self-test for anxiety
overview
this questionnaire—called the gad-7 screening tool—can help you find out if you might have an anxiety disorder that needs treatment. it calculates how many common symptoms you have and—based on your answers—suggests where you might be on a scale, from mild to severe anxiety.
gad-7 stands for "generalized anxiety disorder" and the 7 questions in the tool. choose one answer for each of the 7 questions below:
over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by the following problems? | not at all | several days | more than half the days | nearly every day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1. feeling nervous, anxious or on edge | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
2. not being able to stop or control worrying | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
3. worrying too much about different things | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
4. trouble relaxing | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
5. being so restless that it's hard to sit still | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
6. becoming easily annoyed or irritable | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
7. feeling afraid, as if something awful might happen | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| add up your results for each column | ||||
| total score (add column totals together) | ||||
what your total score means
your total score is a guide to how severe your anxiety disorder may be.
- 0 to 4 = mild anxiety
- 5 to 9 = moderate anxiety
- 10 to 14 = moderately severe anxiety
- 15 to 21 = severe anxiety
if your score is 10 or higher, or if you feel that anxiety is affecting your daily life, call your doctor.
the gad-7 was developed by drs. robert l. spitzer, janet b. w. williams, kurt kroenke, and colleagues, with an education grant from pfizer, inc.
credits
current as of: june 24, 2023
author: healthwise staff
clinical review board
all healthwise education is reviewed by a team that includes physicians, nurses, advanced practitioners, registered dieticians, and other healthcare professionals.
current as of: june 24, 2023
author: healthwise staff
clinical review board
all healthwise education is reviewed by a team that includes physicians, nurses, advanced practitioners, registered dieticians, and other healthcare professionals.
spitzer rl, et al. (2006). a brief measure for assessing generalized anxiety disorder: the gad-7. archives of internal medicine, 166(10): 1092–1097. available online: http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/reprint/166/10/1092.
