Reflections

Since my mid-forties, I’ve done a pretty good job of keeping up with medical appointments people “my age” are supposed to have. At my annual physical this past Fall, I was handed the usual clipboard of papers. It included the checklist of statements where I had to rate how I was feeling. This screening is known as the GAF. According to Wikipedia, "The Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) is a numeric scale used by mental health clinicians and physicians to rate subjectively the social, occupational, and psychological functioning of an individual, e.g., how well one is meeting various problems in living. Scores range from 100 (extremely high functioning) to 1 (severely impaired).” The doctor knocked on the door, entered and began reviewing the paperwork I had completed. She looked up at me and back down at the paper at least two times. She remarked what a stark difference in responses I had given compared to a year ago. She was impressed and genuinely interested in what had happe...