Am I Depressed?

Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9)

The PHQ-9 is a multipurpose instrument for screening, diagnosing, monitoring and measuring the severity of depression.

"*" indicates required fields

Step 1 of 2

Little interest or pleasure in doing things*
Feeling down, depressed or hopeless*
Trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or sleeping too much*
Feeling tired or having little energy*
Poor appetite or overeating*
Feeling bad about yourself - or that you’re a failure or have let yourself or your family down*
Trouble concentrating on things, such as reading the newspaper or watching television*
Moving or speaking so slowly that other people could have noticed. Or, the opposite - being so fidgety or restless that you have been moving around a lot more than usual*
Thoughts that you would be better off dead or of hurting yourself in some way*

Interpretation:

  • Total scores of 5, 10, 15, and 20 represent cutpoints for mild, moderate, moderately severe and severe depression, respectively.
  • Note: Question 9 is a single screening question on suicide risk. A patient who answers yes to question 9 needs further assessment for suicide risk by an individual who is competent to assess this risk.
Provisional Diagnosis and Proposed Treatment Actions
PHQ-9 Score Depression Severity Proposed Treatment Actions
0 – 4 None-minimal None
5 – 9 Mild Watchful waiting; repeat PHQ-9 at follow-up
10 – 14 Moderate Treatment plan, considering counseling, follow-up and/or pharmacotherapy
15 – 19 Moderately Severe Active treatment with pharmacotherapy and/or psychotherapy
20 – 27 Severe Immediate initiation of pharmacotherapy and, if severe impairment or poor response to therapy, expedited referral to a mental health specialist