Anxiety and Depression Among Patients Diagnosed with Lymphoma

A lymphoma diagnosis can bring up a complicated swirl of emotions: stress and anxiety regarding treatment or what the future holds in store, fear over loss of control or the unknown, sadness or anger about your diagnosis.

It’s perfectly normal to feel upset, sad, or stressed when navigating lymphoma – but when are these feelings something more serious, and what can you do to help yourself cope?

Anxiety and Depression Among Lymphoma Patients

Clinical anxiety and depression go beyond just the everyday emotions of feeling down or stressed out that we all experience. Clinical depression is defined as feelings of sadness or lack of interest that are persistent and interfere with your daily life. Similarly, clinical anxiety is anxiety that doesn’t go away and can feel out of your control. This can look like:

• Persistent feelings of sadness or anxiety that don’t go away
• Lack of interest in activities that you used to enjoy
• Frequent crying, irritability, or difficulty with concentration
• Sleeping too much or not enough
• Inability to handle routine daily tasks that are normally done with ease
• Changes in appetite, weight and/or energy levels

While depression and anxiety can impact anyone, it may not surprise you to learn that the rates are higher in cancer patients. Going through cancer treatment can be a stressful, emotionally taxing experience, especially in the early days following a new lymphoma diagnosis.

A November 2022 study published in Blood discussing anxiety and depression in newly diagnosed lymphoma and myeloma patients found that over half of a group of lymphoma and myeloma patients surveyed had anxiety or depression.¹  Those with anxiety and depression reported a heavy psychological burden associated with their lymphoma diagnosis and generally had lower quality-of-life scores.

Coping with Feelings of Anxiety and Depression

While navigating a lymphoma diagnosis might not ever feel easy, there are ways to alleviate some of the overwhelming emotions you might experience and to help you manage feelings of anxiety or depression.

• Maintain a strong support system by communicating your fears and concerns with your family, friends, and care team.
• Write down thoughts and feelings in a journal to help you process and possibly let go of worries and fears.
• Finding a support group or other individuals who are also coping with cancer, or joining a peer support program like the Lymphoma Research Foundation’s Lymphoma Support Network to speak to others who have been through similar situations.
• Take care of yourself physically: try to stay as active as you feel able during treatment and aim for at least 7 hours of sleep per night.
• Incorporate stress-reducing activities into your care routine, like meditation, deep breathing, and stretching.
• Seek out resources to help you better understand your diagnosis and empower yourself during your lymphoma journey by attending one of the Foundation’s programs. Anxiety can often be connected to uncertainty about one’s diagnosis, so being an informed patient can help ameliorate these feelings.
• Find expert, compassionate support by reaching out to the Foundation’s Helpline staff.
• Ask for a referral to a psychiatrist, social worker, psychologist, or counselor who might be able to help through talk therapy, medications, or both. There are professionals who have specific experience in working with cancer patient concerns.

Navigating Emotions Amid a Lymphoma Diagnosis

It’s perfectly normal for your diagnosis to cause you to feel stressed out, sad, or upset – but there are resources and tools available to help you navigate these feelings. The Foundation offers free services to provide one on one support for lymphoma patients, care partners, and survivors and to help you form connections with others who understand exactly what you’re going through – get started at lymphoma.org/supportservices.

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1. Oreofe O. Odejide, Angel M. Cronin, Tamryn F. Gray, Tsotso Ablorh, Anna Ying, Amelia Yang, Cheyenne Ashley, Anna Tidswell, Eleanor Shi, Miryam Yusufov, Gregory A. Abel, Lizabeth Roemer; Anxiety and depression among patients newly diagnosed with lymphoma and myeloma. Blood Adv 2025; 9 (7): 1618–1629. doi: https://doi.org/10.1182/bloodadvances.2024014821