Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3...Part Three: Tests to Avoid

Psychological testing - If you've read any of my other posts or have seen one or two (or five) conventional doctors, you know they think the chemically sensitive are mentally ill. I'll tell you about my one experience with a psychologist.

I was sent to her for an evaluation as I was about to participate in a vocational re-training program and they wanted to make sure I was mentally stable enough to work. If I wasn't, they didn't want to waste their time. OK, I'll jump some hoops. I made sure the program knew I needed a mental health physician who understood MCS and who's office was fragrance-free. Well, anyone can say they understand especially if someone is waving money in front of them, but I've learned few do and this one had no clue.

Eventually she wanted me to take a "personality test." It involved a little over four hundred questions with a yes/no bubble form answer sheet.  Hmmm...as a former teacher I was fairly fluent in deciphering testing bias so I agreed to take it home and have a look. Many of the questions were definitely biased against chemically sensitive patients. For instance, "When you walk into a room filled with strangers, do you feel uncomfortable?"  This isn't an essay test where you would be able to qualify and quantify your response. Yes or no. Black or white. If I answer "no", that would be a lie. If I answered "yes", I'd be classified as paranoid because a "normal" person should be able to walk into a room without feeling automatically nervous. I don't get to explain my "yes" answer:

"Yes, but there is a good chance one of those people will be wearing perfume, scented lotions, scented hair products, scented deodorants...."

"Yes, but there is a chance there are air fresheners in the room."

"Yes, but there is a chance the carpets in the room were cleaned with scented soaps this morning."

So I counted up the biased questions (so glad I had testing assessment training as a teacher!), took the test back to the psychologist and told her it had a 12% biased which would certainly skew her assessment of me and falsely label me as paranoid. I showed her the above question as an example.  I refused to take the test. She didn't like that.

My final psychological evaluation said I exhibited signs of paranoia BECAUSE I refused to take the test! HAHAHAHAHA Obviously, there was no winning with this doctor. I guess I'm really glad people [falsely] assumed to be paranoid can still work!

Stay away from psychological tests!