Medications not the answer to making those with cancer less depressed

People with advanced cancer – cancer which has spread to other parts of the body, and where treatment can only extend life and improve its quality rather than achieve a cure – can often become depressed about their situation.

Some people with this diagnosis develop major depression: depression severe enough to merit treatment and the evidence is that antidepressants help such people.

But most people with advanced cancer don’t have major depression. Yet they often feel anxious, sad, fatigued and don’t sleep well and doctors sometimes give them antidepressants in the hope they’ll help.

But an Australian trial – conducted by Associate Professor Martin Stocker from the University of Sydney – of antidepressants in such people with advanced cancer who don’t have major depression has found that these medications don’t make people feel better.

It may mean that these psychological problems may actually be a physical response to the cancer and its treatment rather than on a spectrum with depression and alternative ways of helping them need to be found.

These could include exercise, talking therapies and help getting a better night’s sleep.