October is Breast cancer awareness month and checking your breasts for any changes is crucial if you want to avoid risking your life. In todays blog post I am talking ‘carcinophobia’.
However, for some people (and I say people, not women, as Breast cancer can affect men too!), the very thought of going to see their Doctor and possibly being diagnosed with cancer leaves them in a state of panic.
Of course, we ALL dread the day where we could be told that we (or a loved one) has cancer. It’s not something that any of us look forward to now is it….However, for some people, they fear the existence of cancer even more than the average person. Introducing carcinophobia – a phobia of cancer.
Chris says: What to do if you have carcinophobia.
1. Recognise that you have a phobia.
If you have carcinophobia the first thing that you need to do is acknowledge that a) you have a phobia and b) this phobia could potentially put your life at risk.
The good news is, that just like any phobia, carcinophobia is totally treatable if you work with a phobia specialist. But please, do NOT just ignore the phobia as it will not go away by itself, and like I have already said, you could be risking your life here.
2. Talk to your GP about it.
Talk to your GP and let him or her know that you have this real deep seated fear. They will then be aware, and can possibly refer you to see someone for check ups who is in the know about your phobia and will work with you rather than against you to make sure that you are up to date with your breast health checks.
Don’t just ignore any lumps, letters or GP contact. You have to face up to what is going on here. It could be a life saver.
3. Arm yourself with the facts about cancer and survival rates.
These days, the sooner that you catch something suspicious, the better your chances of recovering from it. Breast Cancer treatments in particular have come on leaps and bounds. Arm yourself with the knowledge, and then ask yourself, is avoiding finding a cancer really the path of least resistance? No. In the long term, if something were wrong with you, you’d have a lot more to contend with.
Carcinophobia is not something that many people are aware exists nor is it something that is easy to relate to. This is because many of us, if not all of us, have a real fear about cancer. Therefore, for those who do have carcinophobia they may find that when they have tried to talk to people about it, they are met with a ‘yeah me too…’ and they then start to doubt the real depth of their own fear, writing it off as being a ‘normal fear of cancer’.
However, carcinophobia is an actual Phobia and must be treated as such. I want to end this article with a quick tip for you. If you do have carcinophobia then I want you to dig deep and take yourself back to the time and place where this fear started for you. Close your eyes, go back there, and really let yourself feel things. This is a personal journey, this is just between you and yourself.
I want you to now turn down your feelings. Take hold of a dial that you will see right before you. Turn it, and watch the numbers as they count down, from wherever your fear was at, to where you want it to be. Also, notice how when you do this, that they colour of this scenario also changes. It goes from whatever colour you see it in, to being black and white.
Finally, notice how the whole memory just seems to slip away from you. When you feel ready to so, let it go. And then see yourself sat here, in the moment, as you are…exactly. Calm, composed and in control again.
Then make a pact with yourself, that you will deal with this phobia and then make friends with your breasts again. Of course, carcinophobia is not only applicable to breasts, but as it is Breast Cancer Awareness month, I must end this post with a friendly reminder of just how crucial it is for both men and women to check their breasts regularly.
if you want to book a free clarity call with me so that we can talk about how to get YOU over your carcinophobia then please don’t hesitate to do so.
