Women Worry More Than Their Husbands About Prostate Cancer Recurrence

A recent study has shown that, while men seem to become less anxious about the possibility of prostate cancer recurrence following treatment, their wives or girlfriends continue to worry well into the future.

The research, published by doctors from Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York, seems to show that men who have been treated for prostate cancer, more often than not, return to a near-baseline level of worry about their disease once their treatment has ended. The wives or long-term girlfriends of these men, however, continue to have high levels of anxiety about recurrence that do not subside after treatment has ended.

In my experience, this seems to be partly true. Many men seem to return to their baseline quite quickly following prostate cancer treatment. They often just "want to get back to normal" and choose to avoid talking, reading, or perseverating about their cancer. Many wives, however, view the situation differently and continue to pour a great deal of energy, time, and worry into their husbands' conditions.

I'm not completely convinced that men actually do return to a baseline level of anxiety, however. I suspect that many men are just as anxious as their wives, but don't choose to think about it or discuss it.

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