Other online screenings are meant to expose you to advertising.  Still others just want to make you aware of a condition and its symptoms.  While the latter is a good goal, it’s important to remember that online screening tools are no substitute for seeing your doctor, psychologist, or neuropsychologist.  If you’re having any sort of symptoms, seek medical help.

Still, since screenings can be educational, and scoring an interesting result on an online screening can encourage people to see their doctors, psychologists, or neuropsychologists for professional screening, I’m posting this link to Mental Health America’s online screenings.  They include screenings for:

• Depression
• Anxiety
• Bipolar Disorder
• Psychosis
• Eating Disorder
• PTSD
• Alcohol and Substance Use
• Childhood Emotional Disturbances

Please use these screenings responsibly and do not assume that if you score well on a screening that you do not need to speak to a professional.  If you have any questions, please see a professional.

Finding out you have a mental health issue may seem scary at first, but it is better to find out early, so you can get help early.  Often doctors and psychologists can help prevent a condition from stopping you from reaching your true potential in life.

Check out the screenings here:

https://screening.mentalhealthamerica.net/screening-tools/?show=1&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mentalhealthamerica.net%2Fabout-mha-screening&ipiden=4814b4e3990d7553c61ad98191a5560c

Many physicians use the Mini Mental Status Exam (MMSE) or similar brief screening measures when a patient or patient’s family members bring up memory concerns.  However, physicians may consider referring a patient to neuropsychological testing for many reasons, including the following:

• The MMSE test is not very sensitive, missing between 23 and 55 percent of Mild Cognitive Impairment, which can be an early indicator of Alzheimer’s disease or other neurodegenerative disorders
• Neuropsychological testing can catch indicators of neurodegenerative decline well before a patient or family member might notice.
• Neuropsychological testing can give a more detailed picture of a patient’s difficulties.  For example, are reported memory problems the result of trouble with encoding, consolidation, or retrieval, or a combination of all of these?  Are reported memory problems partially due to other deficits like problems with attention or processing speed?
• A patient or family may dismiss memory issues as normal aging, even if they’re not
• A patient may want reassurance that memory issues are just normal aging
• A physician or patient may desire an objective testing baseline to compare against future possible decline
• A patient may need more concrete proof of decline in order to encourage compliance with prescribed therapies
• A physician or patient may want more thorough objective measures to determine whether certain therapies are helping

For more information, please see my more detailed blog and referenced literature at http://craigsiders.com/index.php/2014/08/neuropsychology-and-early-diagnosis-of-alzheimers-disease-and-other-neurodegenerative-disorders/

If you have any questions about referring a patient for neuropsychological testing, please feel free to contact us.