Student Diagnoses Mental Illness Using Online Quiz

(photo by @jakysphotography)

On January 10 2019, 16 year-old Mary had uncovered something that would change her life forever. Mary had never thought “What if I have a secret mental illness?” but all that came crashing down when she was on her phone taking quizzes online, such as What Pizza Are You Most Like and What Kind of Wedding Will You Have?  when she found What Mental Illness Do You Have?  After 15 minutes she had answered all the questions, and  it was time for her to check her results.

What she found out shook her. She immediately told her parents and they rushed her to the hospital. Mary’s test results stated she has depression, OCD, and PTSD. According to Brandon Mason, a 16 year-old male high school dropout who was friends with Mary, ”I know that around like 90% of  teenagers have mental illness at some point of their life.” Mary had been sent to a mental institution right after the hospital. Mary’s social worker, Ann Ryder, evaluated her for a professional diagnosis. After the evaluation, we pulled Ann aside to get a statement. She said, “Today, kids are more likely to have a mental illness, such as depression, because they have too much access to social media.”

We got to meet up with Mary during visiting hours to get some answers. We asked Mary what kind of questions she was asked, and how she answered them, in order to get her results. She said that one of the questions asked how she’d been feeling, and she answered that she was really sad because she had just recently broken up with her boyfriend. Then it asked if she had a need to repeat things or organize, and she thought about how she always has her pencils aligned in class because she gets bored. Finally it asked if there had been a traumatizing moment in her past that gets her triggered, and she recalled last summer when she went into the pool without water proof makeup and came out looking like a monster. Now, whenever she sees a pool, the memories come flooding back.

Over 88% of teenagers in the world have self-diagnosed mental illness. In Mary’s school, Liza Gomez, a 16-year old female, states, “There was this one time when I was overhearing a conversation in math class and someone said that they don't get how to do the math problem. and that they said that they literally wanted to kill themselves, so I did what anyone would do... I made them take an online test.” Liza also claims that she has been overhearing this student say things like “I hate my life" whenever homework was assigned. “I just can't believe that the friends didn't do anything,” stated Liza.

Why call a doctor if it's easier to take a quiz at home or school? Its free, easy, and doesn't take up a lot of time! "Honestly, now that I know about this and it’s being taken care of properly, I’m really showing signs of improvement,” stated Mary.