Online medical tests..

Zaelath · Post by **Zaelath** » July 23, 2006, 11:49 am

If this is any example, no wonder people are over-disagnosing everything.

http://depression.about.com/cs/diagnosi ... enquiz.htm

All yes/no answers.

Q: Do you feel sad or irritable? (What, right now, sometimes, ever? can anyone answer no?)

Q: Have you lost interest in activities once enjoyed? (Well, I really used to enjoy eating dirt and worms, so umm yes?)

Q: Have you experienced changes in weight or appetite? (Again, what? I think I was about 10 pounds at birth, 150 in high school, and like 220 now. So, yes again?)

Q: Have you experienced changes in sleeping pattern? (No, my sleeping pattern has always been poor. Or is that a yes cause I don't have a pattern, I just have continual changes.. hell, yes.)

Q: Do you have feelings of guilt? (Nope, I'm a sociopath. I never feel guilty, no matter how much they scream and cry and beg for mercy while I'm cutting them. *sigh* sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, that's a yes).

Q: Are you unable to concentrate, remember things, or make decisions? (Hrmm, there's an OR there, so given I occasionally forget birthdays, that's a yes).

Q: Have you experienced fatigue or loss of energy? (well, it's going on 1am and I have a cold or the flu or something at the moment, so yes, I'm a little fatigued. IS THAT A FUCKING ISSUE?)

Q: Have you experienced restlessness or decreased activity noticed by others? (This is a no, that could just mean no one notices or cares enough to say something, so rather ambiguous as an indicator)

Q: Do you feel hopeless, or worthless? (Nope; if you did, would you really need a test?)

Q: Have you had thoughts of suicide or death? (I think about certain people's death all the time.... so yes.)

You answered 8 items out of 10 "Yes". According to The National Mental Health Association, 5 or more yes answers indicates that you may be suffering from clinical depression. This test cannot substitute for a visit to a mental health professional. It is meant only to give you an idea where to start a dialogue with your healthcare provider.

OMG, 8 out of 10. How depressing. SOMEONE GIVE ME SOME ZOLOFT IMMEDIATELY!!!

Drolgin Steingrinder · Post by **Drolgin Steingrinder** » July 23, 2006, 1:15 pm

These are very similar to the questions a GP will ask you if you're complaining of lack of sleep, of weight loss, of moodswings etc. It's basically an extremely watered down version of the Beck Depression Inventory or BDI that you use to measure the severity of depression.

To use it as a marketing tool and in an online form like that is despicable, it's unethical and it should be fucking illegal. It's shit like that that's serving to make depression a 'pop'-disease. What bullshit.

Drolgin Steingrinder · Post by **Drolgin Steingrinder** » July 23, 2006, 1:16 pm

If you want a full BDI, check this: http://fp.okstate.edu/collinslab/bdi.htm

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » July 23, 2006, 1:45 pm

Drolgin Steingrinder wrote:To use it as a marketing tool and in an online form like that is despicable, it's unethical and it should be fucking illegal. It's shit like that that's serving to make depression a 'pop'-disease. What bullshit.

I don't see how this is being used as a marketing tool. It doesn't promote any particular drug and as far as I can tell it's not supported by any particular company. It's just one of the many random online 'tests' that are floating around. No different than the what politcal party are you, etc.
It's About.com. Part of the New York Times Company. Not my first choice to look when it comes to medical advice.

This test cannot substitute for a visit to a mental health professional.

Drolgin Steingrinder · Post by **Drolgin Steingrinder** » July 23, 2006, 1:48 pm

Woops, guess I should've checked the site before letting my anger show. I just know that other similar tests have popped up on sites that are fronts for pharmaceutical companies - not just with depression, but with ADHD (aimed at parents) etc.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » July 23, 2006, 2:03 pm

I wont say that never happens.. I just don't think that applies to this particular site. I don't see any hidden agenda that's directing people to go get 'SOME ZOLOFT IMMEDIATELY!!!'

(And no I don't work for Pfizer so my expert medical advice is that you don't need any fucking Zoloft. Go out and enjoy the sun! (After applying sunblock because the sun is evil.) Unless you are experiencing suicidal thoughts than perhaps it's best to talk to someone. Anyone.)

Zaelath · Post by **Zaelath** » July 23, 2006, 8:47 pm

Sorry, didn't mean to imply Pfeizer was being naughty here. But seriously, what the hell are people thinking even using stuff on-line as a gauge.

Most of those questions could have been made sensible with a simply modifier too, like "recently", or "regularly", etc.

Also, given Drolg's link to a real test, it seems unlikely that "The National Mental Health Association" would have any opinion as to how many yes answers indicate clinical depression. Unless they're a front put up by drug companies (but that would just be paranoid)

kyoukan · Post by **kyoukan** » July 23, 2006, 10:32 pm

Hey, look what thread aslanna popped up in.

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » July 23, 2006, 11:09 pm

Wow I've popped up in a lot of threads the past few days. There's a shocker. I must have a hidden agenda in those as well.

Ennia · Post by **Ennia** » July 24, 2006, 1:12 pm

Isn't it obvious that a test like that would have you look at your recent changes in life/behaviour patterns? Surely you can't be stupid enough to think they want you to look at your life from birth to present

Zaelath · Post by **Zaelath** » July 24, 2006, 1:43 pm

Ennia wrote:Isn't it obvious that a test like that would have you look at your recent changes in life/behaviour patterns? Surely you can't be stupid enough to think they want you to look at your life from birth to present

Yes dear, but how recent? What if you've been depressed for a long time and done nothing about it, would your weight have changed much in the last month?

Meh, ya'll just don't get tongue-in-cheek either. I'm not seriously concerned, but it's just so completely and utterly worthless I do have to wonder why they bothered at all.

Ennia · Post by **Ennia** » July 24, 2006, 2:25 pm

I totally get your tongue in cheek, your post Z seems to be one of those "it's 8AM on a Sunday, I'm at work, bored as hell, let's rile the troops on veeshanvault" posts. I mean just look who posted, we even got Kyo to chip in

a test like that will and should only give you something to think about, unless it's atached to zoloft.com and followed by clickhere to get free sample link

Dregor Thule · Post by **Dregor Thule** » July 24, 2006, 2:27 pm

There's tongue-in-cheek and then there's dumb, and well..

Zaelath · Post by **Zaelath** » July 24, 2006, 9:13 pm

Dregor Thule wrote:There's tongue-in-cheek and then there's dumb, and well..