Please check out Mindsite if you have the time

I'd say it was 100% bang on with Dx me with things I already knew about myself. No surprises. Not keen on sharing the Dx (Don't want people to know how messed up I really am.)

I liked the format - very easy to answer questions, and I liked how the questions tailored themselves to your responses - good programming logic.

As for what I'd pay for it. Maybe 10-20 dollars.

Please keep in mind that I've been a psych patient for years (progressively getting better) so nothing surprised me, and i could kind of see where the questions were leading. But if you were a novice to MH issues it would be really good. I especially liked that the feedback linked your responses to the DSM criteria.

--splitimage

I took the whole test and found the wording done well, it was unemotional, matter-of-fact and stuck to less "interpretable" statements. I was especially interested in the gambling one as one of my husband's and my hobbies is horse race handicapping and it correctly noted that I had lost "non-trivial" amounts but did not have any issues with that; I wondered how they were going to do that since I can afford what I lose.

I was a little disappointed in "time" references as I had one issue and that was with my drinking but that issue was 30 years ago and there was no range of time; whether I had a current problem or just a problem ever.

I think a test like that one should be part of an online therapy group practice and be part of a package of say, pay-$25-and-get-free-test-and-one, half-hour-e-mail-assessment-from-licensed-therapist sort of arrangement? I think a bit of one-on-one discussion about the test or with a professional about the results would make the test more worth paying for.

I got 2 positives: Major Depression and one other, that I forgot. Yes, I have had at least one episode of depression in my life, so this was no surprise.

However, what I think of as my 2 main problems, I tested negative for: PTSD and ADHD. I think the "gatekeeper" questions for both of those are too stringent and could use some modification.

I think the ADHD gatekeeper questions focus on symptoms that are classic for boys. My PNP has told me that ADHD often manifests differently in girls. I have tested positive on the professionally-administered CARS assessment for ADHD and also I have take the online assessments at Dr. Amen's website for ADHD, and these are very good. They cost $10 and go into detail about the different types of ADHD and classify you as one of those types and give specific recommendations based on type. These were worth $10 to me. In short, I think the MindSet ADHD questions are very weak and need modification to catch girls and people who don't manifest as "fidgety" etc. Also, I think they rely too much on asking you to recall how you were when you were a child under the age of 7. ADHD is a problem for me NOW, so why not ask about the symptoms I am experiencing now instead of asking me to recall in detail things from when I was a small child? This perpetuates the myth that ADHD is a childhood problem and that everyone grows out of it. In fact, in the diagnostic report that Mindset sends you, it says that ADHD can "occasionally persist into adulthood". That seems like a real understatement to me. Since it is likely not children who are taking this online test, people won't really care if they had ADHD long ago as little kids. It should be enough to verify there were some issues as a child and then go into asking about current symptoms. They will want to know what problems they have NOW so they can do something to solve them. If the person answers "I don't know" on the child questions, this shouldn't preclude them from being asked more questions about current behavior. How many people can remember with accuracy their issues before the age of 7?

As for trauma, again, I feel the gatekeeper questions are too "all or nothing" and don't let people through to the next level of questions who actually do have PTSD. My therapist has told me I have many classic symptoms for PTSD but yet I couldn't make it to those questions in the Mindset survey. So I think it needs improvement in this area too. I am going to go back to the assessment and see if I answered a little differently whether I would get further into the questions.

I would not pay for this assessment. I think it is too comprehensive and so misses the boat in some of the areas. Perhaps they were worried about the test being too long so they skimped in areas. I did think the depression questions were very good.

DocJohn, if you want to see a good example of tests, go look at the ones on the Amen website for ADHD. In addition to doing a good job with assignment to a particular subtype of ADHD, they also help differentially diagnose ADHD from other disorders that present with some similarity. (The only bad thing about the Amen tests is that they may recommend taking certain supplements/vitamins to correct brain chemical imbalances, and of course, it just happens that you can buy the supplements you "need" from Dr. Amen too!)

I did not take any of the substance abuse tests at Mindset because they give you an option to not do those. This is really a good feature so you can skip those if you don't have addiction problems.

I did like how the results Mindset email's you contain all your answers to all the questions.

Thanks for providing the pointer to this assessment.

Edited to add:
I went back and tweaked my answer to ADHD so I could get further into the questions, and I did indeed find that all questions were about the under 7 age period. What was funny, is one question said something like, "you have reported a lack of concentration before the age of 7. Did this ever cause you problems at home? At school? At work?" LOL! What 7 year old has a job??? This part of the survey seriously needs revision! In addition, even though I answered positively for the inattention symptoms, I answered negative for the hyperactivity symptoms, and so was told I tested negative for ADHD. This is not in alignment with the DSM, as you can be either hyperactive type ADHD or inattentive type. The inattentive type is the type many girls have. So again, the Mindset survey needs to be revised in the area of ADHD.

I also tried to get further into the PTSD questions and found what I didn't like here is that they wanted you to identify one particular traumatic event ("your worst") and then answer questions about that. This seems very limited to me. Some people have repeated traumas and it is hard to pick any one.

It was accurate for me on 4 of the 5 things it gave me a "positive" dx for (accurate in that actual, live mental health professionals have done evals on me and come up with the same thing). I only have a couple quibbles:

1) Because I was a rebellious, smart-aleck, obnoxious teen who talked smack to my parents, I have oppositional defiant disorder?! Dang, that's practically a teen's job description. (Seriously -- as an adult, I've gone so far the other way that I don't speak up to anyone at all. So if it ever applied, instead of just being a normal phase, it certainly doesn't now.)

2) is related: All the questions said have you EVER. Well, ever, in my case, is 44 years. That is a lot of living to cover. If you've done it once, though, then you have to answer yes, even if you never did it again. I think it would be more helpful (although undoubtedly more work for the test developers) to put age or time parameters on some of those. (Some did say, have you experienced this in the last 12 months, and that's a start, but at 44 I really don't think I should be beholden to something I might have done once at 10.)

Other than that, it was easy to use and clearly explained.

I got 4 positive and 20 negatives. Guess I should not be surprised depression was a positive. I would think the assessment is pretty accurate. I would not pay basically because I don't have the money. Although,I do think $20 or $25 would be a resonable fee.
http://www.mindsite.com/survey/report/4j7zbyb3xsmc4og4csswgoso8/11722

It was mostly right on. It reconfirmed my Bipolar I disorder w/mania and depression, as well as PTSD. However, it doesn't seem to make allowances for conditions that one outgrew from childhood or adolescence. For example, it said I have a specific phobia, but I'm not still terrified of heights or enclosed spaces or spiders (okay, spiders still kinda freak me out if I find one on me). If anything, I'm more daring than the average person about climbing and heights nowadays. Also, just because I had a time of generalized anxiety disorder in adolescence doesn't mean that's what I'm still dealing with. I have certain days where I'm more anxious than others, but it's really not too terrible. Again, the social phobia was more in childhood and adolescence. Now I just choose to not be around tons of people, but I'm not scared of going to parties or talking in front of a classroom or meeting new people. Lastly, I know OCD and I don't have it. I wash my hands throughout the day and use hand sanitizer after touching doors or money or other peoples pens or before I eat if there's no soap and water available. That just makes me prudent, not OCD. I've only had 2 colds and no major illnesses in the past 2-3 years, so I figure I'm doing something right. Plus, my hands aren't raw or anything from washing and I only clean things up around the house when necessary. I did have a period of alcohol dependence and it didn't catch that at all. Otherwise, it's pretty thorough.

ok, i'm typing this up as i take the test, just so i remember specific points:
* i think the bar on the side (which tells you exactly what disorder you are being evaluated for, and what specific criteria) might be more hindering that helpful. e.g., i know i don't have bipolar disorder, so i was tempted to answer no to many of the questions, even though if i am truthful then i should answer yes. kind of like me wanting to 'help' the test along to get the most accurate results.
* it needs a progress bar along the bottom showing you e.g, 5% done or something
* during the depression section, it asked on multiple occasions "during these episodes, did you feel so sad that nothing could cheer you up?". don't know if this is an error or not, but it was annoying having to answer it so many times.
* the OCD questions were too limited. I have OCD myself, but don't have a fear of germs/disorder/the other option they listed. i also engage in repetitive behaviours to help manage the anxiety, but the options given there were again too limited.
* bit unsure about the PTSD section. have experienced abuse, and have ptsd as a result, but this didn't seem to get covered in the screener questions? as a result, i got a negative to PTSD (after depression, ptsd is my main concern).
* social phobia summary was weird. it just summarised my answers incorrectly. e.g., said i was worried about embarrassing myself (even though i answered 'no' to this question). also gave me a negative for it, stating that i said my fear was not so strong that i tried to avoid these situations (but it never even asked me this question!! my answer would have been a definite 'yes'!).
* as others have said, some of the diagnoses aren't really relevant anymore. yah, i struggled with disordered eating 10 years ago, but it's definitely not something that would qualify as a concern now. this set of questions takes me back to when i was 12!

i wouldn't bother paying for this quiz - it's not really an "assessment", i dont think, because it can only give you suggestions, not real diagnoses. also, these are so many other sites which offer things like this for free.

just looking through the report now - my comments:
* had a positive for anorexia nervosa. it says it's more common for females, but then says females get it about 2%, and males get it between 5-15%? weird error?
* i am confused about why i am receiving a positive diagnosis for Bipolar 1, mania (which i wasn't even aware was a disorder), dysthymic disorder & major depressive disorder. i know i only have the latter, but i think it would be incredibly overwhelming to someone who was "new" to their mental health concerns to get 4 "diagnoses" thrown at them. i think i'd actually be quite upset if i had paid for this service, only to be told that it doesn't support differential diagnoses AFTER the test has been completed. this needs to be stated very clearly at the beginning.
* the specific phobia thingy was useful. i have an extreme fear of heights (can't go two rungs above a ladder, to change my lights). i will bring this up with my doc because i would like lights in my room again .

i think the rest of my points i covered whilst doing the test .

i agree with wanttoheal where i thought it was a great comphrensive assesment and felt it trustworthy as it used the DSM for diagnostic criteria and i also agree with deliquesce- i hated that side info bar too.. its like well no i dont want that (haha).. and its kinda hard that some symptoms span a lot more than one disorder.. and what of the psychotic components of mental health problems???????????couldnt major depression symptoms be the negative symptoms of schizophrenia?!!?!!hmmmmm

I took it and it felt a little long. I would also say that it missed a few dignosis and that I wouldnt pay for something like this.

$39

Hi DocJohn,

I just went to Mindsite to look at my diagnostic report to write more feedback, but now they're charging $39 for the test.

I'm not willing to pay $39, even though it's the most in-depth online assessment I've ever taken...maybe $10.

It's an excellent test, and now I have labels for all of my issues, but the bottom line for me at this point is...I need to DO more and think less.

HELP! I can't figure out how to do it. It wants me to enter my card info and the charge is 39.00. Was it free only on that day?

I just saw this, and they want $39, which isn't going to happen. From reading the other posts, it sounds like one thing missing is a clear explanation that this whole list of diagnoses is just a list of possibilities to consider, and that if the same person were tested by a real live mental health professional, the therapist or diagnostician would sit down with them and consider exceptions and actual circumstances and individual variability, and would weed out the diagnoses that aren't quite as good of a fit, and select only a few or maybe one or two that describe the most important problems the person is dealing with. Tests like this can give you some insights and concepts to explore, but they don't mean that you definatively do or do not have all of those disorders.

I also just tried the site. There's no free anything there now. They want $39. I'm already paying a psychiatrist and a therapist!

I saw no "FREE" button, only the $39.00 to start....

I stopped seeing my T because I can't pay for the $25.00 co-pay....

Hi folks, the opportunity to take the test at no charge is no longer available. Thank you to those who did take the test and leave me feedback either here or in a PM. All of your names will be put into a hat and a random name will be drawn for the free t-shirt later today.

Thanks again,
DocJohn

Dang, I wish I had copied my results. Kind of forget half of my results. Just remember depression was one and agoraphobia was one. Since a fee is required now, we no longer have access to the results. bummer.. huh

that's a pity, even if you had to pay I think the price they are asking for is kind of ridiculous to be honest...personally I find the Sanity Score to be more in depth and accurate, and that's free so long as you are a member here.

I think all tests like this are flawed to some degree, though, I was really disappointed by mindsite I gotta say the only issue I have with sanity score is that it doesn't take into account that many issues aren't necessarily separate disorders but are connected. (which, for an online test of it's kind, it is pretty much impossible)

Who won the t-shirt?

Sorry, forgot to announce --

Kaika is the winner of the t-shirt. Congratulations Kaika!!

Thank you all for your feedback on this service.

Sorry that the service is now fee-based. The fee is half off for Psych Central members, which means it is $19 if you click on the link to it from the Psych Central homepage. We may offer free reports of this particular service in the future for members, for a limited time.

Best,
DocJohn

Kaika didn't want the t-shirt, so the new winner of the t-shirt is...

morningcalm

Wow, I can't believe I won the t-shirt! Thanks DocJohn, but would it be alright if I offered the t-shirt to teary_me? I would love for her to have it if she wants it. I've been reading her posts and she's been going through a lot lately. Otherwise, I'll pass it on to the next runner-up as I'm trying to downsize my stuff.

And thanks for creating such a helpful site. PC's already making a difference in my months long isolated life(due to depression).

Bet you've never heard this before...but my main form of "therapy" here has been using word games to "stay positive and move forward". Strange, I know, but I find the games safe and soothing, and it's working for me. The small steps I'm taking with the help of your site is actually helping me to venture out and interact with the world again...restaurants, yoga, sailing, trying new therapies, etc. I'm starting to get back some of my healthy self again!

Hope you and your wonderful moderators are having a great summer!

Ciao!

Morningcalm