Scanxiety: coping with scans and waiting for results
Why the days around a scan are so hard, and a practical set of things that genuinely help before, during and after the wait.
5 min read · Part of Follow-Up & Surveillance
Written by The LifeAfterward editorial team from the sources listed at the end of this page.
Not individually reviewed by a clinician. This page is written from published clinical guidance, listed in full at the end, and is general information rather than medical advice — your own team knows your case. See our editorial standards.
Last checked against its sources · Last updated · Next check due
In short
- Anxiety that builds before a scan and peaks while waiting for results is so common it has its own informal name.
- It is usually anticipatory: the body reacts to a known threat cue — a letter, a hospital car park, a phone number on the screen.
- Shortening the wait, planning the days deliberately, and knowing exactly when results arrive helps more than trying not to think about it.
- If the weeks around scans are consuming your life, that is treatable — psychological therapies for fear of recurrence have good evidence.
What this means
Scan-related anxiety is not a sign that you are coping badly. It is a predictable response to a situation in which something enormously important is decided by other people, at a time you do not control, based on evidence you cannot see. Understanding the shape of it — build-up, spike, crash — makes it easier to plan around rather than fight.
The shape of it
Most people describe the same curve: unease when the appointment letter arrives, tightening in the days before, a strange calm on the day itself, then the worst part — the wait. Sleep goes first, then concentration, then patience. When the result comes, relief is often followed by a flat, tearful day or two. All of this is common.
The scan is one hour. The waiting is nine days. Nobody warns you that the waiting is the treatment you have to get through.A theme reported repeatedly in survivorship research and support groups
Before the scan
- Ask for the scan and the results appointment to be close together, and ask what the realistic gap is. This one question removes more distress than any coping technique.
- Ask who will call, and when, and what happens if they do not.
- Book the days deliberately: something absorbing on scan day and on results day, ideally with another person.
- Tell one or two people the dates. Not having to explain why you are short-tempered is a relief in itself.
- Keep to sleep and exercise routines. Both are the first things to go and both directly reduce anxiety.
- Decide in advance whether you will look at the portal before your appointment — and stick to it.
During the wait
Trying not to think about a scan does not work; suppressed thoughts return harder. What works better is giving the worry a defined place instead of letting it colonise the whole day.
Things that help, and are worth trying in order
- Set a "worry window" — fifteen minutes at a fixed time to think about it deliberately, then return to the day.
- Use physical activity: a brisk walk changes the body's arousal state faster than reasoning does.
- Use grounding techniques when the spike hits — slow breathing with a longer out-breath, cold water on the wrists, naming five things you can see.
- Limit searching. Reading survival statistics during a wait is a reliable way to feel worse, and population statistics do not describe an individual.
- Plan the evening, not the outcome. "What will I do at six?" is answerable; "what will the scan show?" is not.
- If you sleep badly, get up and do something quiet rather than lying with it. Sleep returns after the result.
After the result
Good news often lands strangely. People describe crying, exhaustion, or feeling nothing at all — the body has been braced and the release takes a day or two. Expect it and plan a soft day rather than a celebration you have to perform.
If the result is not what you hoped, the ground is different but not gone: ask what it means, what the options are, and what the timescale is before making any decisions. Bring someone to that conversation, and ask for it in writing.
When to ask for more help
Ask for support if the anxiety is not confined to the scan window, if you are avoiding appointments because of it, if it is affecting work or relationships, or if you are checking your body compulsively. Psychological therapies designed for fear of cancer recurrence — including cognitive behavioural approaches and mindfulness-based programmes — have been shown to reduce it, and are more effective than general reassurance.
Fear of recurrence covers this in detail, including what to say when you ask for a referral.
What to ask your healthcare team
- How long will the wait between the scan and the result usually be?
- Who will contact me, on what day, and how — and what should I do if I hear nothing?
- Can I have the scan and the results appointment closer together?
- Will the results be visible in the patient portal before I speak to you?
- Is there a psychologist, counsellor or support service attached to the cancer service?
Save questions to My Journey so you have them in the room, or use a ready-made list.
When to seek medical advice
Contact your healthcare team if you have:
- Anxiety that persists between scan cycles rather than settling after results.
- Avoiding scans, appointments or tests because of fear.
- Sleep problems lasting more than a few weeks, or use of alcohol or sedatives to get through.
- Panic attacks, or physical symptoms of anxiety you cannot settle.
Get emergency help the same day if you have:
- Thoughts of harming yourself, or feeling you cannot go on — contact your local emergency number, a crisis line, or go to an emergency department now. See urgent help.
If you are worried and unsure, contact your team anyway — they would far rather hear from you unnecessarily than late. What to do in an emergency.
Common questions
What is scanxiety?
An informal term for the anxiety that builds before a scan and peaks while waiting for results. It is extremely common after cancer treatment and is a normal anticipatory response, not a sign of poor coping.
How can I cope with waiting for scan results?
Find out exactly when and how results will come, plan the waiting days with absorbing activity and company, keep sleep and exercise routines, contain worry to a fixed window rather than suppressing it, and avoid searching for statistics. If the anxiety spreads beyond the scan window, ask about psychological support — therapies aimed at fear of recurrence work.
Sources
This page was written from the guidance below and checked against it on . Links are re-checked at each review — see our editorial standards.
- Journal of Cancer Survivorship (2013). Fear of cancer recurrence in adult cancer survivors: a systematic review of quantitative studies (Simard et al.)
- Journal of Clinical Oncology (2023). Management of Anxiety and Depression in Adult Survivors of Cancer: ASCO Guideline Update
- National Cancer Institute (US). Feelings and cancer
- Macmillan Cancer Support. After treatment finishes
- ASCO (Cancer.Net). Survivorship