[pinkcell]

I had my psych eval today, I am not too sure how things went. They had me talk to two different doctors. I do not know if this is normal or not, but they did say that I am Bipolar, but did not say if it is 1 or 2. I am unsure of any other diagnosis. The last doctor that I talked to said that the diagosis' would be available some time next week. I do know that they had me do a number of strange exercises that I was unable to do, such as....trying to repeat a number backwards and remembering a few simple words. Does anyone know what these exercises are for? All I know is that I was unable to accomplish the number thing without getting the numbers all jumbled, and the words I could only remember one of them. Is this a bad thing? And what does it mean?

[shezbut]

The tests tell the doctors where you are intellectually.

Testing your verbal skills, mathematic level, short and long-term memory, attention ability, detail orientation, reasoning skills....I think that's the gist.

I believe that the last test goes into depression, suicidal ideation, mania, and hallucinations.

I've had the psych tests 3 or 4 times now. (Twice was for my brain surgery ~ before and after though) I got copies of the results, which went over the tests and my answers. I was then categorized to be average, below average, significantly below average, etc. in each test. The last test showed me to be significantly depressed, which they theorized may have affected the cognitive abilities tests somewhat.

Anyway, I wasn't real thrilled with my tests (or results), though I wasn't real surprised either. I already knew that my memory was beyond bad, I was seriously depressed, and so forth.

Try not to worry. I know, easier said than done.

[amandalouise]

Originally Posted by pinkcell

I had my psych eval today, I am not too sure how things went. They had me talk to two different doctors. I do not know if this is normal or not, but they did say that I am Bipolar, but did not say if it is 1 or 2. I am unsure of any other diagnosis. The last doctor that I talked to said that the diagosis' would be available some time next week. I do know that they had me do a number of strange exercises that I was unable to do, such as....trying to repeat a number backwards and remembering a few simple words. Does anyone know what these exercises are for? All I know is that I was unable to accomplish the number thing without getting the numbers all jumbled, and the words I could only remember one of them. Is this a bad thing? And what does it mean?

repeating numbers backwards can be just about anything... check your memory, check to see if you have learning disorders (some learning disorders make it easy for a person to recite but not write, recite out of order, read and recite out of order such as dyslexia and others) check to see if you have mental disorders (some mental disorders affect people by rhyming numbers and words, repeating sequences of numbers, words, ..reciting numbers and words that were not in the list given by the examiner and some mental disorders make it very easy to recite numbers and words backwards.. some mental disorders that work in these ways are DID, OCD Schizophrenia, Schizoaffective disorder, bipolar and others in some people) Some Neurological diseases and other physical health problems/ disorders also affect how a person recites numbers and words back to the examiner for example multiple sclorosis, alzheimers, depression, dehydration, poor diet...)

the same with remembering simple words.

in other words psych evals test for everything. the only way you will know what exactly they were testing is by asking the treatment provider giving the tests.

in some cases it is not so good that you couldnt do them and in other cases it is good that you couldnt do them. the tests are set up in a way that you are supposed to not be able to do everything. if you could have done everything with out getting anything wrong the results would have been highly suspicious, if you were here in NY and were able to do every single thing, the examiner would have been put under investigation for not giving the test correctly and you would have had to go through another psych eval with another examiner. psych evaluations are not supposed to be about good or bad. they are about getting your diagnosis so that you can be treated for your problems.