The short answer
Almost half of all people with cancer say they feel some anxiety, and it can get worse as treatment intensifies. NCI describes relaxation training, breathing exercises, meditation, yoga and cognitive behavior therapy among the approaches used. NCI also says your doctor will screen you to find out whether you need help adjusting to cancer, which makes infusion day a fair time to raise it.
Almost half of all people with cancer say they feel some anxiety.
About one fourth experience significant anxiety.
Anxiety can get worse as cancer progresses or treatment intensifies.
Relaxation training, breathing exercises, meditation and yoga are among the approaches NCI describes.
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The full explanation.
You are not unusual
Studies show that almost half of all people with cancer say they feel some anxiety. About one fourth say they feel a great deal of anxiety.
Those are large numbers. They should take some pressure off you. Feeling wound tight the night before an infusion is common. So is feeling it in the parking lot outside the clinic. It is a shared experience, not a sign that you are handling this badly.
NCI also notes that anxiety can get worse as cancer progresses or as treatment intensifies. So if it grows over months, that is a pattern. It is not a personal failure.
What it can feel like in the body
Anxiety is often physical before you can put it into words. NCI lists shortness of breath, a fast heartbeat, sweating, muscle tension, nausea and dizziness. It lists intense fear and worry too.
It helps to know these are anxiety symptoms. Even so, tell your nurse if your heart races or you feel breathless during treatment. Do not just assume it is nerves.
Approaches that are used
NCI describes several. None is ranked as right for everyone:
- relaxation training, which it groups with hypnosis, meditation and guided imagery
- cognitive behavior therapy, a form of talk therapy that works on thoughts and habits
- problem-solving strategies
- yoga and breathing exercises
- meditation practices
Breathing exercises are the easiest place to start. They need no equipment. You can do them in a chair with an IV in your arm.
Pick one thing and practise it on a calm day. Then it is already familiar when you need it.
Why "just keep busy" is incomplete advice
Someone will offer you this advice. Here is what to know first. NCI states that anxiety is not relieved by distraction by staying busy for some individuals.
Maybe you have tried filling every hour, and the dread still waited for you. That is a documented experience. It is not proof that you did not try hard enough. It also suggests something. For some people, distraction alone is not the answer, and a more structured approach is needed.
Getting it on the record
NCI says your doctor will screen you to find out whether you need help adjusting to cancer. That screening is usually just questions: how you feel, your energy level, your relationships, your work, your finances.
If nobody has asked you, ask them. Say plainly that infusion days are hard. Say that you would like to be screened. That one sentence is enough to open the door.
NCI names the professionals who can evaluate and treat this. They are psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers and palliative care specialists. Many cancer centers already have some of them in the building.
Counseling, medicine, or both
NCI describes trying counseling before medicine. Some people do not improve with counseling alone. For them, medication combined with therapy is described as an option.
That order is worth knowing, so you can ask about it directly. It also means you do not have to walk in with your mind made up. You only need to say that this is affecting you. Let the conversation start there.
Words to know
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Common questions
Is it normal to dread the infusion chair?
Anxiety is very common in cancer. Almost half of all people with cancer report some anxiety, and about a fourth have significant anxiety.
What can I try?
NCI describes relaxation training, including hypnosis, meditation and guided imagery, along with breathing exercises, yoga, cognitive behavior therapy and problem-solving strategies.
Will keeping busy fix it?
Not reliably. NCI notes that for some people anxiety is not relieved by distraction by staying busy.
Do I need medicine for this?
NCI describes trying counseling before medicine, with medication combined with therapy for people for whom counseling alone does not work. That decision belongs to you and your team.
Questions to ask your doctor
Being prepared helps you get the most out of your appointments. Save or print these questions.
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Your next step
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Plain-language explanation of the published sources cited on this page. AI-assisted, source-checked, not clinician-reviewed.
Sources last checked: 2026-08-11 what this meansLast updated: 2026-08-18Next planned review: 2027-08-11
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How this page was created
Cancer Explained does not originate medical claims. Every page restates guidance already published by the National Cancer Institute, the CDC, the USPSTF and the FDA, in plain language, with the source cited so you can check the original yourself. AI does the translating and organizing; automated checks test claims, citations, clarity and safety before anything publishes. We do not employ clinicians and do not intend to — our work is translation and navigation, not clinical judgment. Nothing here is personal medical advice, and no page can account for your particular situation.
Editorial status: Source checked — This page was written with AI assistance and checked line by line against the sources listed on it. That confirms the sources support what the page says. It is not a medical review, and it does not confirm the page is complete or right for your situation.
Human medical review: not completed. Pages here are not signed off by a clinician before they publish. That is not an oversight we are quietly working around: we restate published guidance and cite it, so the authority belongs to the source rather than to us, and every page names where its claims come from — you can verify us instead of trusting us. Where a volunteer clinician has reviewed a page, their name and credentials appear on it; where no name appears, no clinician has checked it. We are glad to have reviewers and are recruiting them, and we do not hold pages back waiting for one. Use this site to understand your situation and to ask better questions of the people treating you.
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