Mind health

Depression self-check

Nine short questions about the last two weeks. It takes about two minutes. Your answers stay on your device and are never saved or sent.

Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by any of the following problems?

  1. 1Little interest or pleasure in doing things
  2. 2Feeling down, depressed, or hopeless
  3. 3Trouble falling or staying asleep, or sleeping too much
  4. 4Feeling tired or having little energy
  5. 5Poor appetite or overeating
  6. 6Feeling bad about yourself — or that you are a failure or have let yourself or your family down
  7. 7Trouble concentrating on things, such as reading the newspaper or watching television
  8. 8Moving 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
  9. 9Thoughts that you would be better off dead, or of hurting yourself in some way

About this questionnaire

This self-check uses the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), developed by Drs Robert L. Spitzer, Janet B.W. Williams, Kurt Kroenke and colleagues, with an educational grant from Pfizer Inc. Free to use. Kroenke K et al. J Gen Intern Med. 2001;16:606–613.

Health professionals: the clinical version, with scoring bands and references, is in the Resident’s Toolkit.

Written and reviewed by Dr. Utkarsh Gaur, psychiatry resident. Last reviewed 18 October 2026. This page is for information and does not replace advice from a doctor who knows you.