A recent trend brought on again by TikTok seems to be one in the domain of clinical psychology. In what is explicable the winning results of IDRLabs, The Pooh Pathology Test identifies your personality type and any associated mental disorders. It then relates your results to the closest designated Winnie The Pooh Character. Here’s how It does it and where to take the test.
Who developed this mental disorder assessment test?

If you’ve been any follower of the clinical literature, you may have come across certain terms. Such as schizophrenia, Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and heck even clinical depression.
- The private entity called Individual Differences Research Labs (IDRLabs) has developed what they claim to be an efficient assessment method.
- This strategy which they call The Pooh Pathology Test reveals patients’ mental health disorders.
- It then resembles their results to the Winnie The Pooh character that resembles such characteristics the most.
- The test is done by asking the interviewee multiple questions, usually done in a questionnaire format of written kind. The questions must be answered as agreed or disagreed.
What is the Pooh Pathology Test?

Developed by Professors Dr. Sarah E. Shea and Dr. Kevin Gordon, the test bases itself on the ground that behind the characters of Winnie The Pooh are personality stereotypes.
Have you ever heard someone say “your personality is very cool, calm and composed.”? Well if you have, what they were basically doing is fitting you into their idea of a certain personality type. One that beams the above adjectives (cool, composed, etc).
Why not Mickey The Moust Pathology?

Similarly, the researchers base this test on the idea that the unique individualistic traits that are exhibited by characters surrounding Winnie, can easily be used as a category.
- This also means that they could have used any other cartoon for it, for example, Mickey The Mouse. But they decided to go with Winnie.
- In our estimation, it’s firstly because Winnie The Pooh is very popular and secondly they just happened to find that the Winnie Characters they have selected for this test are good ‘models‘ to base their reference personality model off.
So instead of being cool and calm, someone may just call you “Hey your personality is very much like Winnie The Pooh“.
How does it work?

But here’s the catch, the test does not only identify your personality type, but also an associated mental disorder. Well, to be more technical, this technique is more of a mental disorder assessment test than it is a personality assessment.
Although the personality assessment is the crucial and conjunction step. Because when you identify a personality you will also identify certain traits that are dysfunctional. These dysfunctional traits are the mental disorders that comprise that kind of personality.
POV – u took the Pooh Pathology Test and actually feel like it could be pretty accurate… Anxious and depressed? Sounds about right pic.twitter.com/3KvU03rrVp
— Joke Van Schelvergem (@jokevs_) January 27, 2023
- So when a person is suffering through, let’s say, clinical depression, it is highly likely their personality type can be understood using certain models.
- This Pooh Pathology Test is one such method of identifying certain ‘models’ of personality and the associated mental disorder.
Why No Test can ever predict personality characteristics to pinpoint accuracy

Remember, that no test can fully recognize your characteristics. The only way to verify whether such tests are accountable or not is by your word, or by someone else’s evaluation of you.
Ultimately personality assessments can be personal, and subject to a collective intersubjective agreement. Meaning, while you may say “My Personality is this“, you may require 5 witnesses who will attest to this reasoning.
How do I take the test?