Thursday, December 3, 2009

The Sanity Score - I Love a Good Quiz


Hello Friends:

I love online quizzes and surveys. Especially if I can see metrics for my craziness. I'm still in that phase where defining and categorizing my mental illnesses makes me feel like I have more control over them. I thought I'd point out a survey I just took that was actually marginally helpful, and then see if I could talk any of my dear readers into taking it and sharing their own fun.

The survey is The Sanity Score on PsychCentral. It is a pretty comprehensive little test for an online evaluation, with about 80 questions covering the gamut of your usual diagnoses. For someone who is not currently in any kind of therapy, it might be of use to see if maybe you ought to be. And for those of us who are actually seeing a psychologist, it can be a tool for tracking progress.

Now, of course this sort of thing is very crude. I took the test twice in fifteen minutes, and got Sanity Scores ranging from 85 to 91 (from 0 to 288, where 288 is totally f#cked up.) Also, within the sub-categories I had major issues pointed out that had score ranges, as well. Sub categories are scored as 0 to 100, and major issues are anything above fifty on that scale. I scored OCD 56 to 63, PTSD 50 to 67, Phobias 50 to 67. Amazingly, I scored Anxiety 45 to 49, which is just below being a critical issue. But honestly I think there are some confusing questions where Anxiety and Phobias could get mixed up. I also score other issues right on the line, with General Coping 43 to 46, Depression 47 to 50, Self Esteem 42 to 50, and Physical Issues steady at 50 on both.

These numbers have me thinking. I am right on the edge for a large number of sub-categories. They are just below the 'critical' mark. This makes sense to me.  Last year I think I would have tested above critical on all of them, and that was reflected by my near total breakdown. I wish I had a score from that time. I'm doing better now, although not really 'good'. Yet I am coping a little better, and am less symptomatic. I'm surprised my OCDs rate so high, but maybe that's a general reflection of how I am during flu season; afraid of touching doorknobs and the like. Otherwise I'd have predicted my general anxiety to be much higher than OCDs.

The test lets you save your score, so you can go back and check any change with time. I intend to come back in six months or so and see if anything enlightening can be tracked.

So Adventurers, game to take a little plunge? How did you score? Any surprises? Did you think it was useful at all? Post a comment and let me know.

Your Hostess With Neuroses

Image credit/info:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenniferwilliams/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

4 comments:

Ann said...

no surprises for me. It says I have OCD! I guess it's good to find I don't have leanings toward any extra crazies. :)

The Blue Morpho said...

Hey there BeatOCD: Thanks for reading and commenting! Yeah, I wasn't exactly surprised by some of my results, either. Although since I've been having some success with OCD's I thought I'd do better there. But it is all relative, isn't it? Just because I can force myself to touch a door knob now doesn't mean I like it :)

Mich said...

I've gotten anywhere from a 38 to 71! My issues have included, ocd, eating disorder, anxiety, etc. It's funny, because the problems change a little bit every time, depending on my mood!

The Blue Morpho said...

Mich - Yeah, the test has some issues of its own. I've gone to taking it only every six months, and looking for trends. And then when I do take it, I take it twice and average the results. Still not what I'd call a scientific instrument, but since I enjoy quizzes anyway, it works for me :)

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