Many roadblocks hinder the diagnosis and treatment of depression in the medically ill, one being that patients may have certain thoughts or assumptions about their depression that may cause them to minimize the symptoms or not seek treatment for them. Patients may think it’s simply normal to feel sad after developing a specific medical condition. Sometimes it is brought on by a “chemical” medication that the patient is taking, such as steroids. It can be a detriment to the patient–even to their treatment–to allow the depression to go unchecked. My guest is Dr. John Wynn, a board-certified psychiatrist and medical director the Swedish Cancer Institute’s Psycho-Oncology Division in Seattle.
