MENTAL HEALTH

Prompted by inquiries from readers during the four years he served as Editor-in-Chief of Psychology Today magazine, Dr. Epstein has developed a quick screening tool for mental illness—the Epstein Mental Health Inventory (EMHI)—based on the DSM, the diagnostic manual used by mental health professionals. This 5-minute test will help you determine whether you should seek further help from a mental health professional. Go to DoYouNeedTherapy.com. To learn more about the test, read Dr. Epstein's article, "Are You Mentally Healthy?," from Scientific American Mind.

In May 2013, the Epstein Mental Health Inventory was updated to be consistent with the DSM-5, the current official diagnostic manual of the American Psychiatric Association. The new version (the EMHI-r) is also jargon free and easy to read and understand. To see if you might benefit by meeting with a mental health professional, visit https://DoYouNeedTherapy.com.

A Russian version of this test is now available here. A French version of the older version of the test, which is based on the DSM IV, is available here.

Technical note: The previous version of the EMHI was validated with a sample of 3,400 individuals and is a good predictor of treatment history, happiness, employment, personal and professional success, and other variables. Reference: Epstein, R., & Muzzatti, L. (2011). Preliminary validation of an online DSM-based mental health referral inventory.  Journal of Technology in Human Services, 29, 284-295. The updated version of the test was evaluated with a diverse sample of 201,625 people from 184 countries (mainly the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom) and is a good predictor of a variety of self-reported criterion measures. Reference: Epstein, R., Ho, M., Hyun, S., Le, C., Robertson, R.E, & Stout, D. (2017). A DSM-5-based online mental health referral inventory: A large-scale validation study. Journal of Technology in Human Services. https://doi.org/10.1080/15228835.2017.1356800.