Follow Up!

So I went for my "psych eval" this week. Ya it's about as fun as it sounds.

I get there on time. And surprisingly the doctor is on time as well. I say doctor—he's actually a visiting doctor. Drive-by assessment, as it were. He's a doctor, but he's from out of town. Way out of town if I had to guess. He had an accent that I was not familiar with. Good English, but an accent nonetheless.

I'm not good with accents. I'm not good at understanding most Canadian english speakers. When you throw an accent on top of that I have to listen really intently. And purposely. So, at the very least, he thought I was really interested in what he was saying.

But that is neither here not there. He's a certified doctor. And was, in fact, a good doctor. The session was more of an interview than a "therapy session". He asked the questions you would except him to ask. "how are you feeling?" "how was your childhood?" "how's work?" "do you have friends?". Peppered in with these benign questions were questions like "have you considered suicide?" "have you ever hurt yourself?" "do you think the world is out to get you?". You know, pretty standard stuff. OK so all the questions were not that standard but I guess they are standard for an "are you depressed" questionnaire.

I answered every question as truthfully as I knew it. And before I knew it our hour was up. The visiting doctor left me to discuss my case with the clinic lead. Thirty minutes later all three of us would get together to discuss where we would go from here.

And thirty minutes later the three of us were in the lead doctor's office but instead of talking about my case and where we go from here he starts asking me follow up questions. The doctors had clearly spoken as he didn't ask the same questions. He asked new questions. He asked follow-up questions. He asked deeper questions. I talk for another 30 minutes.

At the end of this thirty minutes he looks at his watch and says "if it's OK with you I want to see you again as soon as possible. Make an appointment on your way out."

Well now. How do I take that?

I take it quiet well in fact. Though I did not get a definitive diagnosis, one way or the other, I did get confirmation that what I'm feeling is as complex as I thought it was. It's not simply a matter of "you're depressed, take these pills" or "you're fine, get more exercise and it will be better."

So, I have another session in a couple of weeks and I look forward to it.

Ever onward.