When I first heard of the BAI (Beck Anxiety Inventory) I was interested for sure, considering the topic of Sane Advice, so I did some research into how his scoring and questioning process was created. After a detailed review of the Beck Scoring System, I have made my own conclusions.
Beck Anxiety Inventory Problem #1 – Far too General: when you try to bundle up basic questions that are intended to encapsulate an entire general demographic you will always fall short. The human being of planet earth is much more mysterious and magical than this. The first problem with the Beck Anxiety Scoring is that it does not take into account the TRUE reasons for stress in humans. The TRUE reason for stress in humans is attachment to things, labels, titles, and mind created thought fantasies.
Beck Anxiety Inventory Problem #2 – Symptom Based: The second problem with his scoring system is that it’s ONLY asking about symptoms and not enough is asked about the individual’s mind-based assemblage point – in other words Beck does not delve far enough in his questionnaire to get past the symptoms and living conditions of the anxiety sufferer. Another big problem with a purely symptom based questionnaire is that it is telling the anxiety suffer that their symptoms are relative their stress and anxiety weight. Humans always have some form of stress, and by telling patients they have a problem because of their symptoms, he is only making things worse. The human body and mind relation is a much more complex subject than the Beck questions ever point to.
Beck Anxiety Inventory Problem #3 – Mind Based: Another great problem with the BAI system is that it’s completely MIND-BASED. You cannot begin to curb stress and anxiety by approaching the dysfunction and suffering by judging it and labeling it in such a simple platform and format. The MIND is the problem for anxiety suffers around our world. The MIND is the problem with the human race as a whole, even if there are individuals that SEEM to be functioning with a low level of stress. Often human beings who are living with lower stress levels are only temporarily in the low stress state because they are currently satisfied with their “life situation”. This means that most human being are still wrapped up in thoughts, fantasy stories about their life, label, and conditions of living. Many low anxiety people are SOON to be HIGH anxiety people as soon as they inevitably experience some form of loss.
Beck Anxiety Inventory Problem #4 – Separating the Problem from the Person: One of the great misconceptions of the BAI (Beck System) is that is separates the problem from the person. The person who suffers from anxiety and stress does not have a problem. What they have is a gift. The person that begins suffering is being given an OPPORTUNITY to change their assemblage point for the rest of their time on earth (whether it be short or long). Ironically or not, the people that begin to suffer from anxiety are getting a message from their very BEING that they need to adjust their assemblage point by learning to turn off their mind and ego-based assumptions about themselves and everything else they see, hear, touch, and feel, and they must be reborn as they were in the flesh at birth from their mother’s womb. The person is never separate from their problem. The PERSON IS THE PROBLEM. The person must begin to realize that they are NOT simply a “person” with a name, title, sex, age, family, and status” – they are divine like a tree growing in the forest or a bird soaring in the air. There is NO separation between the human BEING and universe (God) and our fears and anxiety come about simply by “judging” ourselves and others as people with attachments, things, stories, and mind-made-up fantasies. Your past is nothing but an illusion now. The past is not who you are and the future is not who you are, so there is no reason to fear (worry,fret) the future, and no reason to regret (guilt) the past. The only thing you are and will ever be is the present moment. You cannot separate the so-called problem of “anxiety” from the patient or sufferer. The sufferer must learn to not see their symptoms and dysfunctions as simply part of the HUMAN problem and experience and that they can quickly be free of their symptoms by learning of their TRUE nature.
Beck Anxiety Inventory Conclusion:
- the questions are too few
- the questions too vague
- the result too much in MIND
- the calculation too simple
- the outcome for sufferers not helpful
- the Beck calculation is not accurate
- the Beck calculation is too general
Sufferers need to understand that their anxiety is not a problem – it is an “awakening”. Anxiety is a gift given to humans so that they can slowly begin to understand and know that they are beings. No names, no label, no attachments.
October 30th, 2010 at 1:59 pm
Hello Michael and welcome to SA.
I’m surprised to see a self-labeled therapist judging someone on their “skillset” and “intelligence” when these are simply man-made forms invented by yet another “mind”, when the mind is the problem. To much mind activity IS the problem. Total ingnorance would be a blessing. I welcome it.
It’s simply amazing to me that a professional therapist would choose to point fingers and call another human being “stupid” or “uninformed”. Your quest should be to help others feel better about themselves and help them rise up from their delusions of negativity.
No need to urge us here at Sane Advice to write. If you take the time to read this blog you will realize that the writer(s) have experienced first hand, on a personal level, what anxiety feels like at it’s most extreme level(s).
All of this content is of truth, which is that there is nothing to be afraid of. Of course as humans, our minds fear death, and we take steps to avoid death. Naturally – we are connected, like an animal or a plant, so we try to avoid death. Unfortuntately us humans spend allot of time fearing death and lose, which I’m sure you would agree with. We can’t be pointing our fingers and belittling other humans that choose to believe in a “God” to help them live a more peaceful life.
Read the comment at the bottom of this post to see where I personally stand on the “God” issue.
October 30th, 2010 at 1:33 pm
I’m a therapist in private practice and also counsel at a substance abuse clinic. Your analysis seems to suggest that this simple inventory to measure levels of anxiety should also diagnose, analyze the client’s history, their connectedness to the universe, and provide a treatment plan. I would urge you to write your own.
Moreover, you completely revealed your intelligence and analytical skillset when you mentioned “god”. A fictional character created by culture to ward off the ultimate source of the anxiety which plagues our species – the fear of death.
December 23rd, 2009 at 2:30 pm
Well Misty, first off, I want to thank you leaving a comment that is very much worthy of discussion.
I wish you would identify yourself for the disscussion though, because it helps when understanding motivations etc.
However, this review of the Beck Scoring System is not general really. If you ask any of the people who visit SaneAdvice, what they are going through, you will soon realize that the Beck Scoring System is extremely flawed.
Have you ever suffered from extreme anxiety yourself? I doubt it, and I will tell you why;
People who have suffered (or still suffer) from extreme anxiety and panic attacks have learned compassion to the point that they could never again bring themselves to the point of calling a fellow human being “bad” (or anything like that).
Always remember that when you make a comment like this you are not defining ME (or anyone else) — you are defining YOURSELF as someone who needs to judge.
Outside of the personal judgment you have made, we welcome your rebuttal as to why you believe my observations are flawed, and why you believe the Beck Anxiety Model is in anyway an accurate calculation of a human being’s anxious leanings.
Wish you a happy and safe holiday season — and I mean that most sincerly.
Jacob
December 23rd, 2009 at 1:21 pm
Fascinating that you make this general observaton about a scale that has been shown in research and clinical observations to have very strong psychometric properties. But you go ahead with your bad self.