Hello and thank you in advance for any assistance and direction you may be able to offer me.

I have recently been referred for psychiatric testing. I have two issues with this.

#1 I could make a convincing argument that I know the tests better than the test administrator does. I expect that the battery will consist of the MMPI-2, the MCMI-3, the Rorschach ink blot test, and the Kohs block design test - it's the normal battery given to patients referred to psych testing in this part of the world. Perhaps five years ago, I knew as much about the MMPI-2 as anyone alive. It's a brash statement so let me explain. When I applied for, and was subsequently granted, membership to Mensa, my IQ was measured at 172. I'm sufficiently intelligent for the aforementioned claim to be true assuming I had the motivation to make it so. I educated myself on and due to my fluency in the MMPI-2, I believe its ability to evaluate me has been compromised.

Regarding the Rorschach test: The truth of the matter is that I am pathologically literal. The ink blots look like ink that has been blotted to me. That said, I can't un-know that the first ink blot is a bat, badger, butterfly or even a coat of arms if I am referred to Europe for testing. If I didn't know the 'correct' responses, the presence of red is a dead giveaway for elements of hostility or sexuality and the shading on the mother card nearly begs the subject to identify the card with something feminine. I don't see it but I intellectualize the elements - so a random selection of cards does no good either.

Conclusions will be drawn from my results. Conclusions drawn by a person who knows nothing about me except the test results. A true (and consistent) response to questions like, “I have many ideas that are ahead of the times” (MCMI-3) may result in findings of narcissism when in fact, they are realistic. I live in a world in which the average IQ is closer to that of a chimpanzee than it is to mine – of course I have ideas that are ahead of the times.

The Kohs Block Design Test has nine cards that can be completed multiple ways. The fault in the test is that there are more complicated ways to achieve the result they are looking for but these results aren't even in the literature. Timing me, even if my results are exceptional, leads to inaccurate results as I have to continuously reject correct answers that I know won't be on the answer key. That information would be useful for someone to know, but no one is going to ask.

Incidentally, I have given a copy of the above to my psychiatrist. His response is included in my second concern.

#2 - I analyze everything. There is no simple answer for me. For example, the true or false question, "I believe people often lie to me." How are we defining 'lie'? Are we talking about the 350 pound sixteen year old girl with a ready smile who always wears long sleeves to hide the cuts on her arms who tells me that she is happy? Because if this is the case then it is an easy yes. People have lies they tell themselves and since they do not know the truth themselves, of course they lie to me. Or must it be a conscious lie as in, "I love the way you got your haircut." Or perhaps it must be malicious, "I'm from the Internal Revenue Service and I'm here to help."

My psychiatrist suggests that I answer the questions without thinking - 'like you're a twelve year old'; which simply tells me that he has no idea how precocious I was as a twelve year old. Here's an example of the problem - don't think about it, just answer: "Who discovered America?" Your first response, if you are like most people, is Christopher Columbus. But you know that isn't right. The Vikings were here before him - and the American Indians before that. So what do I put? It feels as if he is suggesting changing the way I think for this test so they can get an accurate picture of how I think. It seems ludicrous.