Quality of life

I recently had a patient with Parkinson’s disease. As you might expect from a disease that can literally cause muscles to stop working, severe stiffness, and/or uncontrollable tremors, depression is common in this illness. Indeed, about half of all people with Parkinson’s disease suffer from depression. The thing that really upset my patient’s spouse was that they had seen many physicians and whenever the topic of depression was brought up they were met with comments such as “Well, yes, of course she’s depressed. She has Parkinson’s disease.” The family felt that she was basically being told that this is a part of the disease and were frustrated that no treatment was offered.

As a result of the above, the patient went years without treatment for depression and by the time I see her she is suicidal and severely depressed. Now, I am not saying that if intervention such as anti-depressants and/or psychotherapy were begun earlier that she would not be depressed. But she would probably be a lot better of than she is now. So one of my goals was to emphasize to the physician that this person can enjoy improved quality of life if depression is treated. I have marveled at patients with severe disabilities who go on to enjoy life no matter what. It can be done, but some health care providers need to have a greater awareness of this. Have you had similar experiences of feeling snubbed in your doctor’s office? If so, post them here.