A cancer diagnosis can disrupt your life in many ways. Along with the physical toll, cancer treatment often brings intense emotional stress and uncertainty. Many people feel anxious, overwhelmed, or stuck in survival mode.

If you’re going through this, you’re not alone—and there are simple things you can do that help. Managing stress is not about being perfect. It’s about finding small ways to feel grounded, more in control, and more like yourself.

April Hirschberg, MD, a Mass General Brigham psychiatrist, and Rachel Millstein, PhD, a Mass General Brigham psychologist, are two experts from the Lifestyle Medicine Program at Mass General Cancer Center. They work closely with people going through cancer or in survivorship and understand the real-life challenges treatment brings. In this article, they share practical ways to ease stress and improve your well-being.

Why stress management matters during cancer treatment

Stress itself is not inherently good or bad. Some stress can help you perform better at many things in life. However, too much stress becomes distress, and that’s when things can feel out of control or become detrimental to your health.

“Distress is a normal reaction to an extreme situation, which cancer is,” says Millstein. “Our goal with stress management during treatment is to improve your quality of life.”

She explains that during cancer treatment, managing stress can:

• Give you a greater sense of control
• Help you maintain your energy level, which is critical for getting through treatment
• Reduce some of the side effects of cancer treatment, such as nausea and pain

The types and layers of stress

“A new or ongoing diagnosis can cause multiple different kinds of stress,” says Hirschberg. “There are lots of ways stress can worsen physical symptoms, and your physical symptoms can also worsen your stress.” Cancer treatment isn’t just hard on the body—it’s hard on the mind too.

Stress during cancer treatment doesn’t look the same for everyone, but for most people, it’s more than just feeling “worried.” It can affect your entire body and your ability to function day to day.

The stress of cancer treatment can affect you in many ways:

• Emotionally: Anxiety, worry, sadness, grief about your health or loss of normal life, or feeling disconnected from yourself or others
• Mentally: Trouble focusing, forgetfulness, exhaustion from juggling appointments, or difficulty making decisions
• Physically: Fatigue, sleep problems, pain, digestive issues, or changes in appetite
• Socially: Feeling isolated or overwhelmed by interactions with others

Recognizing how stress shows up is the first step toward finding relief. “There are so many different layers of stress,” Hirschberg says. That’s why the Mass General Brigham team sees stress management as essential to whole-person cancer care.

Stress relief during cancer treatment

Stress during this time is natural, but when it builds up, it can affect how you feel each day and how you respond to treatment. That’s why learning to manage stress is part of your care.

When you’re dealing with cancer, it can feel like so much is out of your control. But small, everyday actions can make a real difference in how you feel. Stress relief isn’t about doing everything perfectly. It’s about finding simple tools that work for you.

Read more about managing stress during cancer treatment at massgeneralbrigham.org.