It’s tough living with a diagnosis of prostate cancer. While the disease has one of the highest survival rates of any cancer, the side effects of treatment can be life-long and take a heavy toll on men’s mental health.
Of the more than 3 million men currently living in the US with the aftermath of a diagnosis, over a million will experience anxiety and depression, sometimes long-term. Compared with men in the general population, men with prostate cancer are twice as likely to experience depression and three times more likely to experience anxiety.
Unaddressed psychological distress in men with prostate cancer can result in poorer treatment outcomes and lower quality of life. The risk of suicide for these men is greatest within the first year after diagnosis. However, despite routine medical follow-ups, most men with prostate cancer do not receive adequate psychological support. They are left to deal with a challenging treatment and survival journey without advice and tools to help themselves. Life is often never the same after a diagnosis of prostate cancer.
Facing the Tiger is written by health psychologist and nurse Suzanne Chambers, one of the world’s foremost experts in the psychology of cancer, specifically to address this need. It is designed to help men with prostate cancer and their wives and partners deal with challenges, decisions, and stress as they move through treatment. The book is based on solid evidence and over 30 years of professional experience and training. It includes authentic personal stories from those who have traveled the path before, along with practical strategies to manage stress and anxiety, improve health and wellbeing, make difficult decisions, seek support, and find a sense of ease about the situation in which you find yourself.
It is professionally endorsed by urology clinicians and nurses as a vital support step between the short (often scary) handouts full of statistics and bullet points available to men after diagnosis and the need for therapy when things get too tough to handle alone.
As Suzanne herself says: The road ahead is yours to travel. Parts of the future may seem clear. Some of it will be uncertain. Either way, it belongs to you. We can’t always choose what comes our way. But we can choose how we respond.
