Screening tools for mental illnesses, help!

[MellowYellowCA]

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Question answered : )

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

You are going to run into some issues.

1. Most (legitimate) screening tools will not be found online, because they are protected materials. If these are in any way connected with a medical record, you should only use empirically supported assessments, as anything else would open yourself (and your facility) to liability.

2. You may not have the proper training/supervision to give the assessments, as they are in the domain of clinical psychologists. Simple self-report measures are probably what you are looking for: BDI, BAI, etc. They should never be used without other assessments and a clinical interview, but they will be a flag at least for your psychologist to follow up on. Personality disorders and the like are much trickier to evaluate, and I'd tread much lighter if you are put in a position to "screen" for them, because they require more involved measures which are far outside of your scope, and you shouldn't be giving/interpreting them.

 

[erg923]

Yes, hire or consult with a psychologist/psychiatrist. Thats why we are here. Even brief screening measures of psychopathology such as the SCL-90, BDI, BAS, and the BSI need to be looked at by someone who has training in mental health field.

 

[OldPsychDoc]

Guys--I think we're talking about SCREENING here, as in a primary care office, not assessment as done by a clinical psychologist. So a couple of good ones to look for are the PHQ9 for depression and the CAGE questionaire for alcoholism.
You must keep in mind that these do NOT "diagnose" disorders, but merely point you in the direction of problems that need more focused follow-up.

 

[MellowYellowCA]

Guys--I think we're talking about SCREENING here, as in a primary care office, not assessment as done by a clinical psychologist. So a couple of good ones to look for are the PHQ9 for depression and the CAGE questionaire for alcoholism.
You must keep in mind that these do NOT "diagnose" disorders, but merely point you in the direction of problems that need more focused follow-up.

Thanks for the responses everyone, OldPsychDoc used the right terms and I didn't get across what I was looking for properly. I am looking more for something by which to flag potentially mentally ill candidates in a clinic that does not provided psychiatry services (so that we can direct them there). I would not be doing anything close to diagnosing - just helping direction people who did not come in for psych services but could benefit from them. My supervisor noticed there were a good number of people that could potentially benefit from psych help, and since the students see the patients first, we could help flag potential candidates. Where could I find some of the "flagging tools" mentioned above? Thanks!

 

[MellowYellowCA]

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[PeeWee137]

the 8 questions for depression you mention sounds like the SIGECAPS mnemonic. also look up DIGFAST for bipolar disorder.

 

[MellowYellowCA]

YES!!! those were exactly what I was looking for!! Thanks so much : ) Any others anyone?