I just tried a new online tool from Mental Health America called “How’s Your Mood Today?” that can help you evaluate whether things you’re thinking, doing, or feeling may in fact be symptoms of one of these four, perhaps not yet diagnosed, mental disorders.
Because of the continuing stigma about mental illness, one of the hardest things for many of us is to seek help for bonafide symptoms of depression, and anxiety — or one of the other two less-common disorders, PTSD or Bipolar Disorder. Here’s a simple way to find out if some bothersome or distressing symptoms you may be experiencing add up to a possible mental health disorder for which you should seek help — right away!
Before recommending it to you I tried it myself. After filling out the quick multiple choice questionnaire (truly took 90 sec) with answers that described the me of 12 years ago — before I began using antidepressants to treat my (lifelong) depression and anxiety disorder –I found the (instant assessment) that popped up to be very accurate. It described me as someone displaying symptoms of moderate depression and therefore in need of professional evaluation and possible treatment. One thing I like very much in this test is its emphasis on identifying symptoms that interfere with some aspect of your life.
If you haven’t yet found the courage and/or financial resources to actually go to a clinic or public mental health department for such a screening, taking this test would be a solid first step to give you a better idea of how serious your symptoms are right now.
Here’s how MHA describes the tool:
Mental Health America provides the only online test that screens for depression, bipolar disorder, PTSD and anxiety. The innovative online mood-screening tool is offered in partnership with M3 which created this medically proven checklist for mental health well-being.
Visitors simply need to click on the box in the upper right corner of the Mental Health America home page labeled “How’s Your Mood Today” to start the three-minute self-assessment process. The customized assessment provides a score that a person can then share with his or her physician and monitor over time.
Among the most popular things I offer on this Mental Health Mom blog are the self and family member psych tests (on the top bar). This new test is worth doing and it’s free. Here again is the link: http://bit.ly/XVa3mS
