Self-Tests/Quizzes

I was doing a good 'ol google search for all things on counseling psychology and found this site, of course all credit is due to them! The specific link here leads to a section of the site that lets you take quizzes or tests (short ones) about different aspects and topics of counseling psychology.

For example it has a quiz titled the 'K10' that tests whether you have a high level of anxiety or depression by ten simple questions. The important thing to keep in mind though is that it is only a quiz that might make you aware that something may be going on. In no way does it give a 100% positive or negative result or a very specific result in any way. Talking to a psychologist or a doctor is the proper way to get a diagnosis. These quizzes are simply to make you aware of something that you might have suspected, but talking to your psychologist or doctor is the best way to know.

Personally, after thinking it over myself, I probably wouldn't take one of these online quizzes or tests and interpret as a serious diagnosis because they're mostly very short so it usually covers very general aspects. With that said, it becomes less reliable because every person has different opinions and personalities and can't possibly fit into one generalized critique or model. For example, I glanced at the K10 anxiety and depression test which was a simple 10 questions in the form of "In the past so-and so- weeks- have you felt nervous?" To me, that seems a little too general. Some people can deal with stress and nervousness better than others and maybe you were a little more nervous this past month from before but that could be because a number of factors that aren't able to be addressed in a simple text-only computer-generated test.

Again, this proves that talking to a human, preferably a psychologist,doctor, or psychiatrist would be more helpful. This is because talking it out can put the issue in perspective and also helps to make you feel mentally and physically better. Hasn't something ever bothered you in the past and after talking to someone you say something like 'glad I got that off my chest'? You mentally and even physically feel better talking about things and can potentially solve whatever issue it is by talking about it with someone rather than staring at a computer screen flashing back some confusing or scary results that you won't be able to talk about with the computer. With a person, you can talk to them about what test results reflected , what it means and what the next step is.

Also, some quizzes are geared toward specific disorders like schizophrenia disorder tests or as general as some kind of Internet addiction quizzes.

The main point is that, as always, the Internet and nifty websites like these are a good way to start any type or research, but talking to a doctor or psychologist is the best bet to getting the most help and support for the issues that you are trying to overcome!