When it comes to defining remission from depression, patients and doctors may not see eye to eye.
Unlike hypertension, depression can't be measured with a blood pressure cuff, so researchers must rely on standardized questionnaires to determine if patients are depressed. Such surveys ask patients if they feel sad, are losing weight or suffer insomnia.
But according to psychiatrist Mark Zimmerman of the Brown University School of Medicine, surveys gauge symptoms, but they omit aspects of recovery that patients regard as equally or more important, such as feeling optimistic or confident, or returning to their usual level of functioning at work and home. Patients tend to see recovery as a return to positive mental health, not just as a reduction in their symptoms.
The significance for patients? If you're in treatment for depression, tell your doctor what matters most and remember that she may be focused on a different measure of recovery.
