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🧠 Mental Health
Am I depressed?
PHQ-9 — the gold standard depression screener.
Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by: 0 (not at all) to 3 (nearly every day).
1Little interest or pleasure in doing things
2Feeling down, depressed, or hopeless
3Trouble falling or staying asleep, or sleeping too much
4Feeling tired or having little energy
5Poor appetite or overeating
6Feeling bad about yourself — or that you are a failure
7Trouble concentrating on things, such as reading or watching TV
8Moving or speaking so slowly that others noticed? Or being fidgety/restless?
9Thoughts that you would be better off dead, or of hurting yourself
This is a screening tool, not a diagnosis. If you scored 10+ or endorsed item 9, please contact a mental health professional. Crisis: 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (call/text 988).
PHQ-9: the gold standard
The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (Kroenke et al. 2001) is the most widely used depression screening tool worldwide, used in clinical practice across 100+ countries.
Score interpretation
- 0-4: Minimal depression
- 5-9: Mild depression
- 10-14: Moderate depression
- 15-19: Moderately severe depression
- 20-27: Severe depression
Depression facts
- 280 million people worldwide have depression (WHO 2023)
- Depression is the #1 cause of disability globally
- Only 50% of people with depression seek treatment
- PHQ-9 has 88% sensitivity and 88% specificity for major depression
Sources: Kroenke et al. (2001, J Gen Intern Med), WHO (2023), NIMH.