Abstract

Partners often assume the role of caregiver when cancer is brought into the home. The support caregivers provide to cancer patients has immeasurable value. However, care giving can take a significant toll on loved ones from both a psychological and physiological perspective; sometimes to the point of producing caregiver burden. One of the diseases most prevalent in caregivers is depression. Signs and symptoms of depression amongst caregivers vary from mild to severe and people respond quite differently to the life stressors they face. While, the exact cause of depression is not known, proven research correlates it with an internal chemical and/or neurotransmitter imbalance that can be triggered by stress, chronic stress in particular. As a mood disorder, depression affects how you feel, think, and function in the performance of your daily activities. It is critically important to identify caregivers exhibiting depressive symptoms and first, to provide them with both emotional and psychological support, and second, so as to ensure the individual battling cancer receives optimal support from their loved ones. This review article serves to promote health awareness and the unmet needs of cancer patient caregivers, the presence of caregiver burden, and the impact that stress can have on one’s neurophysiological processes to precipitate the development of mental illness such as depression.

Keywords

Cancer, Caregivers, Psychological adjustment, Depression, Partner, Informal caregiver, Unmet needs, Adrenocorticotropic hormone, HPA, SNS, Corticotropin-releasing hormone