By medical condition

Cancer

Long treatment, uncertain outcomes and a public narrative about 'fighting' that many patients find exhausting.

Diabetes

A condition managed by the patient, every hour, forever — which is why diabetes distress is so common and so under-recognised.

Kidney disease and dialysis

Time, fluid and diet are all restricted. Depression rates in dialysis populations are among the highest in medicine.

Stroke

A sudden loss of function and, often, of the ability to say what has been lost. Emotional consequences are the rule, not the exception.

Heart disease and heart failure

Fear centres on the organ itself: every palpitation feels like a verdict.

Dementia

A long, stepwise loss — for the person and for everyone who loves them. Caregiver strain here is the highest of any condition.

Parkinson's disease

A movement disorder whose non-motor symptoms — mood, sleep, cognition — often trouble people more than the tremor.

HIV

Medically a manageable long-term condition; socially still shadowed by stigma, which is now the main driver of distress.

Chronic pain

Invisible, doubted, and exhausting to keep explaining. The psychological load comes as much from disbelief as from the pain.

Multiple sclerosis

Unpredictability is the defining stressor — not knowing what next month's body will do.

Terminal and advanced illness

When treatment shifts from cure to comfort. The tasks change; the need for support increases sharply.

Rare diseases

Years to diagnosis, no local expertise, and no one else in the waiting room who has heard of it.