Anxiety: A Very Short Introduction - Daniel Freeman, Jason Freeman 2012

Self-assessment questionnaires and further information
Appendix

This Appendix contains self-assessment questionnaires for:

• social phobia

• generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)

• obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)

• post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

It’s important to bear in mind that these questionnaires won’t provide a cast-iron diagnosis — for that, you’d need to see a specialist. However, they will give you an indication as to whether it may be useful to seek professional advice. For more information on treatment options, see Chapter 11.

In the Further reading section, you’ll find a list of books and websites providing more information on each of the six main psychological disorders.

Social phobia

When you complete the following questionnaire, base your answers on your experiences over the past week.

A total score of 19 or more is a sign of possible social phobia.

Social Phobia Inventory © 2000 Royal College of Psychiatrists

Generalized anxiety disorder

If you’re concerned that your worrying might be getting out of control, try the Penn State Worry Questionnaire.

For each of the following statements, indicate how typical or characteristic they are for you by giving a score from 1 to 5.

Penn State Worry Questionnaire: Meyer, T. J., Miller, M. L., Metzger, R. L., and Borkovec, T. D., (1990). Development and validation of the Penn State Worry Questionnaire, Behaviour Research and Therapy, 28: 487—95.

Now add up your scores for each statement. Questions 3, 8, 10, and 11 are reversed scored: if, for example, you put 5, for scoring purposes the item is counted as 1. Scores can range from 18 to 80.

People with worry problems usually score above 50. A score of over 60 may indicate GAD.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder

When you answer the following questions, think back to your experiences over the past month.

Questionnaire reproduced by permission of Edna B. Foa 2002.

Add up your score. A total of 21 or above indicates possible OCD.

Post-traumatic stress disorder

For this questionnaire, please base your responses on your reaction over the past seven days to the traumatic event.

As we saw in Chapter 10, there are three main types of PTSD symptom:

• Reliving the traumatic event is measured by items 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 14, 16, 20. Scores can range from 0 to 32.

• Avoidance or feeling numb is measured by items 5, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 17, 22. Again, scores can range from 0 to 32.

• Feeling constantly on edge is measured by items 4, 10, 15, 18, 19, 21. Scores can range from 0 to 24.

The higher the scores, the more likely it is that you may be suffering from PTSD. Some experts estimate a total score of 30 or higher for the whole questionnaire indicates possible PTSD, but, as with all the questionnaires in this Appendix, a diagnosis can only be made by a clinician after a detailed assessment.

Impact of Event Scale — Revised © Weiss, D. S., and Marmar, C. R. (1997).