Screening questionnaire
GAD-7 Anxiety Screening Test
The seven-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale, the standard brief screener for anxiety, scored instantly and privately.
- Published items
- Not a diagnosis
- Items
- 7
- Time
- 2 min
- Scales
- 3
- Scale
- 4-pt
Free, no account needed. A screening questionnaire, not a diagnosis.
You'll find out: Worry symptoms over the past two weeks, using the seven published GAD-7 items — a screening questionnaire, not a diagnosis.
Want to understand what you’re about to do? The sections below explain what this assessment measures, where the questions came from, and what you’ll see at the end. Already decided? The start button is up top.
What this is really asking
The GAD-7 asks how often seven experiences have troubled you over the past two weeks: nervousness, uncontrollable worry, worrying across many topics, trouble relaxing, restlessness, irritability, and a sense that something awful might happen. It was developed as a companion to the PHQ-9 and has become the most widely used brief measure of anxiety in both research and routine care.
This version also groups your answers into three strands. Worry covers the cognitive loop — thoughts that circle and will not be dismissed. Tension and restlessness covers the physical side, the body that stays braced even when nothing is happening. Irritability and dread covers the shorter fuse and the background apprehension. Anxiety that lives mainly in the body responds to different approaches than anxiety that lives mainly in rumination, so knowing which strand dominates is more actionable than the total alone.
Although it is named for generalized anxiety disorder, the GAD-7 also performs reasonably as a general screen for panic, social anxiety and post-traumatic stress. What it cannot do is tell those conditions apart — an elevated score says anxiety is present at a level worth examining, not which form it takes.
The parts it pulls apart
- Worry — Uncontrollable and excessive worrying
- Tension & Restlessness — Physical agitation and inability to settle
- Irritability & Dread — Short fuse and background fear
What lands on your screen at the end
You get a total in the standard 0–21 range with its severity band — minimal, mild, moderate or severe — and the three sub-scores charted, so you can see whether your score is driven by worry, by physical tension, or by irritability and dread.
The result explains what the band conventionally indicates and what it does not, including the point at which the research suggests a clinical conversation is worthwhile.
Where these questions came from
GAD-7 (Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7)
Spitzer, R. L., Kroenke, K., Williams, J. B. W., & Löwe, B. (2006). A brief measure for assessing generalized anxiety disorder: The GAD-7. Archives of Internal Medicine, 166(10), 1092–1097.
This version: All seven published items and the original four-point frequency anchors, kept intact so the validated severity ranges apply. Each item carries an added plain-language description of how the symptom tends to present; the symptom being asked about is unchanged.
This is a screening questionnaire for reflection and education. It is not a diagnosis, and it cannot replace an assessment by a clinician. No account is required and your answers are not shared.
Common questions
Is the GAD-7 a diagnosis of anxiety?
No. It is a screening questionnaire that measures symptom frequency over two weeks. Diagnosing an anxiety disorder requires a clinician to assess duration, how much the symptoms interfere with your life, and whether another condition or medication explains them. The GAD-7 is designed to identify who should have that assessment, not to replace it.
What GAD-7 score indicates anxiety?
Totals run 0 to 21, with bands of 0–4 minimal, 5–9 mild, 10–14 moderate and 15–21 severe. A score of 10 or above is the usual cut-point for further assessment: at that threshold the scale identifies around 89 percent of people with generalized anxiety disorder while correctly clearing around 82 percent of those without it.
What is the difference between the GAD-7 and the PHQ-9?
They screen for different things and are often used together. The GAD-7 covers anxiety — worry, tension, dread. The PHQ-9 covers depression — low mood, loss of interest, sleep, energy and self-worth. Anxiety and depression co-occur often enough that a high score on one is a reason to take the other, and both are available here.
Can I take the GAD-7 more than once?
Yes, and repeating it is how the scale is normally used. Because it asks about a two-week window, taking it again after a few weeks shows whether things are shifting. Change of five points or more is generally considered meaningful rather than noise.
Further reading
- PHQ-9 vs GAD-7: Which Screening Questionnaire Fits What You're Feeling
Two short questionnaires used together in most primary care visits, because the conditions they screen for overlap in more than half of cases.
- Introvert or Socially Anxious? The Difference Is Whether You Want To
The two produce the same declined invitation for entirely different reasons, and only one of them is treatable.
- The Depression Screening Questionnaire, Explained
Nine questions, two weeks, one number — and a clear line between what that number screens for and what it cannot diagnose.