Depression and anxiety test
The PHQ-9 and GAD-7 questionnaires in one go
Feeling anxious, low or simply drained, and hard to tell which of these matters most? The test measures anxiety and depressive symptoms separately over the last two weeks and shows how they are linked for you.
- Free, instant result
- Validated method: PHQ-9 and GAD-7 (Kroenke, Spitzer, Williams)
The test in brief
The depression and anxiety test on Mentalka combines two international questionnaires: GAD-7 (7 questions about anxiety) and PHQ-9 (9 questions about depressive symptoms).
Both cover the last 2 weeks and use the same answer scale, from “not at all” to “nearly every day”. That makes it easy to take them one after the other in about 4 minutes.
You get two separate scores: anxiety from 0 to 21 and depression from 0 to 27. On both scales, 10 points or more means it is worth talking to a professional.
Your result is private: we do not ask for your name, e-mail or phone number. This is a self-check, not a medical diagnosis.
Why take both tests
Anxiety and depression often come together. In the WHO World Mental Health Surveys, almost half of the people who had depression had also had an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives. The two states look alike from the outside: both take away sleep, focus and energy. But the help for them differs a little, so it is useful to see both scores side by side.
How anxiety differs from depression
| How anxiety differs from depression | Anxiety | Depression |
|---|---|---|
| Main feeling | Tension, worry, fear that something bad will happen | Low mood, emptiness, losing interest in things you used to enjoy |
| Energy | Restless, hard to sit still, “wound up” | Tired and slowed down even after rest |
| Thoughts | About the future: “what if…” | About yourself and the past: “something is wrong with me”, “nothing will change” |
| Scale | GAD-7, 0–21 points | PHQ-9, 0–27 points |
How the test works
- 1Part 1: anxiety. 7 GAD-7 questions. Halfway through you can answer a few questions for the anxiety map or skip them.
- 2Part 2: mood. 9 PHQ-9 questions about sleep, energy, appetite and mood.
- 3Results. Two scores, a joint summary and tips. Each result can be opened in detail.
How to read the scores
Each answer gives 0 to 3 points. The cut-offs are the same for both scales, except for the top levels of depression.
Anxiety, GAD-7
- 0–4Minimal
- 5–9Mild
- 10–14Moderate
- 15–21Severe
Depression, PHQ-9
- 0–4No depression
- 5–9Mild depression
- 10–14Moderate depression
- 15–19Moderately severe depression
- 20–27Severe depression
Frequently asked questions
Additional information about Depression and anxiety test (PHQ-9 + GAD-7)
PHQ-9: Kurt Kroenke, Robert L. Spitzer, Janet B. W. Williams (2001). GAD-7: Robert L. Spitzer, Kurt Kroenke, Janet B. W. Williams, Bernd Löwe (2006).
Both scales belong to the Patient Health Questionnaire family and are often used together (Kroenke et al., 2010). PHQ-9: 9 questions based on the DSM criteria for depression; a cut-off of 10 points has 88% sensitivity and specificity. GAD-7: 7 questions about generalized anxiety; a cut-off of 10 points has 89% sensitivity and 82% specificity.
This is a screening test and does not make a diagnosis. It cannot tell anxiety or sadness as a reaction to real circumstances from a disorder. The result describes only the last 2 weeks.