Relative Something

Last week there was an article published in the StarTribune about Minnesota clinics publicly reporting their success rates at treating depression. It said the results were sobering. Depression is hard to treat? I’m not surprised. Actually, what the article is revealing about the report by the industry group that tracks health-care quality, is that follow-ups by clinics treating people for depression are hard to do because depressed people don’t follow up.

I can relate to that. I tried hosting a web site for depression support, but it didn’t really work. It was designed to allow online conversations among people who shared the experience of depression, only, participants tended not to return to follow up on topics and there ended up being very little in the way of conversation, supportive or otherwise.

So, the thinking is that if clinics aren’t able to follow up with patients they are treating who aren’t getting better, then they don’t get the chance to adjust the treatment in search of improved results. The hope is that clinics can find better ways to treat patients after seeing this “public report card” revealing the depressed level of success. (Pardon the irresistible pun.)

Last time I visited my clinic for a well-health (I thought) physical to get clearance for my trip to Nepal, I was asked to fill out a survey of my mental state. I was glad for the opportunity. I have had quite a run of success managing my depression without medication, using the knowledge I had gained about depression and how my thinking and self-talk had been unhealthy, plus how much I benefited from regular exercise.

It is the very clinic where I first sought help with depression. Just yesterday, as Cyndie and I were continuing to read the journals I’m salvaging from Hypercard, I was surprised to find this entry for May 11, 1993, revealing the point in time when that clinic visit happened:

Tuesday: There has been a gap in entries, if you notice here by the dates, and I am trying to get started again so this doesn’t just end. I have been busy at work but also I ended up taking last week off work and visiting doctors to to deal with some difficulties I’ve had over the years and recently have become more than I  feel I should try to cope with on my own.

Back to that recent physical, I wanted to fill out the survey to show the success I have been enjoying, but it wasn’t so simple. I can’t be anything but honest and there were questions that were situational. When I responded truthfully about the situations of the prior week, it came out sounding like depression, only I knew it wasn’t! I tried to explain, and then felt  my explanation sounded like a defense, but I didn’t have anything to be defensive about… Can you picture it? I felt like I was stuck in some scene from a sitcom. Luckily, it was kind of funny and I didn’t fret it, trusting they were able to read the rest of my indicators revealing I was doing ok.

I am happy to report that I am not one of the ones who hasn’t followed up with their clinic to report the status of the treatment for depression.