Psychosis Quizzes!
Here are my results from the tests theredwolf_ took:
Schizophrenia - 3 No schizophrenia
Adult ADD - 87 Adult ADD or ADHD
Anxiety - 34 (moderate)
Bipolar - 24 Either a mild bipolar disorder (II) or depressive disorder
Depression - 48 Moderate/severe depression
Mania - 13 Possible mild mania (hypomania)
OCD - 1
Now, some of those I know to be accurate, others I know from the questions that were being asked that the answers would be wildly inaccurate.
The problem with those tests (as with many others) is that they don't have any negative indicators. All of the questions are aimed at giving a positive diagnosis. It is far more useful to have questions that will determine if the symptoms match what you're testing for, or if it's just something that exhibits similar traits.
For example, the reason I scored high on mania and bipolar is because a lot of the questions I answered positively because of symptoms resulting from my ADD, my current state of depression and anxiety, and for other reasons. By asking certain other questions, you can eliminate a lot of overdiagnosis.
An example there is ADD. One important question to ask on an ADD quiz is: Are there particular environments where the symptoms are much worse than others, or some where symptoms are non-existant? It could be that there are environmental issues that cause the person to have faulty concentration. There are certain things that someone suffering from ADD will do very well that, say, someone who is manic would not, and visa versa. Also, there's a case in the US where a kid was perscribed ritalin because he showed a lot of positive indicators for ADD, only to find out that it was really Piet-mal epilepsy, and that the medication triggered Grand-mal epilepsy.
ANYWAY, to make a long rant short, these quizes are misleading, so don't worry too much about them. However, if you score really high on one, it might be worth checking out ;-) But be sure to find a balanced diagnosis. It's important that you eliminate red herrings.
Schizophrenia - 3 No schizophrenia
Adult ADD - 87 Adult ADD or ADHD
Anxiety - 34 (moderate)
Bipolar - 24 Either a mild bipolar disorder (II) or depressive disorder
Depression - 48 Moderate/severe depression
Mania - 13 Possible mild mania (hypomania)
OCD - 1
Now, some of those I know to be accurate, others I know from the questions that were being asked that the answers would be wildly inaccurate.
The problem with those tests (as with many others) is that they don't have any negative indicators. All of the questions are aimed at giving a positive diagnosis. It is far more useful to have questions that will determine if the symptoms match what you're testing for, or if it's just something that exhibits similar traits.
For example, the reason I scored high on mania and bipolar is because a lot of the questions I answered positively because of symptoms resulting from my ADD, my current state of depression and anxiety, and for other reasons. By asking certain other questions, you can eliminate a lot of overdiagnosis.
An example there is ADD. One important question to ask on an ADD quiz is: Are there particular environments where the symptoms are much worse than others, or some where symptoms are non-existant? It could be that there are environmental issues that cause the person to have faulty concentration. There are certain things that someone suffering from ADD will do very well that, say, someone who is manic would not, and visa versa. Also, there's a case in the US where a kid was perscribed ritalin because he showed a lot of positive indicators for ADD, only to find out that it was really Piet-mal epilepsy, and that the medication triggered Grand-mal epilepsy.
ANYWAY, to make a long rant short, these quizes are misleading, so don't worry too much about them. However, if you score really high on one, it might be worth checking out ;-) But be sure to find a balanced diagnosis. It's important that you eliminate red herrings.