For breast cancer patients who happen to suffer from mood or anxiety disorders can be at a great risk of having posttraumatic stress disorder after hearing the news.  This study was done at the Ohio State University Medical Center where it find that out of 74 breast cancer patients about 16% of them had post traumatic stress disorder or PTSD within a year and a half of diagnosis.

The women who suffered from PTSD were known to have had a mood disorder such as depression or problems with anxiety than those who had not had such disorders before.  Those suffering from anxiety disorders seemed to have been even more likely than those who had depression alone to suffer from PTSD following a breast cancer diagnosis. 

For these women who have already suffered from anxiety and mood disorders it is not surprising that they developed post traumatic stress disorder.  For those that are about to undergo cancer treatment it can be a stressful situation, but for those already prone to such problems than it can be even worse. 

One way to combat this problem is that those who’ve been recently diagnosed with breast cancer and also have a history of such mood and anxiety disorders is that they receive special counselling and help at the time of their diagnosis.

Studies have also show that some women have ‘subsyndromal’ PTSD.  This means they had many symptoms of PTSD but not full-blown.  This was found in about 20 percent of women.  These women were more likely to have had some mood disorders, but not as likely to have and an anxiety disorder. 

The study also found that people who had previously abused alcohol or drugs that they were more likely to have such symptoms.  Of those women who developed PTSD about a third had had problems with alcohol and substance abuse.

If you fit this profile and have been recently diagnosed with breast cancer, than you should consider getting more help to avoid suffering from PTSD.  You can find out more and read the full findings on this website.