Five Ways to Promote Positivity When Battling Breast Cancer
In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the health experts at Envolve, an integrated healthcare solutions company, would like to share five ways to promote positivity when battling a disease or caring for someone who is.
1. Watch Your Words. The concept is simple – negative words promote negativity and positive words encourage positivity. This not only applies to what you say out loud but also how you think about things. Instead of focusing on “this is so hard to deal with” try changing your point of view to “you can handle this.” If you’re supporting someone who is battling cancer, be aware that your words can rub off. Try to remain encouraging in what you say, but also know when you should not talk and just listen to support your loved one.
2. Share Your Thoughts. Keeping everything bottled up inside can cause someone dealing with cancer to feel lonely and make emotional pain more severe. Surround yourself with people who help you feel happy, who make you laugh and who empathize with you without only dwelling on the negativity of the situation. When dealing with a cancer diagnosis, it’s unrealistic to think you can always stay positive, but being in the company of those who love you and listen to you can help you express those feelings so you can have a better quality of life.
3. Maintain Normalcy. As much as possible, stay in your normal daily routine. Having an identity outside of a diagnosis or other than being a primary caregiver helps you continue to enjoy the smaller and larger parts of life. From walking the family dog to attending a friend’s wedding, taking part in positive moments helps to support a positive mindset. Even ordinary moments that may seem mundane have the ability to create a sense of normalcy and encourage hope and happiness.
4. Pay it Forward. Studies show that kindness decreases both depression and anxiety and increases happiness and serotonin (the feel-good chemical your body naturally produces). If you’re having a bad day and just can’t break away from negative thoughts, try a random act of kindness. You’ll not only make someone else’s day better, your mood will improve too.
5. Have Hope. Allow yourself to make plans and goals for the future. Have you wanted to learn a foreign language? Float through the sky in a hot-air balloon? Whatever you’ve dreamed of, start now or plan to after your treatment finishes. Many studies show that maintaining hope and having something to look forward to improve your mood and outlook. If you’re caring for someone with a diagnosis, spend time together talking about the happy and fun times ahead.
About Envolve, Inc.®
Envolve, Inc.® is a family of health solutions, working together to make healthcare simpler, more effective and more accessible for everyone. As an agent for change in healthcare, Envolve is committed to transforming the health of the community, one person at a time. Envolve unifies medical management, utilization management, specialty pharmacy, PBM, vision, dental, behavioral health management, life and health/wellness management, empowerment and education services, telehealth services, 24/7 nurse advice services, and data, analytics and IT solutions. For more information, please visit our website www.envolvehealth.com or contact us today at mediainquiries@envolvehealth.com.
