Mental health scale
Contents
About
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NEWSFLASH: I've also published a shorter version of this article to medium.com! Please support me by adding a "clap" at: [ Mental Health Scale] |
The scale below represents a quick and honest check-in for where you're at with your mental health and happiness/sadness/depression. It's not a replacement for professional advice, but it is a useful personal tool, and one you can share with someone you care about.
Your position on the scale can change from day to day, or even moment to moment. And that's okay. This scale isn't about labelling - it's about starting a conversation, both with yourself and, if needed, with people who can support you.
My Graphical Representation of the “Mental Health Scale” (0–10)
The idea: Not every day is sunshine and rainbows. And sometimes it’s hard to admit you’re not doing okay—even to yourself. This scale is meant to give you a simple way to name where you’re at. If you’re a "7" but slipping toward "5" - that matters. If you’re a "2" that really matters. I made this because I've been all over this scale at different times in my life - most recently the lowest I've ever been - and I found that being honest about it, not just putting on a smile, was the beginning of healing.
Keep in mind... you're only doing yourself a disservice if you lie to yourself. Telling the truth, even if it’s hard, might help you take a step toward healing or help someone else feel seen. Hopefully, my vulnerability at the bottom of this page will inspire you to think deeply about yourself and your friends and family. Even though you might be doing fantastically right now, there's probably someone in your life who might be struggling.
Backstory
This was the hardest one of my graphical scales to write. Because it's the most vulnerable by far. Because it's personal.
In March 2020, I created my first scale - "COVID-19 Safety Scale" - as partly a joke, partly useful. Later, I made a "Love to lust scale" to help people get honest about dating, and I've made dozens of others. But this one... this one is different.
I knock up (write and post) these little articles in a couple of hours. This one took me months to create, and several more months to finally post.
I've had a few relatively low moments. So have most people I know, even if they don't talk about it. I've also had periods of real joy and peace. Overall, actually, people have known me as a happy, bubbly person, shy in my youth, but now extroverted, excited to talk to anyone and host events. I love dance, I lead some workshops, and I love making people smile. But in late 2024, something shattered me.
I wish I could say it was a woman. It wasn't. It was a financial decision I was building up my whole life towards. I trusted a professional to help me invest wisely in the safest market there is. To find my sanctuary. And it fell apart in front of me. My dreams flooded. It was lots of bad luck, but also I have always been hard on myself when I mess up, and the shame of getting it wrong, of messing up my chance of potential early retirement, hit me harder than I ever expected. Maybe because I imagined this moment all my life - for some, it's the happiest moment they have. A decision and stable base that I imagine boosting my confidence to finally find the woman of my dreams back home (finally) in Australia. In case things turn legal, I'm being deliberately vague on the details, which is a shame, because I value my voice - I take pride in speaking up - but it's best I stay vague. One thing is certain, though.... my mojo was shot. I help co-host conscious speed dating, encouraging people to know their worth and put themselves out there. I feel like a bit of a fraud because I felt unworthy of a woman, and barely dated in 3/4 of a year. You'd think a PhD, being tall, being a gentleman, a dancer, and all those other things would be enough, but it's not - it's a struggle for everyone. My high school friends (all with kids)... I haven't seen in months, articles that I usually write in a few hours have taken me months to finally write. Including this one. We get triggered by different things. I should feel lucky that I have done well financially, but to have felt lied to by people really deeply has hurt me every time.
The first time I was cheated on was by a woman, and I honestly don't know if she did, but it triggered a distrust of men from childhood and was a low point. Yet, that experience is a shadow of what this latest mishap has made me feel. I lost confidence in every part of life, work-life, personal-life.... and I've gone from imagining I could be an amazing father one day to wondering if that is true - and if these unlucky events have cost me that chance of finding someone who might want family in the first place. And for the first time in my life, I realised I was maybe a 1.5 on this scale. Still able to get out of bed each day, but very ashamed of being taken advantage of. Of course, this actual scale really didn't exist anywhere, so I created it... and it took me months more to write this article and post it.
Even know I know I could get so much more vulnerable with this, what really shines out to me is the incredible friends I have that have offered support. To come help clean up the mess, so to speak. To hear me. And my amazing mother, who has come to visit me twice already to help out with the cleanup.
There is, I realise now, a special connection to be had when you admit you're at a low point. To discover that most of your friends are even more incredible than you thought. To bear with you through months of my dance workshops that were noticeably less upbeat than the "power of fun" workshops I started with.
And so I also have to remind myself to stop painting myself as a victim. Stop telling people that this event shattered a once-happy person - someone who was even described as "Resting Happy Face". To try to start dating again. And to have newfound empathy with people who have been low on this scale. It can change day by day, it really can. I think I'm out of the woods. Still annoyed at myself, but reminding myself that the most growth happens when our hearts and dreams are shattered. I'm really grateful that most of my relationships have ended with breakup gifts, beautiful friendships and even a parting ritual... but oddly enough, the girl who I felt like betrayed me and broke my trust. I learnt the most from her.
Okay, now that finally cracked me up a bit, teary. This article is unpolished, but I kind of want to leave it that way. A little raw. A confession that after years of self-help rubbish in the United States, I apparently still tie most of my value as a man, even my masculinity, to providing and being useful. To be infallible. Well, I'm plenty fail-able.
This might seem like a big rant, and unrelated to whatever brings you happiness or depression, but you'll read into it what you want to read into it. I'm excited to slowly put myself back out there again and to try to take my lowest moment and use it to - I hope - inspire others. Or maybe for them to call me a brat or "Shit Andrew, some of us have real problems you know", that I would even be saddened in a position that many people would kill to be in.
It doesn't matter. That is my truth.
Sincerely,
Andrew Noske
Oh, and now some boring stuff, because maybe that's what you are hoping to read:
Factors Affecting Mental Health
There are a lot of factors that influence our mental health. Sometimes it’s external—loss, illness, burnout, financial stress. Sometimes it’s internal—self-worth, anxiety, chemical imbalance, trauma. Sometimes it’s both, tangled up together.
Age, life stage, sleep, connection, nutrition, hormones, neurodiversity, even the weather—they all play a role. And for many of us, especially in these times, there are invisible weights we carry.
You don’t need to explain everything to find value in this scale. It might just help you realize: “I’m not okay right now.”Or “Actually.... I’m doing better than I thought.”
That awareness is powerful. That awareness can save lives.
Disclaimer
I'm not a psychologist. I didn't study psychiatry. I studied diabetes, not depression, and while I was technically a neuroscientist for a while, it was mostly toying with microscopes and computers.
But I do know what it feels like not to feel okay. And I’ve seen people I care about fall apart quietly because they didn’t have a way to say, “I’m struggling.”
Some people might think this scale oversimplifies things. Maybe it does. Some might say it’s too soft. Others might say it’s too confronting. And that’s okay.
It won’t be perfect. But if it helps even one person to pause, reflect, and maybe speak up—then it was worth creating.
There’s no shame in being at the lower end of the scale. We all have rainy days. We all deserve support.
Sincerely,
Andrew Noske
PS: Feedback is most welcome—especially if you’re a mental health professional or have lived experience. 💙
See Also
- Honesty scale – For tuning in to how open we are with ourselves and others.
- Idea: Happiness Timeline - An interesting idea of tracking happiness over time.
| Acknowledgements: A huge thanks to all the people who've ever been there for me in a low point. You've inspired me to finally (months later) post this... and while not many people will discover it randomly, it will exist for me to send whoever needs it. |
