[Phoboxyl]

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?

[Phoboxyl]

I would put myself at a magnitude 4. At the height of my disorders at ages 11, 14, 15 and 17, I was magnitude 6.

[waynec]

Originally Posted by Phoboxyl

I would put myself at a magnitude 4. At the height of my disorders at ages 11, 14, 15 and 17, I was magnitude 6.

sing this scale at my worse i'm a 3 but usually below 0.

[Phoboxyl]

Originally Posted by waynec

sing this scale at my worse i'm a 3 but usually below 0.

That is great news!!

[lancetrot]

Remarkable stuff

[Phoboxyl]

Originally Posted by lancetrot

Remarkable stuff

Thanks a lot.

[Aunt Donna]

I usually about a 1 or 2 lately, but tonight I feel like a 3 and going higher.

[bipolarmedstudent]

I would put myself at a 5. I have been a 6.

[taylor43]

im at a 7 starting to see a pyschologist to deal with my anxiety and childhood issues!

[Switch]

I am having a hard time putting myself in one of these, but that might have a lot to do with the fact I am a compilation of many issues. I think I am somewhere between 3 and 4?

I have extreme difficulty with life issues (usually), am on the waiting list for inpatient, and seeing a pdoc and social worker soon, and had to let go of my T. I have very few "stable" days, and rarely leave the house. My social interaction is almost 0 with exception of PC, and a select few friends. I am getting huge amounts of support from family in the mean time.

It's a mix of anxiety and bipolar (depression/super rapid cycling) right now. So... am I right in my guess?

[Phoboxyl]

Hi Switch,

I'm very sorry to hear you are having this trouble. You sound like you meet the following:

Magnitude 7

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.

[Switch]

Ah... Here I thought I was stretching it to make it to 3/4!

I don't think I'm dangerous to myself though, which is why I discounted higher ratings. Though... If I think about it, I would probably starve right now if I wasn't at my parents... so maybe I am?

I think this is a good system, but I think each individual point (challanges with challenges, current profecional resources, thoughts and feelings, relationships and isolation, and life satisfaction) could be broken up as subgroups, and you find the magnitude by your average subgroups or something.

But then again that'd be pretty lengthy, which might be what you're trying to avoid.

Thanks for the assessment! I just thought I'd put in some peer-critique to help you with it.

[Silent_tsol]

I also stayed away from the "danger to self or others". I'm curious if I would have rated myself if that sentence weren't included. The way it stands I'd say I'm between 3 and 4. I often feel like I'm not getting any results from my meds so I think having a "before" and "during" would be a useful tool

[SpaghettiMonster]

Easily 8.