| Band | PHQ-9 · depression | GAD-7 · anxiety |
|---|---|---|
| Minimal | 0–4 | 0–4 |
| Mild | 5–9 | 5–9 |
| Moderate | 10–14 | 10–14 |
| Moderately severe | 15–19 | — |
| Severe | 20–27 | 15–21 |
Free tool · 2 minutes · No account, nothing stored
The 2-minute mental health check-in
Sixteen questions, two numbers, nobody watching. This is the pair of questionnaires a California clinic would hand you — the PHQ-9 for depression and the GAD-7 for anxiety — scored on your own device so your answers never become data.
- ✓ Free, no email
- ✓ Scored in your browser
- ✓ Analytics off on this page
Want just one? Depression test (PHQ-9) · Anxiety test (GAD-7)
Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by the following?
What the two scores mean
Every item scores 0 to 3. The PHQ-9 runs 0 to 27, the GAD-7 runs 0 to 21. These are the standard interpretation bands from each instrument's validation work — a description of the last two weeks, not a verdict on you.
Ten is the number to remember on both scales: it is where most clinicians move from watching to talking. And PHQ-9 question 9 — thoughts of being better off dead — is treated as a flag at any level above "not at all", whatever the total says. If that is where you are tonight, call or text 988.
Why these two, and why on this site
The PHQ-9 (Kroenke, Spitzer and Williams, 2001) and the GAD-7 (Spitzer and colleagues, 2006) are the two most widely validated brief screens in existence, free to reproduce without permission, and recommended for routine adult screening by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Which is the practical point: the numbers you get here are the numbers a California clinician already knows how to read.
Most free screeners are the front door of a sales funnel. The FTC fined BetterHelp $7.8 million in 2023 for sharing intake answers with advertising platforms. We built this page so the same thing is structurally impossible: no ad pixels, no session recording, no server request, analytics disabled on this URL. Open the page source and check us — that invitation is the whole point.
Paid for by participating therapists · No ads · Data never sold · Read the full pledge
Two numbers. Now the appointment.
A score that goes nowhere helps nobody. Californians have specific advantages here, and most people never use them:
See the real price first
City-by-city fees and every route below sticker, from Medi-Cal to sliding scale.
Use the 10-day rule
California law gives you a non-urgent appointment inside 10 business days. Here are the scripts.
Work out who you need
LMFT, LCSW, psychologist, psychiatrist — who does what, and who can prescribe.
Questions people ask
What is this test, exactly?
Two standard screening questionnaires back to back: the PHQ-9 for depression and the GAD-7 for anxiety. Sixteen questions, all about the last two weeks. They are the same forms used in California primary care, county behavioral health and health plan intake.
Is it free, and do I need an account?
Free, and there is no account, no email and no paywall. TherapyCalifornia is paid for by the therapists who list in our directory, not by advertisers.
Where do my answers go?
Nowhere. Scoring runs in JavaScript on your own device, nothing is transmitted, and our analytics scripts are excluded from this page, so no session recording or event can observe your answers. Close the tab and the result is gone.
Why take both at once?
Depression and anxiety overlap heavily — roughly half of people who meet criteria for one also meet criteria for the other. Two numbers side by side tell you more than either alone, and give a clinician a fuller starting point.
Can this diagnose me?
No. These are screening instruments. Only a licensed clinician who talks with you can diagnose. Medical causes, sleep, medication and life circumstances all shape a score and none of them fit in a questionnaire.
What do I do with the two scores?
Write them down with the date. Bring them to a first appointment — it compresses a two-week story into two numbers and saves you retelling it. Then use the cost page and the 10-day rule guide to actually get the appointment booked.
Sources
- Kroenke K, Spitzer RL, Williams JBW. The PHQ-9: validity of a brief depression severity measure. J Gen Intern Med. 2001;16(9):606–613.
- Spitzer RL, Kroenke K, Williams JBW, Löwe B. A brief measure for assessing generalized anxiety disorder: the GAD-7. Arch Intern Med. 2006;166(10):1092–1097.
- U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Depression and Suicide Risk in Adults: Screening and Anxiety Disorders in Adults: Screening. Final recommendation statements, June 2023.
- Federal Trade Commission. FTC to Ban BetterHelp from Revealing Consumers' Data. Press release, March 2023 ($7.8M).
- Both instruments developed by Drs. Robert L. Spitzer, Janet B.W. Williams, Kurt Kroenke and colleagues, with an educational grant from Pfizer Inc. No permission is required to reproduce, translate, display or distribute them.
Updated August 23, 2026 · Sources cited above · Education, not diagnosis