How credible are online depression tests?

Well, it probably depends on how credible the site is. If you’re going on some site to try to figure out whether or not you’re depressed, you should probably see someone about that…

well i was doing it out of curiosity because my friends did and every site said i was severely depressed

What exactly does credible mean? Major Depressive Disorder is a mental illness. Something a test cannot tell you. However, depending on the test, it is probably based on the criteria of the DSM and a mental health professional would use it as a tool to guide them. As for you finding you’re depressed on every site, it means you may want to consider talking to your parents about taking you to a doctor. It does not necessarily mean you are depressed.

credible means if it is believable or trustworthy basically.

Where can you take them?

Whether they are researched tests and proven to work, will depend on the test. I have seen versions of the BDI out there. Nonetheless. No professional would ever suggest that someone self diagnose based on a test. It’s too easy to diagnose oneself off a test.

That just depends on how the test is designed. There are good tests and there are bad tests. And some of the free tests try to lure you into contacting/ buying things from that site. These will be more probable to have negative results, so you buy their stuff - whatever it is - to improve you moods.

But a depression is a permanent state of mind. And a test can only tell you about your momentary moods. So if you are in a foul mood the results of any psych test will be more negative. Because if you are “between two answers” you tend to click the bad one.

The tests sum up points. They don’t really read your mind.

For example if the test item is “I have problems motivating myself to get up in the morning” and you can choose between the options “never”, “rarely” “sometimes” “often” and “always”, when you have a bad day, you’ll possibly click “often” while on a good day, you might pick “sometimes”. Now “often” will add 1 point to the “person probably has depressions” counter while “sometimes” will not add a point. “always” would add 3, “rarely” would subtract one and “never” would subtract 3. When your “person probably has depressions” counter value is above a certain number at the end of the test, they will say, you have depressions. In my example, if the test has 20 questions all with the same pint values, any value from minus 60 to minus 40 will tell you that you are absolutely completely healthy any value from minus 40 to zero will say that you are healthy, any value from zero to forty will say you are at risk and any value from 40 to 60 will say that you have severe depressions.

Then they advise you to go to a shrink. Or to buy their pills, or contact their site with your personal data, or buy their esoteric flask that increases your happiness karma. Depending on how respectable the site is.

If I were you, I’d take the test again on a sunny day when your momentary mood is good. And then see if they still say you’re depressed.

Most Internet or magazine quizes that tell you are depressed or have a personality disorder or what ever else are just pop-psychology quizes. If you are worried that you might have depression go see a psychologist or psychiatrist. They are trained to analyse your symptoms and diagnose you. And if you do have a mental disorder they will know exactly how to help you. If you want, let me know, I’ll send you the DSM-IV criteria for major depression disorder. I’m learning all about diagnosing mental disorders using the DSM-IV at the moment. You can use it to decide if the quizes you did have a point and wether you should see someone. Depression can be a very serios disorder and you shouldn’d take it lightly. It is the mental disorder that kills the second most people.

well it was out of boredom nothing more i just was wondering if it was accurate. Im not worried if i have depression or question the fact i do it was merely for fun.

Only an objective trained professional can evaluate if someone has a mood disorder. Various on-line tests are usually run by someone who has a vested interest in your depression diagnosis like drug companies, churches or alternative medicine providers that claim to be able to help, or even on-line pharmacies. Going through the on-line tests even tends to coach patients on how to answer questions to get a certain diagnosis from their doctor. A good doctor can read into answers enough to tell if the answers reflect reality or what the patient has talked themselves into. The tests are not very credible.