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Where to Take a Quiz About Bipolar Disorder

According to the National Institute on Mental Health website, around 5.7 million American adults suffer from some form of bipolar disorder each year. Bipolar disorder (also known as manic depression) is a mood disorder characterized by extreme mood swings. People with bipolar disorder experience extreme highs in their moods (mania) and then quickly shift to extreme lows (depression).

  1. Precautions

    • There are a countless number of quizzes online that present themselves as testing for the symptoms of bipolar disorder. The results of an online quiz on bipolar disorder should be interpreted as indicative, not as a final diagnosis. If you take a quiz on bipolar disorder and the results suggest that you are bipolar, you should consult with a mental health professional like a counselor, therapist, psychologist or psychiatrist for an official diagnosis.

    Online

    • The best places to find bipolar disorder quizzes online are on websites that focus on mental health or medicine. For example, CounselingResources.com features a bipolar disorder self test with 18 questions. The test is called the Goldberg Bipolar Screening Questionnaire and primarily focuses on the intensity of your moods over your lifetime. The questionnaire also considers your work/school performance and socialization patterns. Another reliable website is the Depression and Bipolar Alliance's Mental Health Screening Center. This site offers a series of confidential tests (or "screeners") that focus on anxiety, mania and depression. Each screener features between fourteen and fifteen questions that gauge your moods, behaviors and thoughts, with the focus of determining if you should consult a mental health professional about a possible mood disorder.

    Mental Health Facilities/Offices

    • The most effective 'quiz' that can be given to test for bipolar disorder are the series of tests administered by a mental health professional. The tests themselves will probably differ depending on which mental health practitioner you see, but most screening tests for bipolar disorder are all based on the criteria set forth in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (also known as the DSM). The DSM is created by the American Psychiatric Association (or APA) and is used as the guidebook for mental health professionals to determine if a patient or client is suffering from a mental disorder.

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