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For many people finishing treatment is a time they look forward to, and you assume you will feel happy and a sense of relief. Friends and family may be celebrating that you are finished or cancer ‘free’. This may be true for some people, but it is common and very normal to experience a range of emotions and concerns at this stage.

After treatment, it can take time to adjust and work towards building a new normal. There is no specific timeline to this, and it can vary person to person. It is normal at this time to find yourself thinking back on what you have been through and trying to process everything. Often when people are in the depths of treatment, they are in survival mode and therefore after this has finished everything that you have been through hits you.

People may experience:

  • Fear of recurrence
  • Living with the impact of continued physical side effects from treatment
  • Changes to confidence or self-esteem due to changes to the body because of treatment
  • Anxiety
  • Low mood
  • Change to your sense of self or identity
  • Changes to your sex and intimate life

 

It may be helpful to consider the following tips when managing your emotional wellbeing after treatment:

  • Allow yourself to feel any emotion, there is no one right way to feel. Often people think they need to feel grateful or happy to have survived, but it is normal to feel sad, angry or resentful. Often cancer can have a big impact on people’s lives and this can lead to a range of emotions
  • Consider talking to someone about how you feel (friends or family) or a support group
  • Give yourself time to adjust to a new sense of normal. It may be that what you value, place importance on or care about has shifted due to having been through cancer. You may find yourself reviewing your work, relationships, lifestyle and thinking about what is important to you now. Or it may be that you do not want to make any big changes to your life, and want to return to how things were before cancer
  • Give your mind time to heal and process what you have been through. Just as you would expect your body to take time to heal and recover, your mind and emotional wellbeing takes time to recover too
  • Setting goals to help bring focus and a sense of achievement. It is important for these goals to be realistic and achievable
  • See our pages for specific information on: fear of recurrence, continuing to manage physical consequences of cancer , body image concerns, anxiety, mood, sex and intimacy

 

Resources

Feelings after cancer treatment | Maggie’s

Macmillan Cancer Support

Further support

It is natural to feel a range of emotions after cancer treatment finishes, and often this will improve over time. However, if you are struggling and the tips on this page do not help then please do reach out for help.

Peer support:

Peer support can often be helpful, especially when people feel alone in their experience. There are a range of support groups available, you can speak to your cancer team about this for advice or look on the Macmillan website.

Psychological therapy:

Psychological therapy can be useful, and usually involves meeting with someone one to one or in a group. Therapists may use a variety of techniques to support you including (but not limited to) ideas from cognitive behavioural therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy and compassion focused therapy.

You can ask your cancer team for a referral to the Macmillan Cancer Psychological Support Team (CaPS) at St George’s Hospital if you are a patient under their care. Alternatively, you can speak to your GP about psychological therapy available, including your local Talking Therapies service.

You can find information about the CaPS team here

You can find your local talking therapies service here

Support from cancer charities:

Maggie’s centres offer a range of psychological support including support groups, drop-in services, workshops and courses, and one to one psychological therapy

You can either drop in, email or call them. They run a ‘ ‘Where Now? Support beyond treatment’ course

Macmillan offer a free support line on 0808 808 00 00, or you can email them for support: Emotional, financial and physical help for people with cancer | Macmillan Cancer Support

Community Mental Health Teams:

If you are already receiving support for your mental health, tell your team or therapist about how you are struggling now that cancer treatment has finished. For more information on this you can go to Community mental health services webpage

GP

You can speak to your GP about your emotional wellbeing after treatment. They may be able to support you in thinking about onward referrals or medication.

 

Thoughts of harming yourself or ending your life

For some people when they are facing a difficult time, they can have thoughts of harming themselves or ending their life. If you ever experience this, please seek immediate support via the Samaritans (116 123) for someone to talk with, ask for an emergency GP appointment, call 111 who can connect you with your local 24-hour mental health crisis team, or visit A&E.  You are not alone.