service couldn't give a flying fuck if you do get cancer. That's the distressing bit for me. Why bother telling people to seek help if the help isn't there?

The Cancer Research / Macmillan fundraising adverts absolutely do play on shock value and fear to try and get people to give them money. I think they're manipulative and unethical.

The "if you have symptom x for z weeks, talk to your GP" health information campaigns are just information usually, I wouldn't agree that those were scaremongering.

If half of the population may be affected by cancer then a huge number of people are living with cancer-related trauma.

In that context, the deliberately distressing fundraising strategies of Cancer Research et al are irresponsible and unethical.

Just because you believe your cause is important, doesn't give you the right to inflict harm on vast numbers of people. That is a breach of medical ethics (and basic decency).

I would also point out that the 1 in 2 statistic that pp are quoting comes from a deliberately intrusive fundraising campaign seeking cash, not a public health information message seeking to help people.

If half of the population may be affected by cancer then a huge number of people are living with cancer-related trauma.

In that context, the deliberately distressing fundraising strategies of Cancer Research et al are irresponsible and unethical.

Just because you believe your cause is important, doesn't give you the right to inflict harm on vast numbers of people. That is a breach of medical ethics (and basic decency).

I would also point out that the 1 in 2 statistic that pp are quoting comes from a deliberately intrusive fundraising campaign seeking cash, not a public health information message seeking to help people.

If half of the population may be affected by cancer then a huge number of people are living with cancer-related trauma.

In that context, the deliberately distressing fundraising strategies of Cancer Research et al are irresponsible and unethical.

Just because you believe your cause is important, doesn't give you the right to inflict harm on vaste numbers of people.

I would also point out that the 1 in 2 statistic that pp are quoting comes from a deliberately intrusive fundraising campaign seeking cash, not a public health information message seeking to help people.

Cancer is everywhere though, and for almost every single type, the earlier it’s picked up, the better the chance of the outcome.

People do need to be aware of what to look for.

Good luck with your health anxiety treatment, hopefully this won’t be so much of an issue for you afterwards.

If half of the population may be affected by cancer then a huge number of people are living with cancer-related trauma.

In that context, the deliberately distressing fundraising strategies of Cancer Research et al are irresponsible and unethical.

Just because you believe your cause is important, doesn't give you the right to inflict harm on vaste numbers of people.

I would also point out that the 1 in 2 statistic that pp are quoting comes from a deliberately intrusive fundraising campaign seeking cash, not a public health information message seeking to help people.

Are you me?
i am really fed up of daily reminders that anything could ‘be cancer’ - it’s majorly triggering my health anxiety as I’ve got some issues that are being investigated (so far not cancer but no diagnosis).
TV, magazines, online etc. it’s everywhere!!

Ps: my DM died of cancer so I’m not Simone not affected either

I also get incredibly anxious over this especially now I have a child. I have such a big fear of dying and what will happen to him. BUT it’s also what pushed me to getting smear tests despite my severe anxiety over them (cry in the waiting room and everything).

I had a friend recently 32 all very healthy who went for her standard smear and needed cells removed. She’s all fine now and has two kids. All these checked and preventative measures stops people dying young.

It is scary and that’s why it’s good to have coping mechanisms and not read things like that all the time. Eg I only read the news once a day now as it’s so awful.