Things To Know About The Beck Anxiety Scale From Neil Redfern

By Neil Redfern

The Beck Anxiety Scale was developed because there is a need for an instrument that will reliably distinguish between anxiety and mental depression. This instrument has advantages for clinical and research purposes over an actual report from a physician.

On the Beck Anxiety Scale there are twenty one items. Each item describes a common symptom of anxiety. On a 4 point scale ranging from 0-3, the people are asked to rate how much they have been bothered by each symptom over a week. Then the symptoms are added up to obtain a total score that can range from 0-63.

The number of people in the United States that are suffering from anxiety disorders and depression is staggering. Many areas of life situations can bring on anxiety and those symptoms can often act like other conditions. A heart attack can be confused with a panic attack.

There are not a lot of tools out there to help people to tell the level of anxiety they are suffering like the Beck Anxiety Scale. People are asked to rate 21 different categories on a scale of zero to three when using the Beck Anxiety Scale. Zero means they are not affected by the symptom. People will give one point if it mildly bothered them, two if it was moderately disturbing and three for something that severely bothered them.

When the people have read the 21 different categories, they will then add up their points and come up with their final score. At this point, they can look at the chart and see how severe their anxiety is.

A person is considered to be suffering from low anxiety levels when they score 0-21. This score can be considered a positive sign as long as the person taking the test has been honest in answering the questions. If they are not this could be a false assessment. If this is the case the person is hiding their symptoms and is acting as though nothing is wrong.

If the person's score is from 22 to 35 they are in a moderate anxiety category. Their body is trying to give them warning signs that need addressed. It could mean they might be suffering from a phobia or a more serious medical condition. There are therapies and remedies that can help them.

A person is in need of help when they have a score over 36. Mental stress at this level is bad and needs treated right away so their mental and physical health does not deteriorate. - 32513

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