One of the major global health crises in the contemporary scenario is the rapid increase in the incidence of the disease of cancer in general with breast cancer in particular affecting millions of women worldwide. The diagnosis of breast cancer provokes a series of changes in patient’s lives with social support seen as critical in facilitating women cope with the illness as well as the stress associated with it. Although breast cancer has emerged as the focus of clinical research and intervention in Kashmir, the experiences of support dynamics characterising post-diagnosis situation among such patients have been neglected. This qualitative study, thus, investigated the experiences of Kashmiri women with breast cancer regarding social support. Participants were invited for in-depth face-to-face interviews between November 2018 and March 2019 using snowball sampling technique, and the participants were recruited until data saturation was reached (n= 12). The study revealed that participants received overwhelming support (emotional, financial, practical, moral, and informational) from significant others (parents, siblings, husbands, children, extended family), important others (relatives, friends, neighbours, colleagues, peers), healthcare providers (doctors, nurses, paramedics, physician’s assistants), and religion and spirituality (religious beliefs and practices, spiritual healers, shrines) throughout their journey with breast cancer and reported varying positive outcomes as a result of the support received. Moreover, social support received provided them strength, and encouragement and instilled feeling of optimism that helped them to deal with their illness. The study further highlights a need for interventions that could address the unmet support needs thereby reducing the disturbance and sufferings experienced by women post-diagnosis.

在当代情况下，全球主要的健康危机之一是总体上癌症疾病的发病率迅速增加，尤其是乳腺癌影响了全世界数以百万计的妇女。乳腺癌的诊断引发了患者生活的一系列变化，社会支持被认为对促进妇女应对疾病以及与之相关的压力至关重要。尽管乳腺癌已成为克什米尔临床研究和干预的重点，但对于这类患者诊断后情况的支持动力学经验却被忽略了。因此，这项定性研究调查了克什米尔女性乳腺癌患者在社会支持方面的经验。ñ= 12）。研究表明，参与者从重要的其他人（父母，兄弟姐妹，丈夫，孩子，大家庭），重要的其他人（亲戚，朋友，邻居，同事，同龄人）那里获得了压倒性的支持（情感，财务，实践，道德和信息性），医疗保健提供者（医生，护士，护理人员，医师的助手）以及宗教和灵性（宗教信仰和习俗，精神治疗者，神社）在乳腺癌的整个征程中，并由于得到的支持而报告了不同的积极成果。此外，得到的社会支持为他们提供了力量，鼓励和灌输的乐观情绪，帮助他们应对疾病。