What If Psychological Disorder Tests Were Administered Regularly?
The only test that I was made to do so far has been a career test in high school. It was mandatory, to be filled out by everyone in the class. Then there are the standardized tests that people are made to take in order to get into a university. While these are important, I believe that there are other tests that could be encouraged further in the student population, such as psychological disorder tests. From what I have observed, a lot of people suffering from depression, anxiety or eating disorders don’t get the help they need and these disorders especially show up around the age of 20, when people are in university. They ignore the problem, are not aware of the severity of it, may simply be too shy to ask for help or don’t know where to get it. So these tests are used when a student goes to seek mental health services by their own will or may be looked up on the Internet, which I believe not a lot of people does. The use of these tests should be increased in order to make sure that those who need help are getting it and being reached out to. It could help prevent the damages these disorders might do to a person’s life, before it is too late. It will encourage the person to seek out help if the test result urges the person to take action about their situation. If these tests were encouraged to be taken every semester to students and ended with feedbacks as to what percentile they are in, what kind of services are available to them, the options they have or if they should follow up on their conditions if it is at a sub-clinical levels, it would help a lot of people. They could pop up like the course evaluations do at the end of a semester. One of my best friends had depression and she denied the situation for a long time and did not get the help she needed. If she had known the severity of her depression by actual statistics she might have understood the gravity of the situation and if the test had written the kind of services she might reach out to easily, she could have gotten help much sooner than she did. The test could cover the general psychological disorders, the ones most common in these ages and assess the general well being of the person. It would have to remain anonymous and only help the person to understand their situation, and when and where to get help. Instead of career tests being mandatory in high schools, or regular physical check ups or STD tests being so publicly encouraging, these measures should be applied for psychological disorder tests as well. It would help the person to assess their situation regularly and get help earlier in a school this big which gives appointments a month later for a situation that could get much more serious before that appointment arrives.
