Columbia Depression Scale (DISC) Test

People seeking a structured way to consider suicidal thoughts, mood-related warning signs, and functional changes may find the Columbia Depression Scale (DISC) Test useful. It is intended for adolescents and adults. As a suicide risk questionnaire, it organizes sensitive topics in a yes-or-no format. The result classifies suicidal behavior risk as Low, Moderate, or High, with professional interpretation required.

What This Assessment Measures

Rather than measuring depression severity alone, the questionnaire combines emotional distress, hopelessness, changes in functioning, and suicide-related concerns as contributors to a suicidal behavior risk assessment. Its items cover feelings, beliefs, bodily changes, and actions, so the result reflects warning signs. Mood-related topics contribute to risk classification, not a separate depression-severity result.

The representative themes include:

• Emotional distress and loss of purpose are reflected in sadness, anxiety, guilt, hopelessness, meaninglessness, and a negative outlook.
• Changes in functioning are captured through appetite, weight, sleep, health, and current mood.
• Suicide-related experiences are addressed through wishes to die, past attempts, method selection, and self-harm.

The displayed scale is Suicidal Behavior Risk Level (0-46). It assesses suicidal behavior risk in adolescents and adults and classifies severity as Low 0-14, Moderate 15-19, or High 20-46, with higher bands flagging possible need for support or monitoring.

Methodology and Evidence Base

For suicidal behavior screening, the 46 items use Yes/No responses focused on recognizable feelings, circumstances, symptoms, or behaviors. The questionnaire produces a result on the displayed risk scale, but item weights and the scoring algorithm are not specified; point values should not be inferred from the response choices.

Some items use third-person wording, so the format itself does not establish whether another person or the respondent supplies the answers.

The questionnaire is conceptually consistent with the Columbia Depression Scale (CDS), a related instrument associated with Columbia University and the New York State Psychiatric Institute. This online DISC questionnaire is not a standardized adaptation or equivalent administration of the CDS.

No standardization, reliability estimates, or diagnostic validation are stated for this online questionnaire.

Respondent answers can shift with current mood, memory, privacy, and willingness to disclose, so the result captures the report provided at that time. It can organize concerns about risk severity and possible support needs for further discussion.