PHQ-9 Depression Test
Nine questions about the past two weeks, one at a time, scored here in your browser. A score points toward a conversation, not a diagnosis. Nothing you enter is stored or sent anywhere.
Take the PHQ-9
This online version is intended for adults. Children and teenagers should be assessed using tools and questions appropriate to their age and development. A parent or guardian can request an evaluation for a child or teen.
Over the last two weeks, how often have you been bothered by any of the following?
Your answers are scored in this browser. Nothing is submitted and nothing is stored. With JavaScript switched off the questions still work; the total has to be added up by hand.
Understanding Your Score
Scores range from 0 to 27. A score of 10 or higher is a commonly used threshold for clinically significant depressive symptoms, but every score must be interpreted alongside the person’s history, functioning and response to question 9.
What a Score Can Tell You
That your symptoms fit a recognized pattern, and roughly how much they are affecting you. Worth bringing to an appointment.
What It Cannot
Whether you have depression. Thyroid problems, grief, lost sleep and some medicines produce the same scores. Telling them apart is what an evaluation is for.
How Accurate Is It?
Tested with 6,000 patients in 15 U.S. clinics, 580 of them then interviewed by a mental health professional. A score of 10 or above identified 88 in 100 people with major depression and cleared 88 in 100 without it.
PHQ-9 developed by Drs. Robert L. Spitzer, Janet B. W. Williams, Kurt Kroenke and colleagues.
More Common Than It Feels
In 2021, an estimated 21.0 million U.S. adults, 8.3%, had at least one major depressive episode, and among 18 to 25 year olds it was 18.6%. Depression responds well to treatment, and getting better often starts exactly here: noticing something and wondering whether it counts.
If the Last Question Worried You
One question asks about thoughts of being better off dead or of hurting yourself. If you answered anything other than “not at all”, act on it today rather than waiting for an appointment: call or text 988 at any hour, or 911 if someone is in immediate danger.
Crisis resources →Common Questions
Can I use this for my child or teenager?
This online version is intended for adults. Children and teenagers should be assessed using tools and questions appropriate to their age and development. A parent or guardian can request an evaluation for a child or teen.
How often can I take it?
You may retake it, but frequent self-testing is not a substitute for care. Clinicians sometimes repeat the PHQ-9 during treatment to track change over time.
What should I bring to the appointment?
Bring your total and note which questions you scored highest on. Also bring any information about when the symptoms began, how they affect daily life, relevant medical conditions and medications you take.
Other Screening Tools
The same instruments clinicians use. Two minutes each.
What Comes Next?
A screening result can’t tell you everything, but it can tell you when it’s time to talk. Bring your score to an evaluation, and we’ll help you understand what it means.