I devised a questionnaire to help you figure out how psychologically flexible you are. Psychological flexibility spans a wide range of human abilities to: recognize and adapt to various situational demands; shift mindsets or behavioral repertoires when we realise that our current ways of doing things aren’t working for us; maintain balance among important life domains (work, leisure); and be aware, open, and committed to behaviours that are in line with deeply held values. In many forms of psychopathology, these flexibility processes are absent.
Human beings have the potential to better tolerate and effectively use emotions, thoughts, and behaviour to enjoy the best possible outcomes in varying situations. This wide range of dynamic abilities forms the essence of health. After all, a healthy person is someone who can manage themselves in the uncertain, unpredictable world around them, where novelty and change are the norm rather than the exception. When we are psychologically flexible, we tend to be happier, we are more adaptable and find it easier to focus on thinking that is optimistic or neutral insteas of only seeing negative thinking as the relevant option. When you are psychologically flexible, you tend to be more resilient too and less afraid of failure. Rigid thinkers see the world in black and white terms and this causes anxiety as rules we live by are often and easily broken in reality. The simple message here is that being psychologically flexible is good for your mental health.
Mandy X
PF Questionnaire:
| True | Unsure | False | ||
| 1 | I am very tolerant of other people’s viewpoints | |||
| 2 | I am not a judgemental person at all, live and let live is my motto | |||
| 3 | I find it difficult to view my thoughts from a different perspective | |||
| 4 | I tend to get very entangled in my thoughts | |||
| 5 | I don’t over-analyse my thoughts | |||
| 6 | My thoughts are a true representation of reality. In other words I perceive the world as it truly is | |||
| 7 | There are certain areas of my life where my thoughts are rigid or inflexible | |||
| 8 | If I think I cannot do something then I will not try to do it | |||
| 9 | I get so caught up in my thoughts that I forget what I’m actually doing | |||
| 10 | I brood over past events | |||
| 11 | I find it easy to put myself in ‘someone else’s shoes’ | |||
| 12 | I worry a great deal | |||
| 13 | When I don’t agree with someone, I always try to understand why they behave/think in a certain way | |||
| 14 | Thoughts are overrated, we give them more importance than they deserve | |||
| 15 | I can do difficult things even if my thoughts say they are impossible to do | |||
| 16 | When I catch myself dwelling on things, I am able to let go of dwelling relatively quickly | |||
| 17 | My thoughts are who I am, my identity. I believe my thoughts about who I am and how I come across to others | |||
| 18 | Even when I am having upsetting thoughts, I can see that those thoughts may not be literally true | |||
| 19 | My thoughts cause me distress or emotional pain | |||
| 20 | I can watch my thoughts from a distance without getting caught up in them |
PF Scoring:
| True | False | Unsure | |
| 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 7 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 8 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 9 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 10 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 11 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 12 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 13 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 15 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 16 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 18 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 19 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 20 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
The higher your score out of 40, the more psychologically flexible you are.
#mentalhealth #psychologicallyflexible #resilience #adaptable
Photo by Daniil Lobachev on Unsplash
Author: Mandy Kloppers
Mandy is a qualified therapist who treats depression, anxiety, OCD, PTSD, trauma, and many other types of mental health issues. She provides online therapy around the world for those needing support and also provides relationship counselling.
