As a psychiatrist I have faced these same problems with what are really screening tests. When you have a living, breathing patient in front of you you need to communicate clearly. A question on a form may not be understood as it is meant. So the response matters. Does it suggest the person understood the question exactly? Not always. And it is not a matter of education, just one of language.

The biggest problem I have seen from these forms is bipolar disorder. Many of the symptoms occur during depression also or any time of emotional excess. What they do not mention is that these symptoms must be part of an episode lasting days to weeks not minutes to hours. There is still a vast over-diagnosis of bipolar occurring even among clinicians. There are many practitioners who depend on these forms for diagnoses because they do not have adequate training in psychiatric diagnosis. This has led to over-medication and years wasted for the patient.