Hostname: page-component-cc8bf7c57-hbs24 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-10T06:16:06.808Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Social anxiety disorder as a hidden psychiatric comorbidity among cancer patients

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 February 2011

Tatsuo Akechi*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Cognitive-Behavioral Medicine, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Mizuho-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
Toru Okuyama
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Cognitive-Behavioral Medicine, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Mizuho-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
Ryuichi Sagawa
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Cognitive-Behavioral Medicine, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Mizuho-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
Megumi Uchida
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Cognitive-Behavioral Medicine, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Mizuho-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
Tomohiro Nakaguchi
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Cognitive-Behavioral Medicine, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Mizuho-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
Yoshinori Ito
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Cognitive-Behavioral Medicine, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Mizuho-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
Toshiaki A. Furukawa
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Cognitive-Behavioral Medicine, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Mizuho-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Tatsuo Akechi, Department of Psychiatry and Cognitive-Behavioral Medicine, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Mizuho-cho, Mizuho-ku, Nagoya, Aichi, 467-8601Japan. E-mail: takechi@med.nagoya-cu.ac.jp

Abstract

Objective:

Social anxiety disorder is one of the most popular psychiatric disorders in the general population and is also well known as a very common comorbid psychiatric disorder among patients with major depression. On the other hand, social anxiety disorder has been termed “the neglected anxiety disorder” because its diagnosis is often missed. Furthermore, the potential impact of social anxiety disorder on the psychological distress of cancer patients has not been reported.

Method:

We encountered two cancer patients with refractory depression after cancer diagnosis, in whom comorbid social anxiety disorder was unexpectedly detected during a subsequent follow-up.

Results:

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report to discuss the potential impact of social anxiety disorder on cancer patients' distress. These two cases may help to improve our understanding of the complicated mental health problems of cancer patients and the potential influence of social anxiety disorder on patients' follow-up medical treatment.

Significance of results:

Comorbid social anxiety disorder should be considered when a cancer patient's depression is resistant to treatment and the existence of communication problems between the patient and the medical staff is suspected.

Type
Case Report
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Heimberg, R.G., Horner, K.J., Juster, H.R., et al. (1999). Psychometric properties of the Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale. Psychological Medicine, 29, 199212.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kojima, M., Furukawa, T.A., Takahashi, H., et al. (2002). Cross-cultural validation of the Beck Depression Inventory-II in Japan. Psychiatry Research, 110, 291299.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Liebowitz, M.R. (1999). Update on the diagnosis and treatment of social anxiety disorder. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 60, 2226.Google ScholarPubMed
Mattick, R.P. & Clarke, J.C. (1998). Development and validation of measures of social phobia scrutiny fear and social interaction anxiety. Behavior Research and Therapy, 36, 455470.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rush, A.J., Wisniewski, S.R., Warden, D., et al. (2008). Selecting among second-step antidepressant medication monotherapies: Predictive value of clinical, demographic, or first-step treatment features. Archives of General Psychiatry, 65, 870880.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Souery, D., Oswald, P., Massat, I., et al. (2007). Clinical factors associated with treatment resistance in major depressive disorder: Results from a European multicenter study. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 68, 10621070.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stark, D., Kiely, M., Smith, A., et al. (2002). Anxiety disorders in cancer patients: their nature, associations, and relation to quality of life. Journal of Clinical Oncol, 20, 31373148.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stark, D.P. & House, A. (2000). Anxiety in cancer patients. British Journal of Cancer, 83, 12611267.Google Scholar
Stein, M.B. & Stein, D.J. (2008). Social anxiety disorder. Lancet, 371, 11151125.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zimmerman, M. & Chelminski, I. (2003). Clinician recognition of anxiety disorders in depressed outpatients. Journal of Psychiatry Research, 37, 325333.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed