Test Yourself for Bipolar Disorder
Test Yourself for Bipolar Disorder with the Tri-Axial Bipolar Spectrum (TABS, Version 2011.1) Questionnaire.
Providing a replacement for the 90s-vintage Goldberg bipolar test, this 19-question test uniquely highlights all three components which figure in the diagnosis of bipolar spectrum disorders, including depressive episodes and manic episodes (and mixed episodes), plus an additional set of factors which may preclude a diagnosis of bipolar disorder even when symptoms otherwise associated with bipolar are present.
Completing this Psychological Screening Test for Bipolar Disorder
To take the questionnaire, please click the radio button next to the selection which best reflects how each statement applies to you. The items refer to how you have felt and behaved over much of your life. (Please be sure to check the Additional Information and Note on Validity below.)
Take the Bipolar Quiz
Please note: This test will only be scored correctly if you answer each one of the questions. Please also check our disclaimer on psychological testing and our psychological testing privacy guarantee.
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About Scoring this Bipolar Disorder Questionnaire
Scoring for Questions 1-16:
- 0 points Rarely or none of the time
- 1 point Occasionally or a little of the time
- 2 points A moderate amount of the time, more than occasionally
- 4 points Most or all of the time
This yields a total maximum score of 64.
Questions 17 and 19 are scored on the same scale but are used to adjudicate on whether a diagnosis of bipolar disorder should be excluded; they are not included in the final total.
Question 18 is scored as a binary choice and is again used to adjudicate on whether a diagnosis of bipolar disorder should be excluded.
When your quiz is scored, one of six different information pages will appear to describe the results for scores in your range, along with further details of how your score was computed.
This bipolar test distinguishes between experiences typically associated with mania and those typically associated with depression, as well as those which may be present in mixed episodes, and answers which indicate potentially significant experiences primarily along only one but not both of these axes will be flagged as such.
Provided that experiences along both axes are present, and there are no factors along the third axis that would indicate a diagnosis of bipolar disorder should not be considered, then generally speaking, the higher the score, the higher the correspondence between reported experiences and factors typically associated with bipolar disorder.
Constructed with a forced-choice semantic interval question design, bipolar screening with the Tri-axial Bipolar Spectrum (TABS) self-test is intended to avoid the pitfalls of central tendency bias as well as acquiescence bias, reflecting clinically relevant self-assessments of experiences that correlate directly with some (but not all) important DSM diagnostic criteria for the bipolar spectrum.
Additional Information and Note on Validity
The Tri-Axial Bipolar Spectrum (TABS) screening self-test was developed by Dr Greg Mulhauser. Intended to help you become aware of experiences which might be indicative of bipolar disorder in individuals 18 or older, the Tri-Axial Bipolar Spectrum (TABS) test differs from other bipolar screening instruments which you may find on the internet by checking explicitly for precluding factors. Therefore, your results on this test may differ radically from those offered by older online tests.
Like most mental health screening tests you will find on the internet, this test has not been evaluated for validity in terms of sensitivity and specificity via comparison with a Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM (SCID). Therefore, this instrument should not be relied upon in any way as a diagnostic aid but should be used solely as a tool for increasing your own awareness of experiences which might, under the careful evaluation of a psychiatrist, be considered indicative of bipolar disorder.
Dr Greg Mulhauser, an experienced counsellor and psychotherapist, takes a special interest in counselling and psychotherapy for bipolar disorder and cyclothymia. He has also developed:
- “Schizophrenia Test and Early Psychosis Indicator (STEPI)”
- “Structured Adult ADHD Self-Test (SAAST): Test Yourself for ADHD”
- “Relationship Quiz: True Love or True Loser?” (with Dr Joseph Carver)
In This Section
All clinical material on this site is peer reviewed by one or more clinical psychologists or other qualified mental health professionals. This specific article was originally published by Dr Greg Mulhauser, Managing Editor on .
on and was last reviewed or updated byhttps://counsellingresource.com/quizzes/bipolar-testing/bipolar-test/