MANAGING STRESS IN OUR LIVES

Entries in individuality (1)

Thursday
Jul182013

WHY MUST TREATMENT BE INDIVIDUALIZED?

I have previously written about the fact that we are not statistics and that any one individual may not fit where most people [statistically about 68%] can be grouped when making diagnostic and treatment decisions.  It is clear that 32% of people fall outside one standard deviation from the mean and may not fit diagnoses or treatments based on studies that use statistical analyses [they almost all do].  In addition, the accuracy of these studies depends on the diagnostic symptoms or treatment responses being causally related to the results.  Statistics show that things are correlated and the studies need to not have other factors that are not part of the study influencing the outcome.  The other factors are often called factors and they are either controlled for or not.  Studies can control for age, sex, socioeconmic status, etc. and yet there are many other factors in humans that are hard to identify and very hard to control for.  So, studies might show statistical evidence that the treatment works but it might be only correlated and not causally connected to the outcome.  

Wow, that's confusing. However, it does seem to lend support to the idea that we must make the diagnosis or treatment fit each of us specifically.  This is obviously harder than lumping all people into one group and diagnosing or treating them the same way until it doesn't seem to work or doesn't work as well as we [you or me] had hoped.  Unfortunately, even trying to do things this way is a problem as it requires knowing each person and their specific responses to determine if the treatment is working.  It takes time and skill to listen and support someone so that they participate in figuring out if something is working or not.  

I have found that I must not only listen and clarify a person's response to a  treatment, but must also help that person identify other factors that influence their response.  Some of these factors can then be treated so they do not interfere or confuse the response to the treatment being evaluated.  Also, each of us must be willing to give the treatment a try and willing to work with their physician, psychologist, therapist, etc. in order for the treatment to have a chance to be helpful.  Part of this involves identifying the way the person experiences their symptoms and also how they experience improvements.  All of this is unique to the person.  

We are all unique and we must be helped with this in mind.