This is my view of dealing with cancer as a family member of someone with the disease while I have a mental illness. Please take care when reading.

“Think Positive!”

This phrase has been banded about to me and my family since my mum’s cancer diagnosis. My mum’s friends have said it to her, some of my friends have said it to me and some of my dad’s friends have said it to him. We all hate the phrase!

I know the people saying this have the best intentions in the world but the reality is that it makes you feel like s***. Thinking positive when cancer is taking over your family life is not easy and actually really hard to deal with. It’s toxic. The number of times my mum has been in tears and feeling like she is weak because she is unable to think positive about the…