Post by Mea on Dec 16, 2015 9:24:05 GMT
Anonymous asked: I had a look through the FAQ and couldn't see this anywhere, apologies if i just missed it but i was wondering if you had any advice. I've been sort of self diagnosed with BPD for several months, too scared to phone up and sort my self referral, but anyway I phoned today and have a telephone consultation tomorrow, they've emailed me a questionnaire to fill in and I'm slightly unsure of how to go about it. It asks questions that seem only based around being depressed or anxious? Like ‘how often do u have little interest in doing things?’ ‘how often do u feel bad about yourself?’ then scales on 0, 1, 2, 3 (never, several days, half the days, all the days) and I just dont feel that scale can be applied to me? My emotions are so all over the place i feel unsure of how to put it on a scale? i cannot express the rapid shift either on this scale? Any advice?
Answer: This is probably a K10 scale or a similar test (K10 is popular where I live). It’s a very brief psychological triage. According to CRUfAD, 88% of the population score below 20 on the K10 and are likely to be well (emphasis added). Here’s more information on the remaining 12%.
The K10 does appear to be limited in the symptoms it asks about. This is not because your doctor/therapist doesn’t know how to treat anything other than depression or anxiety. The test is brief and very general, simply naming several feelings that could be associated with mental illness.
For example, question 6-
[In the past 4 weeks] about how often did you feel so restless you could not sit still?
This could detect anxiety, mania, ADHD or psychosis. And question 8-
[In the past 4 weeks] about how often did you feel that everything was an effort?
Of course this is a symptom of depression, but it’s a feeling brought on by many other disorders as well even in the absence of clinical depression, particularly when you are having an episode or under more stress.
In summary: The K10 and other similar scales are an introduction to or update on your mental health for your doctor/therapist. The questions are written to be relatable to people with all kinds of disorders.
As for feeling they don’t really apply to you? I relate to that! I bet a lot of people with BPD do. Just remember that the scale has two purposes:
You are still allowed to talk about symptoms that aren’t in the scale. It’s okay if you don’t seem to be mentally ill according to the scale because your symptoms aren’t mentioned or change too rapidly. That is fine.
I think if you overstate your distress, you can explain that when you meet them. But if you understate your distress and they don’t see you because they assume you don’t need it, then you don’t ever get the chance to explain how your symptoms don’t fit this particular pattern.
So I suggest you fill the scales in as best you can and tell your doctor/therapist that you found it hard or not helpful. Also, include your short but intense/disruptive episodes when you’re filling it in. For example, if you feel very depressed every day for two hours, but feel okay the rest of the time, you are still experiencing pretty frequent feelings of depression.
If you just don’t want to do this kind of scale at all, I totally support you! Be warned that not all doctors/therapists will, however. (I’ve been called “non-cooperative” for saying filling in a K10 made me uncomfortable. Yikes on a bike!)
- Exo
Answer: This is probably a K10 scale or a similar test (K10 is popular where I live). It’s a very brief psychological triage. According to CRUfAD, 88% of the population score below 20 on the K10 and are likely to be well (emphasis added). Here’s more information on the remaining 12%.
The K10 does appear to be limited in the symptoms it asks about. This is not because your doctor/therapist doesn’t know how to treat anything other than depression or anxiety. The test is brief and very general, simply naming several feelings that could be associated with mental illness.
For example, question 6-
[In the past 4 weeks] about how often did you feel so restless you could not sit still?
This could detect anxiety, mania, ADHD or psychosis. And question 8-
[In the past 4 weeks] about how often did you feel that everything was an effort?
Of course this is a symptom of depression, but it’s a feeling brought on by many other disorders as well even in the absence of clinical depression, particularly when you are having an episode or under more stress.
In summary: The K10 and other similar scales are an introduction to or update on your mental health for your doctor/therapist. The questions are written to be relatable to people with all kinds of disorders.
As for feeling they don’t really apply to you? I relate to that! I bet a lot of people with BPD do. Just remember that the scale has two purposes:
- To help you, the patient, identify and express your distress
- To help the doctor/therapist get a quick idea of your distress
You are still allowed to talk about symptoms that aren’t in the scale. It’s okay if you don’t seem to be mentally ill according to the scale because your symptoms aren’t mentioned or change too rapidly. That is fine.
I think if you overstate your distress, you can explain that when you meet them. But if you understate your distress and they don’t see you because they assume you don’t need it, then you don’t ever get the chance to explain how your symptoms don’t fit this particular pattern.
So I suggest you fill the scales in as best you can and tell your doctor/therapist that you found it hard or not helpful. Also, include your short but intense/disruptive episodes when you’re filling it in. For example, if you feel very depressed every day for two hours, but feel okay the rest of the time, you are still experiencing pretty frequent feelings of depression.
If you just don’t want to do this kind of scale at all, I totally support you! Be warned that not all doctors/therapists will, however. (I’ve been called “non-cooperative” for saying filling in a K10 made me uncomfortable. Yikes on a bike!)
- Exo
