Fear of recurrence in cancer survivors is often so existential that it’s like speaking a different language. Most doctors do not fully grasp the profundity of the problem itself, and patients feel misunderstood. Moreover, clinicians are often frustrated because, over a decade into remission, it’s the same fear of recurrence that stops survivors from leading full lives.

We’ve lost friends to cancer, but we’ve also lost fellow survivors to addiction, depression, and suicide.  The despair is especially pronounced in young cancer survivors who are 57% more likely to develop depression, 29% more likely to develop anxiety, and 56% more likely to develop psychotic disorders than their healthy siblings. And for those in palliative care, anxiety and depression have increased significantly over the last two decades.  

As if that weren’t enough, other sources of cancer-related distress for survivors include concerns about fertility, family and finances, changes in body image and sexuality, and the challenges of managing long-term health needs and costs. Survivorship often means grief now, and for the rest of our lives. The only thing that’s helped many of us shorten the darkness of anxiety and despair was a guided experience with psychedelics.

Many people in the cancer community have had similar positive experiences, but there wasn’t an organization for us to advocate for our needs. That’s why a group of us started The Survivorship Collective: to help cancer patients, survivors, and their loved ones fully enjoy the time they have in a safe, legal, scienced-based way.

Anne Hamilton, Founder