Psychache Scale (PAS-13) Test

Understand intense inner distress like guilt, shame, and loneliness in about 3 minutes. Get a fast, validated snapshot to support risk screening and guide care planning.

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Questions: 133 minutes

08:30

October 2, 2025

October 2, 2025
Material has been updated

October 2, 2025
Material has been published

21,637 views

2,547 completions

2,102 likes

Verified by Daniel Hall

Psychologist with 25 years of experience

Scale Explorer

How the Scales are Structured

example score

52/65

Suicide Risk (SR)

Assesses the likelihood of suicidal behavior based on the intensity of psychological pain.

Low to moderate

Elevated

High

13 – 42: Low to moderate | 43 – 55: Elevated | 56 – 65: High

A score of 52 falls in the Elevated range, suggesting higher suicidal risk associated with more intense psychological pain.

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DATA-BASED USER COHORTS

Who Usually Takes This Test?

Overwhelmed by emotional pain

44%OF USERS

People struggling with intense guilt, shame, loneliness, or inner anguish use it to put a number on how severe their suffering feels right now.

After major loss or breakup

33%OF USERS

People coping with grief, separation, or life upheaval take it to understand whether their distress has shifted into deep psychological pain.

In therapy or crisis check-in

23%OF USERS

People in counseling or feeling unsafe use it as a quick check to track emotional distress and flag when extra support may be 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.

Suicidal risk (Sr)

Average

41.6

Normal range

35.3 — 48

min.

max.

This curve shows how scores are typically distributed.
Once you complete the test, your result will appear on the scale so you can see how you compare.

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SAMPLE QUESTIONS

Example Questions From the Test

- Completely untrue
- Not true
- Neither true nor untrue
- True
- Completely true
- Completely untrue
- Untrue
- Neither true nor untrue
- True
- Completely true
- Strongly disagree
- Disagree
- Neither agree nor disagree
- Agree
- Strongly agree

These are 3 of the 13 real questions — the rest appear in the test. No sign-up needed to start.

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WHAT THE TEST MEASURES

About This Assessment

Psychache Scale (PAS-13) Test - Symptoms and Signs

emotional pain

suicidal risk

This self-report measure is designed to assess the intensity of subjective psychological pain. The Psychache Scale (PAS-13) focuses on distressing internal experiences that may be difficult to articulate and can be clinically relevant in a range of mental health contexts.

It consists of 13 items and typically takes about 3 minutes to complete. Scores are commonly interpreted as an index of perceived emotional pain and may be used to support clinical formulation, including consideration of suicide risk when integrated with a comprehensive assessment. The Psychache Scale (PAS-13) is intended to complement, not replace, diagnostic evaluation and risk assessment procedures.

Author: Aaron T. Beck, Edwin S. Shneidman

Literature: Shneidman, E. S. The suicidal mind. Oxford University Press. 1996.; Joiner, T. E. Why people die by suicide. Harvard University Press. 2005.; Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A., & Brown, G. K. Manual for the Beck depression inventory-II. Psychological Corporation. 1996.; Holden, R. R., Mehta, K., Cunningham, E. J., & McLeod, L. D. Development and preliminary validation of a scale of psychache. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science. 2001.