PHQ-4 Depression and Anxiety Test — Free 1-Minute 4-Question Screen

It suits moments when you have no room for a long questionnaire but want a quick read on how you are doing, when you want a first sense of whether depression or anxiety is shifting first, or when you would like a light weekly record. With only four items it takes under a minute and is easy to repeat even on busy days.

The four items are feeling nervous or on edge and being unable to stop worrying (the two anxiety items, GAD-2), plus loss of interest or pleasure and feeling down or hopeless (the two depression items, PHQ-2): only the core symptoms of each condition are kept. The PHQ-4 is a standard instrument published by Kroenke and colleagues in 2009 and widely used in clinical practice and research, but being brief it does not ask about sleep, appetite or concentration, so treat it as a first step before a fuller check rather than a replacement for one.

You receive an anxiety (GAD-2) score and a depression (PHQ-2) score, each 0-6. A score of 0-2 is within the normal range; 3-6 is a positive screen, meaning that area deserves a closer look. If the depression score is 3 or more, follow up with the PHQ-9; if the anxiety score is 3 or more, follow up with the GAD-7. The original paper also bands the total (0-12) as 0-2 normal, 3-5 mild, 6-8 moderate and 9-12 severe, but this app reports the two area scores separately.

A positive screen is not a diagnosis but a signal to look further. Conversely, even with 0-2 points, if work, study or relationships are clearly affected or you have thoughts of dying, seek professional help regardless of the score. Because the check is so short, repeating it weekly or every two weeks on the same day of the week gives a light record of how you are doing and shows which of the two areas rises first.