This is fascinating. I love your approach Jenna. I used to work with someone who was a compulsive hand washer. So much of his day was wasted by having to ‘wash off germs.’
I have what I think might be very mild ocd. I count things. It’s never been a big issue because as soon as it starts I say ‘Stop counting.’ It started when I was stressed at work about 20 years ago. 💕
I admit from the get-go that I did not read this entire article. OK, in all honesty, I only read the title and first line. It was the title alone that grabbed my attention and inspired me to ask a question. It relates to your title because I have bounced back and forth from embracing and resisting my mental health issue and yielded to its claim over me, rationalizing that maybe it's a defense mechanism my body uses to keep me from being the person I once was; age notwithstanding. God knows, I have no interest in being a spring chicken again. I will leave that to be wasted on those far younger than me.
My question is: Is our mental health care system failing its patients?
I'm 75 and have been experiencing depression since my 40s. Only recently was I asked by my GP if I had been genetically tested to determine the most efficacious therapeutic for my condition. I told her no, and she referred me to a local behavioral health clinic to be tested. After getting the results back, it was shown that only two medications would be most effectively metabolized and received by my cells.
Assuming that genetic testing is still a relatively new diagnostic tool in the mental health practitioner's toolkit, why was I never asked about it before in the last 20 years, despite being seen by multiple providers from different disciplines?
I always described my condition as long-cycle mania-depression, trying to capture how it affects me in lay terms. Only the PA from the behavioral health clinic ruled out mania after I told her it lasted for months but never resulted in me having delusions of capabilities I do not possess. I also told her my depression's most vexing symptom for me was cognitive—I could not think linearly, forgot vocabulary words I use often, and could barely write a coherent sentence, much less a paragraph. I also became more compulsive about certain things.
I am now off the last iteration in my long list of prescribed SSRIs (Zoloft) and on an SNRI, Pristique. I have no idea what the future portends, but it seems someone would have asked me about genetic testing long before now.
That's a great question. Genetic testing to guide decision making on anti-depressants is in fact so new that it is not FDA cleared yet. It can't tell you what the right med is for you, but can help guide clinical decision making. It can provide insight to how you will likely metabolize a certain med, but not necessarily which will be most effective for you, and importantly doesn't account for how it will interact with your other meds and / or health conditions. Some of the genetic tests haven't even been proven by clinical studies as doing what they claim to test for. So no, I don't think it's a failure of the system that you weren't offered this before. You're just on the cutting edge. 😉 I do hope the Pristique Rx provides the help you need!
Politics aside, and considering who is in charge of the FDA now, I am encouraged that the agency hasn't approved it. I'm sure they are otherwise engaged seeking a cure for brain worms.
This is amazing, thank you so much for having me!
Thank YOU for sharing your expertise with us!
This is fascinating. I love your approach Jenna. I used to work with someone who was a compulsive hand washer. So much of his day was wasted by having to ‘wash off germs.’
I have what I think might be very mild ocd. I count things. It’s never been a big issue because as soon as it starts I say ‘Stop counting.’ It started when I was stressed at work about 20 years ago. 💕
Thank you, Sue! The counting is so tricky because it’s unobservable. Great job bringing awareness to it.
It is tricky. I can’t stop it but I can control it. 💕
You’ve got this!
👍💕
Deborah and Jenna,
I admit from the get-go that I did not read this entire article. OK, in all honesty, I only read the title and first line. It was the title alone that grabbed my attention and inspired me to ask a question. It relates to your title because I have bounced back and forth from embracing and resisting my mental health issue and yielded to its claim over me, rationalizing that maybe it's a defense mechanism my body uses to keep me from being the person I once was; age notwithstanding. God knows, I have no interest in being a spring chicken again. I will leave that to be wasted on those far younger than me.
My question is: Is our mental health care system failing its patients?
I'm 75 and have been experiencing depression since my 40s. Only recently was I asked by my GP if I had been genetically tested to determine the most efficacious therapeutic for my condition. I told her no, and she referred me to a local behavioral health clinic to be tested. After getting the results back, it was shown that only two medications would be most effectively metabolized and received by my cells.
Assuming that genetic testing is still a relatively new diagnostic tool in the mental health practitioner's toolkit, why was I never asked about it before in the last 20 years, despite being seen by multiple providers from different disciplines?
I always described my condition as long-cycle mania-depression, trying to capture how it affects me in lay terms. Only the PA from the behavioral health clinic ruled out mania after I told her it lasted for months but never resulted in me having delusions of capabilities I do not possess. I also told her my depression's most vexing symptom for me was cognitive—I could not think linearly, forgot vocabulary words I use often, and could barely write a coherent sentence, much less a paragraph. I also became more compulsive about certain things.
I am now off the last iteration in my long list of prescribed SSRIs (Zoloft) and on an SNRI, Pristique. I have no idea what the future portends, but it seems someone would have asked me about genetic testing long before now.
Do y'all have an opinion?
That's a great question. Genetic testing to guide decision making on anti-depressants is in fact so new that it is not FDA cleared yet. It can't tell you what the right med is for you, but can help guide clinical decision making. It can provide insight to how you will likely metabolize a certain med, but not necessarily which will be most effective for you, and importantly doesn't account for how it will interact with your other meds and / or health conditions. Some of the genetic tests haven't even been proven by clinical studies as doing what they claim to test for. So no, I don't think it's a failure of the system that you weren't offered this before. You're just on the cutting edge. 😉 I do hope the Pristique Rx provides the help you need!
Politics aside, and considering who is in charge of the FDA now, I am encouraged that the agency hasn't approved it. I'm sure they are otherwise engaged seeking a cure for brain worms.
😂