A Patient’s Journey to Balance: The Power of Personalized Mental Health Care
As healthcare professionals, we often find ourselves walking alongside patients through some of their most challenging moments. Every so often, a moment comes along that stays with you — a moment that reminds you why you chose this field in the first place.
Early in my career as a Nurse Practitioner specializing in mental health, I had the privilege of caring for many patients with complex needs. But one particular patient stands out in my memory. She came to see me for routine medication management for anxiety and depression. Like many individuals, she had been on treatment for some time, but something wasn’t quite right.
During our conversation, I took the time to really listen. I asked how she was feeling — not just in terms of her “checklist” symptoms, but how she was experiencing her daily life. It quickly became clear that her current mental health medication wasn’t working as effectively as it should have been. Worse, she was experiencing side effects that were almost as troubling as her original symptoms.
She had gone through multiple medication trials over the years with no lasting relief. Understandably, she was hesitant about trying something new, given her history of disappointing treatment experiences.
In situations like this, I take care to avoid making quick, one-size-fits-all recommendations. Increasing the dose of a medication that’s already causing unwanted side effects isn’t the best solution, even if it’s providing some relief. Instead, I suggested something different — pharmacogenetic testing.
This type of testing analyzes how an individual’s unique genetic makeup influences their response to medications. Given her struggles, I thought it could provide valuable insights and help guide us toward a personalized treatment plan with a higher chance of success.
When the results came back, we were both stunned.
The test revealed a genetic deletion that made it difficult for her body to metabolize certain medications — including SSRIs, which she had been taking for years. Meanwhile, it showed that she was a rapid metabolizer of SNRIs, which explained why she had been experiencing side effects without much therapeutic benefit.
Most importantly, the test identified a different medication that her body could process far more effectively.
With this new information, we discussed her options and decided to transition to a new treatment plan. The process wasn’t immediate, but it was worth it. Within a few weeks, she came back for a follow-up appointment, and the transformation was remarkable.
The difference was clear — she felt calmer, more balanced, and, most importantly, more in control of her mental health.
Her words during that follow-up appointment still resonate with me today: “I feel like this is what a normal human being is supposed to feel like.”
That simple statement was a profound reminder that our job as healthcare providers isn’t to impose a one-size-fits-all solution, but to help patients find a treatment plan that works for them.
Mental health care should be personal, effective, and empowering.
Looking back on this experience, I see how much it shaped my approach to patient care. When I first started, I thought my role was simply to help patients feel happier. But this experience taught me something deeper: my true role is to help patients find balance — to help them reconnect with a sense of stability, calm, and well-being that they may have lost along the way.
It’s moments like these that reaffirm why I do what I do: to guide, support, and empower those who trust me with their care. No two journeys are the same, but each step we take together brings us closer to helping individuals feel like themselves again.
By Emma Winson
