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Private self-check

Depression self-check

The PHQ-9 is a nine-question screening questionnaire that doctors widely use to check for depression.

This is a screening tool, not a diagnosis. Only a health professional can diagnose depression or anxiety. Your answers stay on this device: they aren't saved, sent, or added to the page address, and they disappear when you leave the page.

If you're thinking about hurting yourself, don't wait to finish: call or text 988, or call 911 if you are in immediate danger.

Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by any of the following problems?

1. Little interest or pleasure in doing things
2. Feeling down, depressed, or hopeless
3. Trouble falling or staying asleep, or sleeping too much
4. Feeling tired or having little energy
5. Poor appetite or overeating
6. Feeling bad about yourself — or that you are a failure or have let yourself or your family down
7. Trouble concentrating on things, such as reading the newspaper or watching television
8. Moving or speaking so slowly that other people could have noticed? Or the opposite — being so fidgety or restless that you have been moving around a lot more than usual
9. Thoughts that you would be better off dead or of hurting yourself in some way

What to do next

A self-check is a starting point, not a diagnosis. Whatever your score, if something doesn't feel right, it's worth talking to a doctor, nurse, or counselor.

Free, confidential support

Mental health or suicidal crisis, including if you're worried about someone else

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline

Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org. Free and confidential. ASL via videophone.11

Call or text 988
Treatment referrals and information for mental health or substance use, for individuals and families

SAMHSA's National Helpline

Call 1-800-662-HELP (4357) or text your 5-digit ZIP code to 435748. Free and confidential. English and Spanish by phone; text is English only. TTY: 1-800-487-4889.30

Call 1-800-662-4357
Mental health support by text, anywhere in the U.S.

Crisis Text Line

Text HOME to 741741 or chat at connect.crisistextline.org. Free and confidential, with trained volunteer crisis counselors. En español: text HOLA to 741741.31

Chat online

See all support options

About this questionnaire

Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9).44,45 The PHQ-9's developers describe a score of 10 or more as a “yellow flag” that calls for a closer look.

Developed by Drs. Robert L. Spitzer, Janet B.W. Williams, Kurt Kroenke and colleagues, with an educational grant from Pfizer Inc. No permission required to reproduce, translate, display or distribute.