About this site
Welcome!
Your mental health is just as important as your physical health. This simple, online, private, mental health check-up can identify some symptoms of common mood disorders so you can get help if you need it. You can also learn more about mood disorders on this site and find resources to help yourself, your family members, or friends.
We welcome your comments and feedback about this site and general mental health issues. However, specific questions about your mental health should be directed to the appropriate health care professionals. We will not attempt to answer those enquiries.
Why create this website?
Mood disorders are very common. They affect 1 in 5 people at some point and yet few people seek treatment. Sometimes people are afraid to talk about it, or they don't recognize that they're experiencing a treatable illness. They may not know where or how to get help. This website was created to raise awareness about mood disorders and connect people with resources to get help if they need it. An online check-up offers privacy for people who want to learn more, and it's so easy to do that everyone can participate as part of their basic health care routine.
Who created this website?
This website is a collaborative project of:
The Mood Disorders
Association of Ontario - read the bio of Karen Liberman, MDAO's Executive Director.
Sunnybrook Health
Sciences Centre,
Department of
Psychiatry - read the bio of Dr. Anthony Levitt.
The Ontario
Psychological
Association
The Ontario College of Family Physicians, Collaborative Mental Health Care Network
"Check Up from The Neck Up" is a registered trademark of the Mood Disorders
Association of Ontario and may be used with permission only.
For information
please contact MDAO at 1-888-486-8236
About the check-up quiz on this site
The screen and questionnaire were developed from validated tools developed in North America, and tested in Ontario and British Columbia. Some items were adjusted to make them more user-friendly in a web-based environment.
Your answers to the check-up are added up as you go and deleted from our server once you leave the site. We know this information is personal, and we don't collect any individual information about you or your results through the check-up. We keep an aggregate counter running to keep track of how many people have taken the quiz, and that's all.
The tell-a-friend feature doesn't collect any email information.
If you choose to send us your Checkup Story, you are giving us unlimited permission to use your story, verbatim or in partial quotes, to promote our website and project in any media form. Any contact information you include with your story, however, will not be used without your express permission. Contact information is collected only so we can contact you to discuss your story in more detail.
What happens after I take the check-up?
Once you've answered the check-up questions, you can print out your results. You can take this page to your doctor or mental health professional to discuss your concerns.
You can also find more information about mood disorders, read our factsheets and find mental health resources.
Don't forget to come back and get your check-up every 6 months. Take care of your mental health!
What's the story behind the acorn?
The visual signature of the "Check Up From The Neck Up" program is a stylized acorn. Like the veterans' poppy and the Cancer Society's daffodil, it conveys an appropriate message in several different ways. And over time, we expect it to gain similar impact and understanding.
The acorn is a familiar, natural, everyday object with quick and easy recognition in the North American context. More important, it is a symbol of untapped potential and growth - "Great oaks from little acorns grow." This reinforces the overall intent of the program: to stimulate people to take charge of their own health and thus free themselves to achieve whatever they can.
The acorn also bears a significant resemblance to the human head, particularly in early autumn when it wears its little beret/cap. As presented in the "Check Up" logo, it has a jaunty, carefree look, suggesting to the viewer that "taking care of yourself from the neck up" should be a normal part of life, comfortable and not to be feared.
Comments, questions and feedback about this website
