This belief interferes with earlier recognition, earlier treatment, and earlier relief of suffering from clinical depression. This belief also ignores the fact that clinical depression in the physically ill generally responds well to standard psychiatric treatments and that patients treated only for their physical illness will suffer needlessly the effects of clinical depression. The most common cause is the emotional drain caused by the continuous series of stresses and strains associated with coping with the chronic illness and medical condition. Other causes may be the many sacrifices and losses required by the continuous life adjustments that a patient with a chronic illness must make. Of course, there are lupus patients who would develop clinical depression whether or not they had lupus.
Effective treatment requires early diagnosis and early intervention.
Fortunately, most episodes of depressive illness in people with lupus are short-lived and subside on their own within a few months. Just as some lupus patients can tolerate a lot of pain, some seem to be able to accept and tolerate major symptoms of depressive illness without complaint. Depression is very stressful and anxiety producing, which may exacerbate the lupus. Depressive reactions should be treated with the same aggressiveness and persistence that one would use to treat a lupus flare, or any other medical complaint. Naturally, any underlying medical condition that could contribute to the depression must be identified and controlled.