Answer the seven GAD-7 items about the last two weeks, then finish with the standard function item.

  • Choose one response for each item.
  • The final function item is reported separately and does not change the 0 to 21 total.
  • Your responses stay only in this browser unless you export them.
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Share result

Share this result page with someone you trust to review your answers and result.

Score position gauge
Symptom pattern radar

The seven scored items stay separate here so the highest-frequency symptoms are obvious before you plan follow-up.

What this score suggests

{{ severityName }} anxiety symptom burden with a total of {{ totalScore }}/21. {{ screeningFlag ? 'The score is at or above the common 10-point screening threshold.' : 'The score remains below the common 10-point screening threshold.' }} The non-scored function item was {{ difficultyLabel }}.

  • {{ point }}

The score gauge keeps the total on the original 0 to 21 scale while showing where it sits against the common 10-point screening cue.

Score lane and threshold context
Score Band 10-point cue Status Copy
{{ band.rangeLabel }} {{ band.label }} {{ band.thresholdCue }} {{ band.statusText }}

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Highest current anxiety-pressure items

These are the items most responsible for the current score. Start here before trying to change every symptom at once.

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Scored symptom items
All scored symptom items

This keeps the original seven scored items visible in one place so the total is easier to audit and repeat over time.

# Symptom item Response Score Current pressure Copy
{{ row.id }} {{ row.label }} {{ row.answer }} {{ row.score }}/3 {{ row.lane }}
Monitoring and follow-up
Monitoring and follow-up
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Current review facts
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Answer review
# Prompt Response Score Interpretation Copy
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Worry is easy to minimize, overstate, or explain away when it is remembered as a general mood. A short anxiety screener gives that recent experience a time frame and a symptom list. The GAD-7 uses the last two weeks, asks about seven common anxiety symptoms, and converts the answers into a 0 to 21 total.

Generalized anxiety disorder is not the same as ordinary stress before a deadline or a tense event. It usually involves frequent, hard-to-control worry that may come with restlessness, trouble relaxing, irritability, concentration problems, sleep disruption, muscle tension, and fear that something awful might happen. The GAD-7 does not prove that diagnosis, but it gives a shared language for describing recent symptom burden.

Frequency
Each symptom is rated by how often it happened during the last two weeks, not by how intense it felt at one moment.
Burden
The total score estimates recent anxiety symptom burden across the seven items.
Function
The separate difficulty question asks how much symptoms affected work, home responsibilities, or relationships.
GAD-7 diagram showing seven scored symptom items, a 0 to 21 total, a separate function item, and score bands from minimal through severe.

A useful GAD-7 result answers two related questions. The score says how much of the seven-item symptom pattern is present. The function item says how hard that pattern is making daily life. A moderate total with little reported difficulty and a mild total with serious work, home, or relationship disruption should not be read as the same situation.

Screening cutoffs are helpful because they make follow-up more consistent, but they can be misread. The common 10-point cue is not a line between well and unwell. Scores below 10 can still deserve attention when symptoms persist, worsen, or strongly disrupt daily life. Scores at or above 10 still need clinical context before anyone names a diagnosis or treatment plan.

Repeated results are most useful when the recall window and conditions are comparable. A score completed after a crisis week, a medication change, poor sleep, substance use, or medical symptoms may still be important, but the reason for the change belongs beside the number.

How to Use This Tool:

Use one honest two-week recall window for the whole questionnaire. Avoid mixing a bad day for one item with a better month for another item, because the total only makes sense when the answers describe the same recent period.

  1. Select Start assessment to begin the eight-prompt sequence.
  2. Answer each of the seven scored symptom items from Not at all to Nearly every day. The choices score 0, 1, 2, and 3 points.
  3. Complete the final daily-function question. It is reported as the Function item and does not add to the 0 to 21 total.
  4. If the result does not appear, check the progress count and question navigator for the unanswered prompt. The snapshot and charts appear only after all eight prompts are answered.
  5. Review the Anxiety snapshot, Score position gauge, Symptom pattern radar, highest-pressure items, and Answer review before deciding what to share or save.
  6. Use copy, chart-download, CSV, DOCX, or result-link options only when you are comfortable preserving the answers outside the browser.

Interpreting Results:

The Total score is the first read. It places the seven symptom answers on the original 0 to 21 GAD-7 scale. The 10-point threshold card then shows whether the result is below, at, or above the common screening cue.

Score range Band How to read it
0 to 4 Minimal Few symptoms on this scale, though a single disruptive concern can still matter.
5 to 9 Mild Symptoms are present but below the common 10-point screening cue.
10 to 14 Moderate The result reaches the common cue for fuller assessment.
15 to 21 Severe The highest band on the scale and a strong reason to seek fuller context.

The Function item can change the practical meaning of the same score. A person who scores 8 and reports Very difficult may need more attention than the number alone suggests. A person who scores 11 and reports little difficulty still crosses the screening cue, but the next conversation may focus on context, duration, and what else could be causing the symptoms.

Use the highest-pressure items and symptom radar as a check on the total. A score built from several 1-point answers suggests a broad mild pattern. A score built from a few 3-point answers points to specific symptoms happening nearly every day. Both patterns can land near the same total, so the answer review is worth reading before drawing conclusions.

Technical Details:

The GAD-7 is a self-report screening and severity scale. Its scoring is intentionally simple: seven symptom-frequency items are scored from 0 to 3 and summed. There is no reverse scoring, weighting, or separate subscale in the total.

The two-week recall window is shorter than the diagnostic duration often used for generalized anxiety disorder. That distinction matters because the GAD-7 measures recent symptoms. It can support screening, monitoring, and discussion, but it cannot decide whether worry has lasted long enough, whether impairment meets a diagnostic standard, or whether symptoms are better explained by depression, trauma, substance use, medication effects, sleep loss, or medical illness.

Formula Core

The total is the sum of the seven scored symptom answers. Each answer must be an integer from 0 to 3.

Total = ∑ i=1 7 qi , qi ∈ {0,1,2,3} Screening cue = Total ≥ 10

A response pattern of 2, 2, 1, 1, 0, 2, and 2 sums to 10. That total is in the Moderate band and reaches the 10-point screening cue. If the daily-function answer is Very difficult, the impairment signal is reported beside the score rather than added to it.

Response choice Item value Meaning in the total
Not at all 0 No points from that symptom item.
Several days 1 Low-frequency symptom presence.
More than half the days 2 Elevated frequency and a likely contributor to current burden.
Nearly every day 3 Highest frequency for that item.
Rule Boundary Output effect
Minimal band Total <= 4 Shown as Minimal and below the 10-point cue.
Mild band 5 <= Total <= 9 Shown as Mild and below the 10-point cue.
Moderate band 10 <= Total <= 14 Shown as Moderate and at or above the 10-point cue.
Severe band Total >= 15 Shown as Severe and at or above the 10-point cue.
Priority item Item score >= 2 Eligible for highest current anxiety-pressure guidance.

Limitations and Privacy:

The GAD-7 is a screening and severity measure. It cannot diagnose generalized anxiety disorder, choose treatment, measure safety risk, or explain the cause of symptoms by itself.

  • Use the same two-week recall frame when comparing repeated results.
  • Bring high function difficulty, rapid worsening, panic, trauma reminders, substance use, medication changes, sleep disruption, or medical concerns into follow-up instead of relying on the total alone.
  • Scoring happens in the browser, but copied result links, CSV files, DOCX files, chart downloads, screenshots, and shared messages can preserve private mental-health answers.
  • Urgent safety concerns need immediate help from local emergency or crisis services; this score does not replace crisis assessment.

Worked Examples:

Mild total with real daily disruption

Answers of 1, 2, 1, 1, 0, 0, and 1 give a Total score of 6/21 and a Mild band. If the Function item is Very difficult, the result should not be dismissed as minor because the daily-life impact is already high.

Exactly at the screening cue

Answers of 2, 2, 1, 1, 0, 2, and 2 give a Total score of 10/21. The 10-point threshold output reads at or above the cue, and the band is Moderate. That is a prompt for fuller assessment, not a diagnosis.

Same total, different symptom pattern

One 10-point result may come from several 1-point answers plus a few 2-point answers. Another may come from three nearly-every-day symptoms and several quiet items. The Symptom pattern radar, highest-pressure items, and Answer review make that difference visible.

Result not appearing

If the Anxiety snapshot and charts do not appear, the assessment is incomplete. Check the progress count, use the question navigator to find the unanswered item, and finish the final daily-function question as well as the seven scored symptoms.

FAQ:

Is the function item part of the 0 to 21 score?

No. The seven symptom items create the 0 to 21 total. The daily-function item is shown separately because it changes how the score should be discussed.

Does a score of 10 or higher mean I have generalized anxiety disorder?

No. A score of 10 or higher is a common screening cue. Diagnosis needs fuller clinical assessment, including duration, impairment, context, and possible alternative explanations.

Why does the result show highest-pressure items?

The highest-pressure items are the scored symptoms rated 2 or 3 when present. They help you see which symptoms are driving the total, but they are not separate diagnoses or subscales.

Can I compare two GAD-7 results?

Yes, if both were completed with the same two-week recall window and similar conditions. Comparing a calm week with a crisis week may still be useful, but the reason for the change matters as much as the number.

Why is there no result yet?

The result appears only after all eight prompts are answered. The progress count and navigator show which symptom or function question still needs a response.

Where can my answers be exposed?

The score is calculated in the browser. Answers can still be exposed if you copy a result link, export CSV or DOCX files, download charts, take screenshots, or share the page with someone else.

Glossary:

GAD-7
A seven-item self-report measure of anxiety symptom frequency during the last two weeks.
Total score
The sum of the seven scored symptom items, ranging from 0 to 21.
10-point screening cue
The common cutoff where fuller assessment is often considered.
Function item
The separate question about how difficult symptoms have made work, home life, or relationships.
Highest-pressure items
The scored symptoms with the strongest current frequency, especially items rated 2 or 3.
Two-week recall window
The period the GAD-7 asks you to use when rating recent symptoms.

References: