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depression

PHQ-9 Test

PHQ-9 Test - Free Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) Quiz Online - FreudlyTake a free PHQ-9 Test and screen for depression symptoms. Online PHQ test with accurate results and interpretation - quick, confidential, no sign-up needed.en
Completed in about two minutes, the PHQ9 Test uses nine questions about recent mood, sleep, energy, appetite, concentration, self-worth, movement, and safety-related thoughts. Your result indicates the current severity of depressive symptoms, offering a focused starting point for self-reflection and tracking changes over time.
Questions: 92 minutes
PHQ-9 Test: sample question card
October 2, 2025October 2, 2025Material has been updatedOctober 2, 2025Material has been published
26,665 views
4,264 completions
2,161 likes
Daniel HallPsychologist · Test reviewer
2,161 likes
Scale Explorer

How the Scales are Structured

Depression SeverityDS
Measures the severity of depressive symptoms experienced over the past two weeks.
example score17/27
17/27Moderately Severe to Severeexample score
0 – 9None to Mild
10 – 14Moderate
15 – 27Moderately Severe to Severe
A score of 17 falls in the Moderately Severe to Severe range, indicating a high level of depressive symptoms over the past two weeks.
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DATA-BASED USER COHORTS

Who Usually Takes This Test?

Feeling persistently low
44%OF USERS
People who have had sadness, loss of interest, fatigue, sleep or appetite changes, or self-critical thoughts for the past couple of weeks use it to understand how severe it is.
Primary care patients
33%OF USERS
Patients in general medical settings take it when a clinician wants a quick, structured check of depressive symptoms during a visit.
Monitoring treatment progress
23%OF USERS
People already in therapy or on medication take it repeatedly to track symptom changes over time and decide if follow-up is needed.
BASED ON AGGREGATED, ANONYMIZED DATA FROM TENS OF THOUSANDS OF FREUDLY USERS.
Benchmarking

See How You Compare

Once you complete the test, your results are compared with real-world data from people in your country.
Below is a preview of how scores are typically distributed across each scale.
Shaded area — where most people score
Dot — the average
You — your score lands on each curve after the test— your score, after the test
Depression LevelDL
You?
Average11
Typical rangeTypical7.6 – 14.5
Possible0 – 27
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SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Example Questions From the Test

Please indicate how often the following problems have bothered you over the past two weeks.
    • Not at all
    • Several days
    • More than half the days
    • Nearly every day
    • Not at all
    • Several days
    • More than half the days
    • Nearly every day
    • Not at all
    • Several days
    • More than half the days
    • Nearly every day
WHAT THE TEST MEASURES

PHQ-9 Test - Description and methodology of the test

depression

People who want a structured snapshot of recent depressive symptoms can use this questionnaire to organize changes in mood, motivation, sleep, energy, appetite, concentration, self-worth, movement, and safety-related thinking. As a phq test, it is most useful for readers deciding whether a recent pattern deserves closer attention. The phq9 test turns those responses into a focused indication of symptom severity, not a fixed description of the person.

What This Test Measures

The questions focus on recent experiences that commonly accompany depression rather than on a single emotion. They cover reduced interest, low mood, sleep, fatigue, appetite, self-evaluation, concentration, psychomotor change, and thoughts of death or self-harm. Together, these themes show what a phq 9 test can capture for someone reflecting on mood-related difficulties.

The result brings together these areas:

  • Mood and interest indicate whether pleasure, motivation, or hope has diminished.
  • Sleep, energy, and appetite reflect physical and behavioral changes that may accompany low mood.
  • Self-worth and concentration show how depressive symptoms can affect thinking and self-evaluation.
  • Movement captures noticeable slowing or restlessness, which may alter everyday functioning.
  • Safety-related thoughts identify experiences involving death or self-harm and deserve careful attention.
  • Depression Severity (0-27) summarizes depressive symptom severity; displayed bands are None to Mild 0-9, Moderate 10-14, and Moderately Severe to Severe 15-27.

Methodology and Evidence Base

Each item asks how often a symptom occurred during the past two weeks, using four ordered choices: Not at all, Several days, More than half the days, and Nearly every day. In this phq9 questionnaire, responses are combined into one overall severity score, with more frequent symptoms contributing to a higher total; the form does not produce separate diagnostic subscales.

The questionnaire is conceptually consistent with PHQ-9 (Kroenke, Spitzer, and Williams, 2001), a published self-report depression measure within the broader Patient Health Questionnaire system. The earlier PHQ primary-care study established the wider self-report framework, while a later systematic review examined the depressive scale alongside related symptom measures. This online presentation is not a separately normed or independently validated adaptation.

Interpretation reflects symptom burden during the stated time window. Current stress, recall, self-awareness, and willingness to disclose can influence answers, so the score is best read as a structured indicator rather than a diagnosis. Persistent impairment or safety-related thoughts require attention beyond the questionnaire result.

Author: Janet B. W. Williams, Kurt Kroenke, Robert L. Spitzer
Literature:
  • Kroenke, K., Spitzer, R. L., & Williams, J. B. W. (2001). The PHQ-9: Validity of a brief depression severity measure. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 16(9), 606-613. 10.1046/j.1525-1497.2001.016009606.x
  • Spitzer, R. L., Kroenke, K., Williams, J. B. W., & the Patient Health Questionnaire Primary Care Study Group. (1999). Validation and utility of a self-report version of PRIME-MD: The PHQ primary care study. JAMA, 282(18), 1737-1744. 10.1001/jama.282.18.1737
  • Kroenke, K., Spitzer, R. L., Williams, J. B. W., & Löwe, B. (2010). The Patient Health Questionnaire somatic, anxiety, and depressive symptom scales: A systematic review. General Hospital Psychiatry, 32(4), 345-359. 10.1016/j.genhosppsych.2010.03.006

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