How Accurate Is An Anxiety Test Online? Will It Help?

Many individuals live with anxiety. While some anxiety can be normal as a reaction to certain situations, clinically diagnosable anxiety can be quite different. But what if you’re in a position where you don’t feel ready yet to seek help or more information by talking with a therapist? Is an online anxiety test a viable substitute? What can it reveal about your mental state, and will it ultimately help with your anxiety? Online tests can be a great tool for learning more about your symptoms, but they aren’t meant to replace a professional diagnosis. Let’s take a deeper dive into what they can do, what they can’t, and how you can seek the right help for anxiety symptoms.

What  is anxiety?

First, you may need to understand the difference between “normal” anxiety levels and ones that might indicate a problem. Clinical anxiety can be different from the occasional feeling of nervousness or worries you might get in specific situations. The sort of anxiety can involve a persistent state of concern, fear, or worry.

When you feel anxious in this way, it can manifest itself through various physical symptoms. If faced with one of the situations that makes you uneasy, your heart might race. You may sweat an abnormal amount. Your skin might feel clammy to the touch, or you might have trouble catching your breath. It might be something you see on the news that upsets you, or it might be the notion of leaving the house that triggers these responses. Likewise, it might be meeting new people or interacting socially in general.

The online anxiety test

You might take an online anxiety test if you have symptoms like these on your phone or computer. You may even see tests on social media platforms. If you’re one of those individuals who grow anxious when you’re away from the order and serenity of your home, then this might seem like an ideal solution.

With most of these tests, the format may be the same. You answer some multiple-choice questions and receive an opinion based on your answers. You might get a score or an outcome at the end that tells you whether you likely have anxiety or not. The questions might be along the lines of “are there occasions or instances which you encounter every day, which make you feel nervous or anxious?” or “do you often feel afraid or worried?” You might answer on a scale from “always” to “never,” or a simple yes-or-no answer might be all that is required. In most cases, these anxiety tests or quizzes are free.

What do these quizzes reveal about your mental state?

As for what these quizzes can tell you about your mental state, that’s not always the easiest question to answer. That is because, as the fine print so often stipulates, these tests are usually not being administered by a licensed mental health professional. Because of that, their accuracy can potentially be open to doubt and interpretation.

For instance, you might take two of these quizzes, or five, or ten, and the answers you might get on all of them might be ambiguous. You may get incorrect information about whether your symptoms might relate to anxiety and fail to seek the treatment you might need. Or you may feel panicked by results that seem to suggest you’re in dire need of help.

The best way to approach these kinds of resources might be by seeing them as tools, not answers. The questions you see on an online test might help you learn to recognize potential symptoms of anxiety of other mental health conditions in your own behavior. Additionally, you might find it easier to compile a list of what you’re experiencing to present to a professional so that you can receive a true diagnosis.

Licensed mental health professionals will utilize more than an online test can to determine the level of anxiety you’re experiencing; as a result, there may be no replacement for evaluation from a professional.

Will taking them help?

Taking anxiety quizzes online might help you in the sense that they can be good place to start if you’re worried about your level of anxiety. A test might give you a sense of direction and validation about what you’re experiencing, but cannot provide you with an official diagnosis or treatment.

Even if some of these tests deem it likely that you have anxiety, that does not mean that taking one will necessarily alleviate your feelings. In fact, it might turn out to have the opposite effect. If you get confirmation from an online test that you have anxiety, then you might feel worse than if you hadn’t taken the test at all. So, take any results you get with a grain of salt.

What if you do have anxiety?

Once you are evaluated and diagnosed by a mental health professional, you can start to look at some options as to how you can get well again. Talking about what is happening may be one of the best things that you can do. You can address what it is that’s troubling you and making you feel anxious while also pursuing the best treatment options for your needs.

It can take a combination of medication and therapy to treat anxiety, but some people may benefit from therapy alone. No matter what, it’s likely that you’ll include behavioral therapy as part of your treatment plan. A therapist can help you work through anxiety triggers, symptoms, and causes that are relevant to you. Online therapy can make it even easier to get this level of support; you can save time and money by avoiding costly commutes to and from in-person offices. Some online therapy platforms take health insurance, and some do not.

You can rest assured that the quality of your treatment won’t necessarily be impacted by its format, too. Studies show that online therapy options like online cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can be an effective treatment method for mental health disorders like anxiety and depression.

Takeaway

If you want to take some of the anxiety quizzes out there, there likely is no harm in it, but these tests aren’t a replacement for evaluation and treatment by a professional. Talking with a professional might seem intimidating, but the sooner you do it, the sooner you may be able to find relief from your potential anxiety symptoms.