I'm officially odd . . . . . .

Joined
Mar 26, 2002
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3,397
Took a test not long ago.
Among other things,
I'm told I "have strange ideas." . . . :eek:

I'm not worried.
:cool:
Is that strange?
:D
<:)> THEY call me 'Dean' <>
dean-sp-sm.jpg

<:eek:> Caution: Not all ideas vented from this brain are entirely based on empirical data. And some of them are strange.
<:D> Noobee <> Tips <> Baha'i Prayers Links --A--T--H--D
 
ddean said:
Took a test not long ago.
Among other things,
I'm told I "have strange ideas." . . . :eek:

I'm not worried.
:cool:
Is that strange?

Join the crowd. As part of some legal proceedings I was embroiled in a few years ago I had a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation. Conducted by a psychiatrist. He gave me the MMPI-2 and (incorectly as it is normed for a clinical population) the MCMI-III, both extensive psych tests and also conducted extensive interviews. Among his findings in his 33 page report:

"He seems to have unusual ways of viewing the world and may have an unconventional lifestyle. Quite imaginative and frequently preoccupied with abstract matters, he may neglect practical matters to some extent. He endorsed a number of unusual, bizarre ideas that suggest some difficulty with his thinking."

"Howard Wallace produced a valid MMPI-2 profile. The scale configuration is not well defined. ... In a large sample ... this high point clinical scale score occurs in 1.2% of the men. Less than 1% of the sample have the scale as a well-defined spike as high as he does. The scores reflect some lack of clarity in profile definition." Translation - I'm measuring something but it's doggone strange and I don't know what it is.

"... his emotional IQ is quite low and he is basicly insensitive. ... Whether these tendencies can be modified to any significant degree through therapy is questionable" That's one of my favorites!

Actually I got off on a bad start with the doc when I mentioned a class of drugs with which he should have been professionally familiar and he didn't know what they were. I think it embarrassed him. He probably looked the word up later. He was one of the most highly regarded psychiatrists in the area by the court, yet he administered at least one inappropriate test to me, that was normed on "crazy" people. (Well, maybe it was appropriate, now that I think of it. Nevertheless, I didn't meet the criteria of the group that was used to norm the test.) Test results are only as good as the test and the interpreter.

The court case came out well for me. I guess the judge thought it was ok to be wierd.
 
Wierd is a relative term. :)

Who or what defines a normal person? Does this "normal" person have wierd thoughts? How can we be sure?

If I could make a living at being wierd, I'd be rich. :D
 
If that's all you had to be worried about, I'm surprised you still even remember the results.


It's quite possible he gave you the MMPI for the clinical group because he hadn't paid for the others yet. Those tests cost money- ouch.



munk
 
I have many, many hobbies that draw stares and riased eyebrows when I'm out and about. Wearing a kilt while enjoying a pint of beer with my girlfriends daughter while she does her homework at the local brewpub draws quite a few comments from everybody. That's one of my favorites. Hunting carp with an atlatl draws a few stares as well.
 
I paid for it directly.

When the report came to this item,
I asked "what if I was from another country with a completely different culture?"

He granted that the test would be invalid then;
and volunteered that he doesn't even use it for Afro-Americans--
too great a cultural diff.

Since I'm not a WASP|Redneck|Yuppie|etc|etc
or any other blanket category 'cultural norm'
I dismiss that score out of hand.

:rolleyes:
<:)> THEY call me 'Dean' <>
dean-sp-sm.jpg

<:eek:> Caution: Not all ideas vented from this brain are entirely based on empirical data. And some of them are strange.
<:D> Noobee <> Tips <> Baha'i Prayers Links --A--T--H--D
 
munk said:
If that's all you had to be worried about, I'm surprised you still even remember the results.


It's quite possible he gave you the MMPI for the clinical group because he hadn't paid for the others yet. Those tests cost money- ouch.

Actually I remember them because I was proud of them. The guardians of conformity labeled me bizarre, and an arbiter of sensitivity officially declared me "not a sensitive guy."

The MMPI was actually normed over the general population, the other one is the specialised one. I took the MMPI twice, the first psych eval I got was from a psychiatrist I found, and he gave it to me the first time. (I took it on blank paper instead of the computer forms, because I think he was using an old copy he had not paid for.) The second time I took a newer version from a psychiatrist selected by the court. Both results were consistent.

ddean said:
I asked "what if I was from another country with a completely different culture?"

He granted that the test would be invalid then;
and volunteered that he doesn't even use it for Afro-Americans--
too great a cultural diff.

Since I'm not a WASP|Redneck|Yuppie|etc|etc
or any other blanket category 'cultural norm'
I dismiss that score out of hand.

:rolleyes:

Everyone is different. Norming over a large representative group is supposed to account for those differences. Unless you can prove that people like you were not part of the group used to evalutate the test results I don't buy your argument.

I still think you're wierd.

;)
 
If y'all weren't odd, strange, weird, etc. I wouldn't bother hangin' out in this corner of the internet.

I agree with the interpretation, strange is a good thing.

I envy you folks that have made it official!:D
 
Weird, strange, odd, eccentric, all labels used by folks who just don't get it. But we'uns know the deal, don't we? If you ain't living on the edge, you're taking up too much space. :D ;)

Sarge
 
One of these days I'll tell the story of back in my drinking days how one summer I got Uncle Sam to pay me not to work. I went to a Psychiatrist at the hospital where I worked, informed him I was too anxious to carry on my duties, and that if he would give me the evaluation saying as much, I could pay him for the testing with the money I'd then recieve from the Government . He agreed, I came out mentally ill, and enjoyed living off the federal tit for a summer....now; who was more unethical, me or the Doc?

I fear I may not be eligible for Federal political office because of this- suffering from the same fate as Mcgovern's original running mate....

On the other hand- what better candidate than one with a proven record of manipulating the system?


munk
 
munk said:
On the other hand- what better candidate than one with a proven record of manipulating the system?

There are advantages to being wierd.

I heard a, possibly apocryphal, story about an old tin-can sailor who approached the VA needing some medical benefits. When he was asked about service-related dissability he said, "Well, I was always worried about my ship getting torpedo'd." They told him that just confirmed that he was normal, because any reasonable person on a ship in wartime would be concerned about getting torpedo'd, and that that was no disability.

Thinking quickly, he then explained that it was not the torpedos that worried him. It was the little fishes. He was terrified of being eaten by little fishes. Still terrified of little fishes in fact.

The old veteran got needed medical treatment based on his disability.
 
My wife the psychologist has finally decided that she doesn't want to figure out what's going on in my head. I told her that Sir Eggbert Cauliflower and I agreed it would be for the best if she didn't. Didn't we, Eggbert?.....Eggbert nods.

Jake
 
Jake, is your wife really a clinical psychologist?

What I did for the MMPI and other tests:

It helps if you know what you are heading for. Pick one- character disorder, schiz, something. There are fraud breakers throughout the test- try recognize when you are being asked the same question in a different way. And when the question is similar but actually different and testing for consistancy.

When you are given a inkblot, pick a number of them and stick to the same answer; mine was. "looks like a Queen who loves me"

When I drew a picture of a person, in a timed test, leave something major out, like arms, and put too much attention to detail in another area. I left the feet out but you may want to select another body part.

I came to every test drunk, I wouldn't reccomend doing that. They aren't supposed to test you like that- but in my case it was part of my disease.

I had a friend once who could test whatever he wanted. A tippy top shrink told him that was impossible, no one could do that. So he did it right in front of the guy, picked schizophrenic and tested out for it too. I wasn't that good, but I was good enough.

munk
 
munk said:
I had a friend once who could test whatever he wanted. A tippy top shrink told him that was impossible, no one could do that. So he did it right in front of the guy, picked schizophrenic and tested out for it too. I wasn't that good, but I was good enough.

As you know, there are built in validity indicators in such tests. Those indicators are designed to catch faking. That's one reason a court of law will place some credence in the test results. However, the tests are not perfect. I think if one has a good understanding of the psychological types that are being measured (read up on personality disorders, etc.,) a reasonably competent person can fool the test by really becoming the target type for the duration of the test. My guess is that trying to fake it with the intellect would be less successful.
 
Actually, my wife is a school psychologist, Munk. She does about the same thing as a clinical except her purpose is more for placement in special programs or not. Just as educated, but never as rich. However, i can tell you that School Psychs and Clinicals these days are like the Sharks and the Jets, at least at Western Kentucky University.

On a side note. Here is a photograph of a trip Sir Eggbert Cauliflower and I took to the Great Pyramids last summer as I was completing my doctorate at professional assassin school. Well, it’s not a photograph. I would never allow for my soul to captured by such a tool of the devil. However, this is a graphic artistic rendering, and fully up to speck I can assure you.

meandeggbert.jpg

That’s me on the right. I get so mad at Eggbert. He always blinks.


Jake
 
An eccentric co-worker (finally) quit.

At the going-away party, we, the long-term employees reminisced about some of the colorful people who had come and gone.

"Man, Claudia," I said. "We sure have worked with some nuts over the years."

She let out a short laugh, and said, "Yeah, and you were the head cashew."


:eek: :( I bet she still works there- loser.


Mike
 
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