Abstract
It is widely recognised by clinicians that depression is a difficult symptom to identify
amongst patients with advanced illness. Many of the symptoms of depression are difficult
to elicit in patients who are approaching the end of life. Additionally, many believe
that a ‘degree’ of depression is almost normal as patients approach life’s end. More
recently the concept of demoralization as a separate entity to depression has been
described which can be briefly described as a disorder of meaning and hope. In this
paper, we review these diagnoses together with the latest screening tools which can
help clinicians to recognise better such pathologies in their patients and discuss
interventions that can be utilised to help patients with depression or demoralization
to have a better quality of life.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 25, 2008
Accepted:
February 25,
2008
Received:
February 2,
2008
Identification
Copyright
© 2008 Elsevier Ltd. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
