I wanted to share this ....

[leethet]

Disorder	Your Score
Major Depression:	Slight
Dysthymia:	Slight-Moderate
Bipolar Disorder:	Very Slight
Cyclothymia:	Slight
Seasonal Affective Disorder:	Very Slight
Postpartum Depression:	N/A
Take the Depression Test

... and here's why. The symptoms that led this web game to think I have a slight to moderate chance of depression? Are all normal symptoms of perimenopause (most of them due to not sleeping). I don't even know what I'm getting at (haven't had enough caffeine yet) except that maybe ... are we, again, calling normal female processes illness? (Not that not sleeping won't depress you!)

Also, one of the questions was to the effect of "Do you think unhappiness is a normal part of life, and that happy people are deluding themselves?"

What kind of conflation is that? Unhappiness is a part of life, and so is happiness. Anyone who's only experienced one or the other would be exceedingly rare. I had to answer "No" even though the right answer is "Yes to the first part and no to the second except in those specific cases where I think the happy person is a delusional idiot."

I do actually enjoy these quizzes but they're really badly composed.

Comments

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't call peri-menopause an illness, but, yeah, I'm pretty sure it would fall under that according to this test. But, hey, why not? If they can tell men that low testosterone isn't a sign of aging, then why can't women say that menopause isn't? We're not getting old, we're just got this little problem. *g*

I also answered "no" to the question about happiness because, as you say, while unhappiness is a normal part of life, that doesn't mean that happy people are deluding themselves. There were a few other questions that I had to go with what was closest to how I felt because they really couldn't be answered with a straight yes or no. My score was "very slight" to all the disorders, which I pretty much figured they would be.

[leethet.livejournal.com]

If they can tell men that low testosterone isn't a sign of aging, then why can't women say that menopause isn't?

Well, there's nothing wrong with men, or anything that happens to them, historically. But everything natural that happens to women is a pathology when it's different from what happens to men or different from what they want. After all, isn't that where "frigidity" as an illness came from? :-) It couldn't possibly be "your husband's a lousy lover," now could it? :-)



Yeah, I could see where they were headed with the "can't sleep" - it is a common sign of depression. But it's also a common sign of perimenopause (and for some women menopause itself). I've never slept very well, but I don't suppose that's anything other than my personal metabolism.

Still, these online things really are games and can't be seriously considered. I do get frustrated by the way they phrase questions, though. So often the answer is "It depends" or "Sometimes" and all they offer is Yes/No. Sheesh. :-)

[st-crispins.livejournal.com]

Older people don't sleep well. For me, it's because my aged bladder can only go 2-3 hours before I have to pee.

So, I get up at least once a night, sometimes more depending upon what I drank and ate.

[st-crispins.livejournal.com]

You're right. What they term "dysthymia" has much in common with menopause.

This was a stupid quiz.

Can I get an 'amen'?!!

[certainlysandy.livejournal.com]

Disorder	Your Score
Major Depression:	High-Moderate
Dysthymia:	Moderate
Bipolar Disorder:	Very High
Cyclothymia:	High-Moderate
Seasonal Affective Disorder:	Extremely High
Postpartum Depression:	N/A
Take the Depression Test