I made this request 7 years ago in the BrainTalk forum; Lindylanka found it and posted it in the book forum. I'm posting it here for two reasons:

1. It would be great to get more answers
2. It shines a light on our history; what has changed; what is different

My initial observation: many of the posters are still posting; some, I know, are still around but otherwise engaged; many have, incredibly, died. But I imagine that coping remains much the same.

http://web.archive.org/web/200304112...ML/007138.html

this is the original first post in the thread; Dr. Troster has since left the UW for UNC-Chapel Hill; I should check up on him and send these latest results! Thank you -
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Today several of us (Greg Wasson, AJ Campbell, Dennis Wright, and Judi Baker) were fortunate to meet with Dr. Alexander Troster, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle. Dr. Troster’s research is devoted to how PD is related to depression, cognitive impairment, quality of life, and coping.
Our discussion was lively and lengthy. We asked what we could do to help promote his research efforts in these areas that are not nearly as well funded as basic research, but, it would seem, just as important as we strive to live well with PD as new therapies and perhaps a cure are found.

He said two things would be valuable:

1. Volunteer for studies available near you – psychiatric researchers need more human subjects.

2. Help identify those things that make coping with PD easier and your quality of life higher.

So, request number 2 is open for your input. We will keep the thread open ended and alive for two weeks to solicit your suggestions, then compile the results and post again asking you to rank them. The final ranking will be given to Dr. Troster as an aid in his research on coping mechanisms and PD.

This is not scientific, just anecdotal, and an interesting exercise.

I’ll start. . .

The one thing that makes coping with PD easier and my quality of life higher is access to the internet that gives me access to all of you.

Thanks for participating!

Carey