Mental Health: Asking for Help You Need
- Actress Candace Cameron Bure, known for her iconic role as “D.J Tanner” in the hit TV series “Full House” and Netflix’s “Fuller House,” has taken to social media to celebrate her 28th wedding anniversary with former ice hockey player Valeri Vladimirovich “Val” Bure, whom she shares three children with.
- Although the “Full House” star has so much to be grateful for, her successes haven’t prevented her from experiencing overwhelming emotions like depression, something she opened up about having earlier this year.
- The term mental health refers to both our emotional and psychological well-being. Our mental health can affect how we think, feel, and behave. Certain triggers like stress, traumatic events, or change in your physical health can affect mental health.
- It’s really important to keep tabs on your mental health and, if necessary, seek treatment. This doesn’t necessarily mean traditional therapy because while it may be really helpful (even life-changing) for some, that doesn’t mean it’s for everyone.
- Dr. Scott Irwin, a psychiatrist and Director of Supportive Care Services at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, tells SurvivorNet, “We all get depressed from time to time, have a sad day, feeling down and blue – that’s part of normal human emotion, part of normal life. “Some of us, when we’re dealing with difficult things such as a diagnosis of cancer, may be sad or down or blue more often. And sometimes it gets to the point where that depression can be a little bit overwhelming, and we help them through therapy, through non-medication interventions.”
- There are many ways to address mental health issues. Options may include meditation, practicing mindfulness, talking with a therapist, joining a support group, and medication, such as antidepressants.
Bure, who previously opened up about her struggle with depression, appears to be filled with love and happiness as she celebrates marrying her love back in 1996, captioning her most recent Instagram post, “28 years today! How it started… and how it’s going.”
Read MoreThe feature image on her post shows Bure in her then-boyfriend’s arms while standing on an ice rink, a sweet image that reminds us of how they met, something she’s shared on her website.View this post on Instagram
She explains in the “About” section on her website, “What some of you may not know is that while you were catching up on ‘Full House’ reruns, I was busy growing a family with my husband and former professional hockey player Valerie (Val) Bure.
“How did we meet you ask? My ‘Full House’ co-star, Dave Coulier (Joey Gladstone), introduced us at a charity hockey game when I was 19. With Val’s blonde flowy locks and Russian accent, how could I resist!? We were married soon after in 1996.”
She added, “Fun fact: it turned out Val learned English by watching ‘Full House!’ Our family quickly became a family of five with the birth of our children Natasha, Lev, and Maks. All of my ‘babies’ are officially entering into adulthood and leaving the nest.”
Despite all the wonderful things Bure has in her life, it hasn’t shielded her from overwhelming emotions one might feel throughout life.
Earlier this year, on March 26 episode of her “Candace Cameron Bure Podcast,” Bure said, “[Depression] is such a lonely place and it’s very difficult to speak out about it, even to your most trusted people.
“It’s hard to admit it, at least for me, I feel like because I should be strong enough to overcome that and then it just feels weak. It just feels so weak. And the perception of that.”
RELATED: Check out SurvivorNet’s Mental Health Resources
@ccbpodcast If you’re struggling with sadness or depression, today’s conversation is for you. 💛 Candace + Jennie vulnerably talk about how depression has impacted their lives and share ways you can overcome depression (while still recognizing why you’re sad). Head to AccessMore.com to tune in now.
The mom of three explained, “And I’ll also explain that there are a lot of people who feel that it’s weak and will verbalize that, so then it’s just immediate shame that you’re like, ‘Oh, well, if I struggle with this, then I’m a weak person.’ Yet so many times when I’m like, ‘I don’t want to feel this way.’
“I can try with all of my might to get out of this and I can’t pull myself out of the pit. I can’t pull myself out by myself. But it’s hard to extend the arm and go, ‘Help me.'”
More Mental Health Resources
- Mental Health and Cancer — The Fight, Flight or Freeze Response
- Changing the Culture: Medical Professionals Shouldn’t be Ashamed to Seek Mental Health Treatment
- Do You Have a Question About Mental Health & Cancer– Strong In Cancer — A New Column From SurvivorNet with Dr. Marianna Strongin
- Genetic Testing Can Empower You With Important Information
She wrote alongside her social media posts promoting the podcast episode, “We’ve been going through feelings and emotions this season on the @candacecameronburepodcast. This week @jennieallen and I touched on how depression has impacted our lives, and how to overcome it.
“If you struggle with sadness or depression, please know you are not alone! PSALM 34:17-18 says, “When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” Listen at Candace.com or watch this episode on YouTube.”
Meanwhile, in an earlier interview with The Salvation Army Midland Division, Bure also admitted to struggling with her mental health, revealing fitness has helped her cope along the way.
She said, “I have loved this journey of fitness. I feel stronger at 45 than I did when I was 20 years old. It’s just every time you get stronger, or I see my muscles from doing more pushups, it keeps me going to want to do more and just keep that up. Really another big part why fitness is important for me is it’s so beneficial to my mental health.
“I juggle, as we all do, a lot of plates. I not only juggle my family but also work in a lot of different capacities. It can get really difficult. The travel can get strenuous as well. I need to keep my mental health clear. Just sweating that out and all those endorphins really help me a lot.”
Bure concluded, “I notice a huge difference when I don’t exercise, how much it can affect me mentally and kind of deal with depression. That’s why I keep going. There are a lot of benefits I get. My mind is most important, and exercise definitely helps that.”
Mental Health: The Basics
The term mental health refers to both our emotional and psychological well-being. Our mental health can affect how we think, feel, and behave. Certain triggers like stress, traumatic events, or change in your physical health can affect mental health. It’s really important to keep tabs on your mental health and, if necessary, seek treatment. This doesn’t necessarily mean traditional therapy because while it may be really helpful (even life-changing) for some, that doesn’t mean it’s for everyone.
Problems with mood and overall mental well-being can be attributed to several factors. For some people it’s genetic, while others may be experiencing a response to some sort of stressor or past trauma.
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In order to keep your mental health in check, it’s important to be aware of signs, which can be subtle, that there is something affecting your mind. These signs may include:
- A change in eating or sleeping habits
- Losing interest in people or usual activities
- Experiencing little or no energy
- Numb and/or hopeless feelings
- Turning to drinking or drugs more than usual
- Non-typical angry, upset, or on-edge feelings
- Yelling/fighting with loved ones
- Experiencing mood swings
- Intrusive thoughts
- Trouble getting through daily tasks
Dr. Samantha Boardman, a New York-based psychologist, explains how to be “realistically optimistic”
These symptoms can be wide-ranging and vary a great deal from person to person. Everyone experiences grief differently, for example. However, if you are feeling unusually sad, on-edge, or like you’re no longer interested in activities you used to love, know that there are many treatment options available and many different, healthy ways to help you cope.
Coping With Depression
Dr. Scott Irwin, a psychiatrist and Director of Supportive Care Services at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, says it’s crucial for patients to talk to their care team about their mental health.
“We all get depressed from time to time, have a sad day, feeling down and blue — that’s part of normal human emotion, part of normal life,” Dr. Irwin explained.
“Some of us, when we’re dealing with difficult things such as a diagnosis of cancer, may be sad or down or blue more often. And sometimes it gets to the point where that depression can be a little bit overwhelming, and we help them through therapy, through non-medication interventions.”
There are many ways to address mental health issues as a cancer survivor. Options may include:
- Meditation
- Practicing mindfulness
- Talking with a therapist
- Joining a support group
- Medication, such as antidepressants
Medication
When doctors and patients together decide that medication is necessary, it’s important that doctors consider many different factors about their patient and their lives.
One way doctors can tailor mental health medications for their patients is through genetic testing.
Psychiatrist Dr. Lori Plutchik says genetic testing through companies like Genomind can help doctors understand how likely it is a patient may respond to different types of psychiatric medications.
“Doing the genetic testing has absolutely transformed the landscape of psycho-pharmacology,” Dr. Plutchik told SurvivorNet. “It’s something that I highly recommend for anybody who is taking medication.”
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Dr. Plutchik also explained that genetic testing can be specifically helpful for cancer patients because it may help avoid trial and error when it comes to choosing a mental health medication that does not interfere with their cancer treatment.
“So, a person who is dealing with this and may have to go on chemotherapy has already enough on their plate that they don’t really want to start dealing with trial and error with medications,” she said.
“So, it gives me information about which medications are likely to work without having problematic side effects, and it also gives information about interactions between any of the psych medications that we choose and the chemotherapy agents that they may be taking.”
Support Groups
Whether you’re coping with an illness, an emotional problem, or life transition, a support group can be a place where people in the same boat, or a similar situation, can come together.
But maybe you’re a little unsure or skeptical about joining a group. What will it be like? Are you expected to share your story?
Dr. Amy McNally, gynecologic oncologist with Minnesota Oncology, tries to reassure her patients that chances are, they’ll derive some benefit.
“I think in a support group you’re going to find women who are in similar situations but yet can share their unique stories,” she says.
“Just being there is worth it. You don’t have to share a thing. You can just sit and listen, or you can be part of the conversation and offer your thoughts. And it can be different every time you go, it’s your choice as to how or whether to participate and what you decide to get out of the group.”
McNally thinks it can be helpful and comforting to be around people who know what you’ve been through, or are going through, and that in and of itself is reason enough to try it out.
Meditation
Regularly meditating allows people to start to become more aware of the emotions in the physical body and the thoughts running through the mind, to acknowledge their thoughts as they arise, and then gently let them go.
Shannon Masur, a colon cancer and Lynch Syndrome survivor, describes this as “when a thought comes in, to feel it, feel the fear, but let it go after a few seconds.”
All of this is said to result in an overall reduction in stress and anxiety in the body. It may also help patients to control problems such as pain, difficulty sleeping, tiredness, feeling sick and high blood pressure.
For help getting started with meditation, here’s a guided session to try.
WATCH: A Guided Meditation for the SurvivorNet Community
Overall, don’t forget to prioritize your mental health if you are going through a stressful situation. You might feel like your mind is the least of your worries, but it’s important to know just how big of an impact your mental well-being can have on your health as a whole.
Contributing: SurvivorNet Staff
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