Health Biases

In the past few weeks I have lost all respect for written health assessments, particularly after this morning.

At Drew, first year MDiv and MTS students were given the opportunity to enter the pilot program for FTL - Fit to Lead - a movement in the United Methodist Church to address total clergy health. Sounds great right? We get free screenings, workshops, and coaching to improve our health.

But what if there are aspects of your health that cannot be controlled or are already showing vast improvement under the care of a physician? What does FTL have to offer you? Not much. Really the program's online assessments are horrible for people who have pre-existing conditions. Two examples: the first scoliosis. My curve in my back isn't bad enough to be braced or surgically corrected, yet there are still times where it affects me. I know what to avoid most of the time - lifting heavy things by myself, camping, driving in a car for to long and when its aggravated I need to just take it easy for a while. If things get out of control, which they sometimes do when the muscles in my back get so tight that they begin to pinch nerves, I have pain medication that I rarely ever use. I also see a chiropractor on a regular basis and have seen a physical therapist. It's just a fact of life. According to all of the doctors, nothing my parents or I did caused it and there isn't really any way to fix it. Yet, to enter that under the broader category on the Web MD survey a huge red flag went up.

Worse, was depression and anxiety. After meeting with my coach this past Saturday, I realized that in my haste I hadn't filled out the Web MD incorrectly, prescribing to myself all of the diseases I don't have (including but not limited to stroke, five types of cancer, and emphysema) while missing to check the four boxes I do have. So this morning I went back and fixed my answer. And my score dropped from a 61/100 (with 100 being the best score) to a 37/100. Woah. What happened? Two things. 1.) I checked the box for depression treatment. According to Web MD this is the gateway for all sorts of horrible things in your body. You have to be kidding me! People who are responsible enough to seek treatment and fortunate enough to have medication that works for them - making them feel whole for once in their life - are being punished? Are being told that they are a walking disaster? Doesn't that seem a bit biased considering how many people in the US alone have treated depression let alone untreated depression? Web MD also told me to brace myself for increased health costs due to depression.

Oh but Web MD didn't stop there. It also subtracted points because I was diagnosed in the past year, ignoring the fact that is when I started treatment to tell me that I was 100% in danger of getting depression and anxiety. I was told to seek treatment immediately. Well thank you for yesterday's news. Goodness! It also didn't correlate that all of the questions where it asks you about the past two weeks and not the past year were amazing - you know since I'm on the drugs? That whole being treated thing. Then Web MD attributed all of the symptoms that are traditionally linked with depression, and which I was a classic case of, to stress instead, saying that I need to decrease my stress. Ummmm.... I'm actually feeling great, thank you. I know what stress feels like, this isn't it. Haha.

When I met my health coach with the original numbers she was shocked, considering what and how I eat (I'm a vegetarian who only eats fresh foods I prepare myself at this point in time), what I drink - about 6 glasses of water, 1 glass of orange juice, and 1 cup of tea a day, and how much knowledge of my own body I have and put to use. The only recommendation she could give me was to exercise more. I wonder how she is going to react to the most recent mis-match of my scores to who I am as a person.