If something got used by 2000% more people, you’d say that thing was pretty good — or at least pretty darn useful. Well, that’s exactly how much use of a specific tool spiked during the pandemic. And so we’d be dropping the ball if we didn’t put it on your radar.
When we were talking with Mental Health America (MHA) recently, we learned that before COVID, their mental health screenings were used roughly 3,000 times a year. Now, that’s jumped to more than 59,000 screenings annually. Clearly, a lot of us could use this resource.
Wondering how to access it? We’ve got you covered.
The free MHA screenings you can use right now
If you’ve ever wondered if what you feel is a mental health condition, this tool can help. It’s a way to assess if you’re feeling sad or you’re dealing with depression, for example. Or you could use these screenings to differentiate between worry and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).
To get started, head to MHA’s Mental Health Test page. There, you’ll find screenings for:
They also have age-specific screening tools, like one for kids and teens ages 11 to 17 and one parents can use to assess their children’s mental health. Beyond that, they offer depression and anxiety screenings in Spanish.
Essentially, all of these screening tools give you an evidence-based way to find out if what you’re experiencing are symptoms of a mental health condition.
What to do with your screening results
In the same way you should seek out a doctor if you’re ill, you should get mental healthcare if the screening shows that you’re likely living with one of these conditions.
That could mean seeking out a therapist in your area, getting started with one of the online therapist services available today, or exploring other options. For help there, the MHA has more information on:
They also recommend warmlines, which are there for whenever you need to talk to someone. You can use their warmline page to find the number of the warmline most local to you and its operating hours.
Alternatively, you can text “MHA” to 741-741 to talk to a trained counselor from their crisis text line.
With these screening tools, it’s easier than ever to start the process of understanding your mental health state. Don’t stop there, though. Seek out help when you need it.
To prevent people from feeling alone or afraid of reaching out, we also want to make sure you know about #Doughp4Hope. Any time you buy Doughp, we give a portion of the proceeds to help people get the mental healthcare they need.
