{"id":84998,"date":"2022-08-09T14:57:53","date_gmt":"2022-08-09T18:57:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/screening.mhanational.org\/?post_type=article&p=84998"},"modified":"2022-08-09T14:57:53","modified_gmt":"2022-08-09T18:57:53","slug":"what-do-my-mental-health-test-results-mean","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/screening.mhanational.org\/es\/content\/what-do-my-mental-health-test-results-mean\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00bfQu\u00e9 significan los resultados de mi prueba de salud mental?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Taking an online mental health test is one of the quickest and easiest ways to determine whether you are experiencing symptoms of a mental health condition. The mental health tests on this site<\/a> are free and confidential\u2014and you can see the results right away. But what do those results actually mean?<\/p>\n

What mental health tests can and can\u2019t do<\/h2>\n

The mental health tests available on this site are the same ones used in doctor\u2019s offices and counseling centers around the world. Researchers have studied these questions rigorously and found that they provide a pretty accurate picture of your mental health.<\/p>\n

But if you look closely at the results page, you\u2019ll see lots of statements like \u201cyour results indicate that you may <\/em>be experiencing signs of <\/em>severe depression.\u201d Why can\u2019t we just say \u201cyou have severe depression\u201d and be done with it?<\/p>\n

Diagnosing mental health conditions is complicated. There\u2019s no \u201cdepression virus\u201d we can do a blood test for.<\/a> Mental health isn\u2019t really black and white\u2014everyone feels depressed or anxious some of the time. The line between sadness and depression<\/a> can feel very fuzzy.<\/p>\n

On top of that, there\u2019s a lot of overlap between mental health conditions. Sometimes what looks like depression is actually a medical problem, like a slow thyroid. Many people first get diagnosed with one condition, but later find out they actually had something else all along. It\u2019s also possible to have more than one mental health condition at once.<\/p>\n

When a doctor or therapist diagnoses someone with depression, they usually have more to go off of than answers to a few multiple-choice questions. They might notice that you move slowly and that your posture is slumped. Maybe you have bags under your eyes from not sleeping. If you meet with your therapist regularly, they can also notice changes over time\u2014like when your voice isn\u2019t quite as expressive as it usually is.<\/p>\n

These are often indicators of depression\u2014but they are also the kinds of things that an online test no puedo <\/em>detect.<\/p>\n

Mental health professionals can also ask you more open-ended questions, and they can provide clarification if you\u2019re not sure how to answer.<\/p>\n

A mental health test is just the beginning<\/h2>\n

If a mental health test provides an incomplete picture of your mental health, where can you go to fill in the other details?<\/p>\n

One way is to reach out to a mental health professional who can provide you with a diagnosis. They can also either provide treatment (like therapy or medication) or help you figure out where else you can get it.<\/p>\n

Learning more about mental health<\/a> can also help you figure things out. The more you learn about anxiety, for example, the more you can start to recognize anxiety when you feel it. Hearing other people\u2019s stories also helps you understand your own experiences\u2014and it helps you feel less alone too. Lots of people share their stories in online communities like Reddit and TikTok or on websites like The Mighty.<\/p>\n

A word of warning: It\u2019s easy to try and \u201cdiagnose yourself\u201d by reading WebMD and lurking in social media communities. For example, many people nowadays are falling into \u201cADHD TikTok\u201d, where people describe the lesser-known quirks of ADHD. If you find yourself identifying with what people are saying in these videos, you might <\/em>have ADHD. But you can\u2019t know for sure just from watching videos. Like online mental health tests, videos and blogs are a good starting point, but not the be-all-end-all.<\/p>\n

The more time you spend learning about mental health from all different sources, the more you\u2019ll be able to put the pieces together and get a complete picture.<\/p>\n

How all this information can help you<\/h2>\n

Having a better understanding of yourself and your experiences is an empowering start. But at the end of the day, the reason any of us want to know which mental health condition we have (if any)<\/a> is so that we can figure out how to feel better<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Sometimes there are very specific actions you need to take for specific mental health conditions. For example, taking a mood stabilizer like lithium can be very helpful for someone who has bipolar disorder\u2014and completely useless for someone who doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

But most of the things you can do to improve your mental health will help you no matter who you are, what condition you have\u2014or whether you even have a mental health condition or not. (We don\u2019t all have a \u201cmental illness\u201d, but we do all have mental health!) Some of these things include:<\/p>\n