Zap Kat: The Interview

I called CAMH and they set up a meeting within a few days.  For the first time in a while I found myself downtown again, fighting off my sleepyness and anxiety while I holed up in the library across the street.  Eventually the appointment time came and I met up with one of the research analysts.  It was fairly straightforward, she checked some questions like:

• Are you right or left handed?  (They're using right-handed individuals for this study.)
• Have you ever had a seizure?  (TMS does involve some increased risk of seizure for people who have already had one)
• Is there anything implanted in your body, especially your brain?
• Have you tried other methods for relieving your depression without satisfactory results?

I filled out an information sheet and consent form and she proceeded to the HAM-D. 

The Hamilton Depression Rating Scale is a widely used questionnaire to determine the level of pathology and existence of depressive disorders.  It is used in a great majority of the TMS literature I've read, so I consider it somewhat like using standard units of measurement.  This way data from various studies can be correlated because they use the same measurement scale for depression. 

Check out a sample HAM-D form by clicking here.

As with most intake sessions, it was a little awkward to answer such personal questions with a total stranger, but you gotta do what you gotta do.