I know I will probably take some flak for this but here is my "disturbance scale" that I have come up with to rank the severity of a person's problems. It's something of a pseudo Richter "earthquake" scale. This is useful for at least four reasons.

1. The bigger the disturbance the less you are too blame. Not blaming yourself is a huge part of building self-esteem for people with certain disorders.

2. The bigger the disturbance the more you need help. This is a good way of justifying to yourself that you need professional help since some people's disorders actually prevent them from seeking it.

3. Goal Setting. You can track your progress and see how you are improving in a more objective fashion than currently available. This is very encouraging for people who are actively working to get better.

4. Self validation. You really are messed up and it's not in your head. Alternatively, maybe you aren't really that messed up after all. Keeping a perspective on the severity of psychiatric problems can help you feel validated. This is especially important when "normal" people dismiss your problems as fantasies or weakness.

Here is the "beta" version of my scale. I will probably refine this in the future:

Magnitude 8 - Extremely disturbed.

You require constant supervision and ongoing psychiatric treatment in a clinical facility. Your thoughts and feelings are extremely disturbed and may be highly dangerous to yourself or to others. Your relationships are extremely tenuous or do not exist, and you are nearly totally isolated. You receive no satisfaction from life.

Magnitude 7 - Very severely disturbed.

You need help from others to take care of every day life challenges. You are in and out of clinical facilities. Your thoughts and feelings are very highly disturbed and may be dangerous to yourself or others. Your relationships are extremely tenuous or do not exist, and you are nearly totally isolated. You receive no significant satisfaction out of life.

Magnitude 6 - Severely disturbed.

You have severe trouble with every day life challenges and need major psychiatric support on a routine basis. You may have been to a clinical facility or hospitalized. Your thoughts and feelings are normally highly disturbed and may be dangerous to yourself or others. Your relationships are highly tenuous or do not exist, and you are socially isolated. You receive very little satisfaction out of life.

Magnitude 5 - Badly Disturbed.

You have serious trouble with every day life challenges and experience frequent collapses where you need major psychiatric support. Your thoughts and feelings are normally very disturbed and may be dangerous to yourself or others. Your relationships are highly tenuous or do not exist, and you are socially isolated. You receive very little satisfaction out of life.

Magnitude 4 - Moderately disturbed.

You have moderate trouble with every day life challenges and experience collapses where you need major psychiatric support. Your thoughts and feelings are more often disturbed than not and are routinely very disturbed. They are not dangerous with rare exception. Your relationships are tenuous, superficial, and you are largely isolated. You receive little satisfaction out of life.

Magnitude 3 - Somewhat disturbed.

You have trouble with every day life challenges and experience collapses where you need major psychiatric support. Your thoughts and feelings are frequently disturbed and often very disturbed. Your relationships are tenuous and you don't experience the rewarding social interactions you really want. You receive a small degree of satisfaction out of life.

Magnitude 2 - Slightly disturbed.

You have serious trouble with important life challenges and experience occasional collapses where you need major psychiatric support. Your thoughts and feelings are frequently disturbed and occasionally very disturbed. Your relationships are strained and you don't experience the rewarding social interactions you really want. You receive some significant satisfaction out of life.

Magnitude 1- Highly Stressed.

You have moderate difficulty with important life challenges and experience times where you need psychiatric support. Your thoughts and feelings are sometimes disturbed. Your relationships are adequately rewarding. You receive considerable satisfaction out of life.

So what magnitude are you, and where are you trying to get to in the next 3 months?