Can a Facebook Puzzle Diagnose Mental Illness?!? (Guest Post)

The emerging blogger series on Mental Health @ Home -background image of cherry blossoms

In this emerging blogger post, Ezi of Living Resiliently writes about mental health screening tools vs. diagnosis.


supposed OCD quiz that a sentence in a mix of numbers and letters

Recently, I was scouring my FB page when I saw one of those games that could diagnose someone for OCD by decoding some puzzle. I didn’t know whether to laugh or frown at this (not that it was that difficult for me anyway to decode). It was making light of a serious mental health condition that I myself have witnessed. It was so stupid. 

We’ve all heard people say, “I’m SO OCD because I’m SUCH a perfectionist!” or “You’re SO OCD!” *sigh* Again people using terms they do not understand. They of OCD, but they know absolutely nothing about it: washing your hand several times even after you count to 10, because your brain says your hands aren’t clean enough. Fearing you drove over someone…having to walk back to your car and click on the “lock” button several times, because you don’t believe you locked your car….Does OCD still sound like a joke now?

It’s already bad enough people can self-diagnose through Google or apps like WebMD, but diagnosis though such stupid games? Not a good idea. But sorry the best way for anyone to diagnose themselves is through a mental health professional or even mental health screenings.

Mental health screening tools are online or paper resources that can help determine if you may be displaying a symptom or symptoms of mental illness. Typically, they can ask general questions like questions about yourself (age & gender) and depending on your mental health concern, the type of mental illness you are screening for. There are various online screenings and concerns: 

  • Depression
  • Anxiety
  • Psychosis
  • Bipolar disorder
  • Eating disorder
  • PTSD
  • Parenting
  • Youth
  • Addiction
  • Work Health  
  • Caregiving

Now when you get the information remember, what you receive is not final. However, it can get a conversation started with your mental health provider.

Sorry, but when it comes to diagnosing mental illness there is no avoiding seeing a mental health professional. If you have a concern about your mental illness you should take it as seriously as you would if you had a physical illness. You wouldn’t let a simple game determine if you had a serious physical ailment would you? If you would like to do a mental health screening, use the following websites: 

US:

*Mental Health America 

*American Mental Wellness

*Anxiety and Depression Association of America

Canada:

*Here To Help

*Canadian Institute for Public Safety Research and Treatment

Visit Ezi on her blog Living Resiliently.

9 thoughts on “Can a Facebook Puzzle Diagnose Mental Illness?!? (Guest Post)”

  1. We read that the average time from the initial mental health visit to accurate diagnosis of OCD is 17 years. This is/was due to lack of preparation/awareness by therapists. For us it was 24 years. Not the 1991 version of MMPI or trained diagnosticians or therapists helped until we lucked out on the right therapist. Let’s hope it has changed. Voices like Ezi’s can help

  2. I guess that when once you start talking about mental health, you can’t avoid some misinformation that needs to be countered. In every good is a difficult and with every step forward we need to check if we’re still on the main road. I always like to read a post written by people who know what the’re talking about, it makes just more sense to me.

  3. My wife encouraged me to first visit my GP and get diagnosed. She came with me as I burst into tears in front of the doctor. It was embarrassing and I’d resisted going in the first place, but now I’m very glad I went. Going to see my GP and getting diagnosed with depression marked the start of my recovery.

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