If I called you an idiot or a psycho then I think you would object - and rightly so. That just goes to illustrate that names DO matter. It matters whether we call people names or not, and it certainly matters what names we apply to ourself: Whether that be 'insane' 'mentally ill' 'borderline' etc etc etc. If I remember rightly a member here was blocked once for suggesting that a person might like to think about borderline personality... Diagnostics (by me) weren't thought to be appropriate... When diagnostic names are suggested by a 'sanity score' I fail to see how anybody willing to take a test with such a dubious label is terribly likely to appreciate that the diagnostic labels that the test is applying to them isn't an act of diagnosis. How bizarre!

The 'insanity defense' has been around for ages... Before the industrial revolution... It is fairly clearly a legal notion...

> As for its validity, it's a screening measure, which means it hopefully gives you some insight into possible issues in your life. No more, no less. It doesn't diagnose, nor does it intend to. But it can help -- and has helped thousands -- to walk down a road to figuring out whether they should consult a mental health professional for further help.

It seems that people take the test because they are worried that there is something wrong (otherwise why would you take it). The test then rattles off several things that they might want to be concerned about (on the basis of issues that they basically tell the test they find problematic). The test then tells them to seek professional help.

So: Go seek the advice of a health professional.

Did you really need a test to tell people who were worried about their mental health to go see a professional? What was to be gained by giving them particular names of conditions to research up on before going to the doc (e.g., borderline personality disorder). There still are many clinicians who don't feel that labels are helpful... DSM Labels in particular should not just be thrown around and certainly not on the basis of self report.

It is a way to train peoples distress into categories that are currently recognitised by the profession...

It is a way of undermining the scientific credibility of psychiatry / clinical psychology... It is a way of being seen to condone all those self help self diagnostic tests out there... It is... Bizzarre... That is what it is. I simply don't understand...