If 57% of French women affected by breast cancer were satisfied with their sexuality before the disease, only 15% are satisfied after treatment.
- The Covid epidemic that has been raging since 2019 has led to a considerable drop in breast cancer screenings and slowed excision surgery activities in 2019 and 2020.
- This will result in a significant increase in the number of breast cancers in the months to come.
According to a new survey, the sexuality of women with breast cancer is heavily impacted by the disease. However, this subject remains largely taboo and poorly supported.
Rethinking sexuality
55% of women battling breast cancer say they suffer from vaginal dryness, and 74% experience a drop in libido. This decrease in sexual desire can be explained by several factors, such as experiencing greater fatigue on a daily basis (74% of patients concerned), suffering from anxiety-depressive disorders (20% of respondents), having self-image degraded by hair loss and mastectomy (65%) or to feel a drop in self-esteem (50%).
Confronted with the disease, 56.8% of women also admit having had to rethink their sexuality: more tenderness, need for massages, use of lubricants, staying dressed to feel less embarrassed, increasing exchanges within the couple, developing oral sexuality , rethink positions, explore new communication within the couple…
However, 71% of those surveyed say they have not been warned at all about the impact of cancer on their sexuality. Of the remaining 29%: 13.8% received this information from their oncologist, 8.6% from nurses, 5.2% from their gynecologist, 3.4% from their surgeon, and 1.7% from their attending physician . For 31% of the sample, communicating about sexuality in the couple also turned out to be complicated.
Things buried or set aside
At the end of this study, it also appears that:
– communication difficulties that had existed in the couple for a long time and which had been swept under the rug before the cancer can take on major once the cancer is present.
– Patients are confronted with empathetic issues: it is difficult for partners to put themselves in the place of their spouses and to feel the experience of illness, pain and bodily transformation.
– Cancer often brings out things buried or set aside (shame, modesty, diversification of sexual orientation, desire for divorce or separation…).
For a real sexuality journey
“At a time when the subject of sexuality seems to be less and less taboo for women, both in their conversations and in the media, it is surprising to note that when the disease is there, this aspect, however fundamental of ‘balance is passed over in silence’, wonder the authors of the survey, Célia Charpentier and Isabelle Faure-Kandel, psychotherapists. “It is essential to set up a real sexuality pathway for patients”, they believe. The two health professionals also recommend that information on sexuality be systematically integrated into the care protocol by the medical profession.
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