guess what: men with prostate cancer have depression!

[dadzone43]

Fervaha et al. Urol Onc: Seminars and Original Investigations 37(2019) 282-288 report that 1 in 6 men with CaP have depression. Some have suicidal ideations. They note "receipt of androgen deprivation therapy appears to have a negative effect (on mood)." They note and lament the lack of any clinical trials on antidepressant medications in men with CaP. They note that depression has a negative effect on oncologic outcomes. They suggest that urologic oncologists "consider assessment of this symptom domain..." Have any of your doctors assessed your depression symptoms at office visits? Mine have ignored them.

[David1958]

Gee, no kidding. It took me a long time to come to grips with what was keeping me down. You do not need to be in ADT to be depressed. With PC, your whole life has been changed even down to how you show intimacy with your partner. That is not an easy thing to wrap your head around. I did not seek treatment for it either, partly becuase it took me a long time to recognise it for what it was. I have never been depressed before, so I did not recognise it. I also was not comfortable discussing sexual issues with my Urologist. He was well meaning, but I have never been one to brag about my exploits. I ended up being philosophical about all the changes that have taken place. The important thing is that I am still alive.

[MarkBarnes in reply to David1958]

I couldn't agree more about the lack of attention/interest that most urologists have. Mine was an excellent surgeon, however when I was learning about the side effects of surgery I kept asking questions, and he said "my job is to preserve lives, not erections."

To his credit, his practice did send me to another urologist who focuses on men's sexual health. At least this guy was focused on helping with the side effects and was the only one of a dozen plus doctors that I saw that even asked about sexual orientation.

[dadzone43 in reply to MarkBarnes]

That is great. Not every surgeon is a people-person or equipped to deal with depression or ED. To your guy's credit he helped with a referral. Good news. I too got no question about sexusl orientation; maybe they guessed/assumed because my mald partner camd with me ... should have asked. Be well.