BMJ 2002;325:1115 ( 9 November )

Letters

Most patients depressed by cancer do not need drugs

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR---In the ABC of psychological medicine Peveler et al discuss depression in medical patients.1 As a haematologist I often have to respond to depressive reactions in patients with malignant disease who are confronted with a poor prognosis and difficult decisions about treatment. Some degree of this reactive demoralisation is normal and has to be acknowledged. It is psychological in nature and different from major depression as a disease of the brain.2 Sometimes the problem is distinguishing depressed patients with tumours from patients who are depressed because of tumours.

Most of the studies included in the meta-analysis of drug treatment taken from the Cochrane review by Gill and Hatcher had to struggle with this distinction.3 This analysis did not compare tricyclic antidepressants with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, as stated in the caption of the table; rather it compared drug treatment (tricyclic antidepressants, tetracyclic antidepressants, and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) . . . [Full text of this article]
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to StumbleUpon StumbleUpon   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Article

ABC of psychological medicine: Depression in medical patients
Robert Peveler, Alan Carson, and Gary Rodin
BMJ 2002 325: 149-152. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Access jobs at BMJ Careers
Whats new online at Student BMJ