Patients can honestly talk about their feelings to people around them, including family and friends, who can always comfort them and help them pull themselves together. Care and support can enable the patient to reintegrate into the family and social networks without being lonely.
Patients can join different patient support groups to connect with other patients or survivors, including face-to-face mutual support groups and online communities. By joining these groups, patients are encouraged to learn from others as well as sharing their own experiences so as to back each other up on the road to recovery.
If patients are too embarrassed to talk about their feelings, they can also consider accessing personal or family counselling services. Doctors or social workers can make a referral to such services.
For more information about patient organizations, please refer to the Hospital Authority's website.