Anthea Philip

Comment on: Don’t mistake the natural process of grief and sadness for depression

Anthea Philip's comment 25-Oct-2010 10:31 am

I look after cancer patients and a small percentage of them I believe are truly depressed and with good reason. In the past oncologists would say well of course they are depressed they have cancer what do you expect but do nothing about it. Now we are told by the cancer action team that all patients with cancer should have access to a clinical psychlogist if they are found to be depressed when using the distress thermometer and HAD scales. This does not happen because very few trusts have access to these wonderful people who can make such a difference. As a CNS I can support some of the patients, but for those who I feel out of my depth the only answer is to ask the GP for help and that usually involves antidepressants. I have noticed however that the majority of those patients requiring anti depressants seemed to manage the rest of their chemo in a better frame of mind. I also think that knowing they had discussed how they were feeling and knowing they had ongoing support from the doctors, nurses and their GP was also part of their improvement. I would still prefer to have a psychologist at hand however, but sadly that is unlikely.