[Medicated]

So, I just did the Personality Patterns questionnaire on this site, and I've gotta say, rarely have I seen more accurate results! I'm tempted to print this out and hand it to the people I meet... as a disclaimer, or something. Anyway, it was interesting to see some aspects of my personality laid out so clearly. You should check it out (and no no one's paying me).

For the curious, here are my results (I agree with about 95% of this):

Passionate

You are in touch with your emotions, and sometimes you react before you think. The good news: you don’t tamp down your feelings. The bad news: you sometimes say or do things that you later wish you could take back.

You do not live your life on an even keel; you do not go for long periods without experiencing some mood swings.

Reserved

You are somewhat shy, or at least unwilling to spend all your time socializing. With you it’s true that “still waters run deep,” which is why many of your acquaintances never get to know you well.

You are not always ready to talk at the drop of a hat. Whether you’re in the office or at a party, you’re not likely to be found gabbing away in the middle of a group of people.

Emotional

You let it all hang out, and those around you always know what you’re going through.

You are not isolated from your emotions; no one would call you “cold-blooded,” or even “cool as a cucumber.”

Volatile

You go with the flow when it comes to your emotions. Whether you’re happy or sad, you show it, and when something upsets you, or you’re feeling stressed out, those around you will know it right away.

You are not necessarily the one person in any group who can be depended on to stay calm, cool, and collected in a crisis; you aren’t known for keeping your emotions under wraps.

Introspective

You like your own company; you’re a very interesting person. Tracking your own mental processes, knowing what you’re thinking and why you do what you do, is important to you. Often, what’s going on in your mind is more compelling than what’s going on outside. For the most part, those with a high score on the “introspective” trait enjoy reading, taking long walks, learning new things, and other solitary activities.

You are not someone who is constantly looking to be among a group of friends; you never feel bored when you are by yourself.

Stressed Out

You often feel that there’s too much on your plate, that you don’t have the strength to deal with the bad hand you’ve been dealt, or that you’re going to lose it if you have to deal with one more problem.

You don’t always bounce back quickly from adversity; sometimes when you get bad news it can hang over you for a long time.

Solitary

You are a private person, not very comfortable in a big group, and view excessive socializing as a waste of time.

You not prefer hanging out with others to spending time alone; you do not tend to feel at home in a crowded room, club, stadium, or auditorium.

Unsettled

You may be comfortable on your home turf, but you have a tendency to be self-conscious in an unfamiliar environment. While you’re usually at ease with your friends, you can be a little skittish around strangers.

You usually don’t feel at home in unfamiliar settings or with new people. When you get rattled, you don’t necessarily recover instantly.

Self-Contained

You like to stick to your own business and leave the power struggles to others; you know who you are and what you believe in, but you don’t see any reason to impose your values on everyone else.

You generally don’t get involved in organizing or motivating people, and you don’t feel the need to always be seen as a big public decision-maker.

Scrupulous

You are an honest, fair person. You don’t lie or cheat to get ahead. You treat others with respect and hope for the same in return.

You do not feel that you are above the rules that everyone else follows; you are definitely not willing to do whatever it takes to get ahead.

~

... Yep, that pretty much sums it up.

[sanityseeker]

I tried to do the test but I found too many of the questions I was split on and couldn't answer. For example:

'I tend to have intense emotional reactions to things, and tend to barge in on conversations and shoot my mouth off.'

The first half is exactly like me but the second half is the opposite of me.

Other questions were difficult to answer because I feel split between the me when I am coping with my illness and the me when I am not coping.

For example:
'I tend to put little time and effort into my work. I don't pay attention and seldom notice details.'

When I am depressed, like now work is really difficult and details elude me. When I am not depressed then I can be a bit of a workaholic and perfectionist.

Or:
I take little time for others and am seldom interested in other people's problems. I'm generally indifferent to the feelings of others.

When I am depressed I am way to self absorbed but when I am coping I am totally into helping other people.

Likewise with....
'I have difficulty imagining things and struggle to come up with new ideas.'

When I am depressed it is very difficult but otherwise I am very creative.

I guess I could try to answer it as the person I am when I am not depressed or used to be before the depression got out of hand but honestly I have been depressed more often than not for so long that it feels phoney to suggest I am a fun and outgoing life of the party when I have been so withdrawn and sad for so long. I used to be a certain way but not so much anymore. hummmmm.....

Wonder if anyone else has the same difficulty with these types of tests.

Thanks for sharing your results Medicated. Very interesting. I can see how it could be useful to reinforce for a person their strengths or to reveal coping strategies, behaviour patterns etc.

[ZilchHour]

Thanks Medicated.

Let me try!