In this emerging blogger post, Ezi of Living Resiliently writes about mental health screening tools vs. diagnosis.
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:
*Anxiety and Depression Association of America
Canada:
*Canadian Institute for Public Safety Research and Treatment
Visit Ezi on her blog Living Resiliently.
Great post as always xoxo
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
That is a very, very long time. I’m glad you ended up getting the right diagnosis eventually.
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.
I have never been diagnosed with/ OVD and I read the above sign before I saw what was said about being able to read it….
Interested
An extremely interesting read.
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.
That’s huge to have been able to take that first step.