Psycho social determinants of health are of prime importance to all of us so there is no question that it has great impact on our patients too. My patient is 29yo M who i started on an SSRI 5 weeks ago for mild depression and returned for a follow up visit this week. I am pleased to say that he has progressed beautifully with his PHQ score falling to a 4 indicative of only minimal depression. Although reflexively i felt that it was the medication i had started him on that made the magical difference, upon inquiring more i was able to come across a golden point whilst obtaining history in depth that beiing his wife.
He did report that his wife has been a very strong support system who has helped him tremendously throughout his illness and is a critical pillar of his management process. This came across as a wonderful example where in the case of my patient the presence of psycho social support had positive implications on my patients disease process.
Unfortunately not everyone has this blessing. Something for us to reflect on and thank god for what we have and to always keep in mind that for some of our patients we may be their only family.
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