GAD-7 calculator
Answer seven questions about the last two weeks, get the total and severity band.
Educational tool, not a diagnosis. A screening score does not replace an assessment by a doctor or mental health professional. If you are in crisis or thinking about harming yourself, call or text 988 (the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, free, 24 hours) or call 911 in an emergency. How we check our calculators.
Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by each problem? Questions are paraphrased from the GAD-7.
What does a GAD-7 score mean?
The GAD-7 adds seven answers about the last two weeks, each from 0 (not at all) to 3 (nearly every day), for a total of 0 to 21. The authors suggested that cut points of 5, 10 and 15 might represent mild, moderate and severe anxiety, and this page uses them: 0 to 4 minimal, 5 to 9 mild, 10 to 14 moderate, 15 to 21 severe. The example answers above total 6, which falls in the mild band. A total below 5 is shown as minimal, which is common practice rather than a label from the paper.
What is the cut point for a positive screen?
A total of 10 or more. In the 2006 study by Spitzer, Kroenke, Williams and Löwe, about 2,740 adults in 15 US primary care clinics filled in the questionnaire, and 965 of them were then interviewed by telephone by a mental health professional within a week. At the cut point the GAD-7 had a sensitivity of 89% and a specificity of 82% for generalized anxiety disorder. The score also went along with how much the symptoms interfered with daily life.
Does a high score mean I have an anxiety disorder?
No. The score counts symptoms and how often they occurred; it does not show what causes them. The study compared the questionnaire with an interview by a mental health professional because the questionnaire alone is not enough to diagnose, and a positive screen at a cut point of 10 still includes people without the disorder (the specificity of 82% leaves about 18 in 100 people without it screening positive). Use a high score as a reason to talk with a doctor or counselor.
How is it different from the PHQ-9?
Both come from the same group and use the same four answers, but they ask about different things. The PHQ-9 has nine questions about depression and ranges from 0 to 27; the GAD-7 has seven about worry and nervousness and ranges from 0 to 21. The PHQ-9 calculator on this site also flags question 9, which asks about self-harm; the GAD-7 has no such question, but the same 988 line is there for anyone in distress.
Is routine screening for anxiety recommended?
For adults aged 64 or younger, including pregnant and postpartum people, the US Preventive Services Task Force recommends screening for anxiety disorders (grade B, 2023). For adults 65 and older it found the evidence insufficient to say either way (an I statement). The recommendation is about screening in general; this page is not a substitute for a screening program with follow-up.
Is the GAD-7 free to use?
Copies of the standard form published by public agencies carry this line: developed by Drs. Robert L. Spitzer, Janet B.W. Williams, Kurt Kroenke and colleagues, with an educational grant from Pfizer Inc., and no permission required to reproduce, translate, display or distribute. Another hospital's copy prints a 1999 Pfizer copyright line with “reproduced with permission,” so the wording is not identical everywhere. This page therefore words the seven questions in its own language and does not copy the form. For clinical or research use, use the official form.
How the score is built
The seven items are: feeling nervous, anxious or on edge; not being able to stop or control worrying; worrying too much about different things; trouble relaxing; being so restless that it is hard to sit still; becoming easily annoyed or irritable; feeling afraid, as if something awful might happen. Each answer is scored 0 for not at all, 1 for several days, 2 for more than half the days, 3 for nearly every day, and the total is the plain sum. In the validation paper the scale showed excellent internal consistency (Cronbach alpha 0.92), which means the seven answers move together; it does not by itself prove that the score measures one clinical condition. The extra question about how much the problems get in the way of work, home and relationships is not scored; this page repeats your answer without counting it.
Worked example
Answers of 1, 1, 2, 1, 0, 1, 0 give 6, in the mild band, under the cut point of 10. Answers of 2, 1, 1, 1, 1, 2, 2 give 10, in the moderate band, where the screen counts as positive. The two sets differ by only a few steps on a few questions, which shows why a total near a boundary should be read as “close to the line,” not as a finding.
Limits of this method
The 2006 study tested the GAD-7 against interviews in primary care adults; it says little about children, about people in acute crisis, or about use as a measure of treatment response. The cut points of 5, 10 and 15 were suggested as markers of severity, and the paper's own accuracy figures are for the single cut point of 10. A questionnaire that you fill in yourself depends on your reading of words such as “nervous” and “on edge,” and on how you remember the last two weeks. Treat the number as a conversation starter.
What to do with the result
Write down the total, the date and the questions you scored highest, and bring them to a doctor, nurse practitioner or counselor, together with how long it has been going on and what makes it better or worse. If distress becomes overwhelming, or you think about harming yourself, call or text 988 in the US (free, 24 hours), or call 911 in an emergency.
Sources: Spitzer RL, Kroenke K, Williams JBW, Löwe B, “A brief measure for assessing generalized anxiety disorder: the GAD-7,” Arch Intern Med 2006;166:1092–1097; US Preventive Services Task Force, “Screening for Anxiety Disorders in Adults,” JAMA 2023;329:2163–2170; SAMHSA, 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Related: PHQ-9 depression score, Glasgow Coma Scale, blood pressure calculator.
For general information only — not medical advice, and not a tool for patient care decisions. Talk with a doctor or counselor about how you feel; in a crisis call or text 988. How we check our calculators.