The distinction between anxiety and depression is often unclear to many people. This is because the two conditions are very much similar. With the Beck anxiety inventory questions, one is able to distinguish the two conditions. Through an evaluation of the responses, one is able to measure the anxiety level in the respondent. All the questions listed in the inventory are crafted in a simple and straightforward manner.
The inventory requires the respondent to reflect on their feelings in the past one week. The questions are written in such a way that the respondents feel that someone is actually asking them the questions. The questions can be easily understood by anyone.
Some of the questions found in the inventory include the following:
1. I get a sort of frightened feeling as if something awful is about to happen…
2. I have a good sense of humor and see the funny side of things…
3. I can sit at ease and feel relaxed…
4. I get a sudden feeling of panic…
5. I look forward with enjoyment to things…
Respondents have to choose one from four given answers that best describes their feelings. They can either tick or make a cross in the space provided. All answers come with a corresponding rating number as shown below:
3 – Definitely and quite severely
2-Yes, but not too badly
1 – To a small extent, but it doesn’t concern me
0 – Not at all
The given answers are often written in a way that most individuals can easily comprehend as well as relate to, and this is why the inventory is a great tool for evaluation purposes. The answers are summed up and tallied to derive at a total score, which is then used to interpret the anxiety level of the respondent. Some critics of the Beck Anxiety inventory however have disagreements with the questions.
The first argument against the questions in the inventory is that they are too general to cover the diverse individuals that get tested for anxiety using the Beck inventory. This argument insists that human beings are more complex than the inventory’s questions allow for, and the real reasons for anxiety include attachment to labels and titles, which are not recognized by the inventory.
Another critique of the inventory questions is that they focus too much on the symptoms of anxiety instead of the mentality of the respondents. This renders the final evaluation one sided as it doesn’t represent the entire human psyche. An improvement to the inventory would be to insert more questions that examine the respondent’s take on life. Doing so will allow the evaluators to decipher the causes of the anxiety.
Yet another argument is that the questions in the inventory do not lead to solutions to the anxiety problems for the respondents. They simply identify and categorize the anxiety levels and leave the respondent to find their own solutions. This shows the limitations of the inventory.
While the inventory is not without its limitations and room for improvement, it is often a good start for sufferers of anxiety problems to become proactive in seeking treatment. They are more aware of their emotional and mental state of mind. The Beck anxiety questions are excellent for leading off a round of research related to anxiety test, diagnosis and subsequent treatment of one’s anxiety.
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