Distress snapshot
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Quick 6-item check-in for psychological distress over the past 30 days.

  • Answer every item using the same 30-day window so the total stays comparable from start to finish.
  • Results keep the standard 0 to 24 K6 total alongside the 5+ watch range and the common 13+ serious-distress cutoff.
  • Your responses stay in this browser unless you export them or share a URL with the encoded answer state.
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Distress charts
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What this screening snapshot suggests

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These visuals are descriptive only. Formal interpretation still comes from the 0-24 total, the 5+ elevated-distress watch range used here, and the common 13+ serious-distress cutoff.

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Threshold guide
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Higher-scored focus and lower-scored anchors
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Answer review
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Tags: Diagnostics, Psychology, Psychometrics
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Psychological distress is the strain people notice when worry, low mood, restlessness, hopelessness, or exhaustion start showing up repeatedly. It is not the same thing as a diagnosis. Distress can rise during bereavement, burnout, illness, money pressure, conflict, isolation, trauma reminders, or a long run of poor sleep, and the same total score can mean different things depending on how much daily life has narrowed.

The Kessler Psychological Distress Scale-6, usually shortened to K6, gives that broad distress signal a consistent 30-day frame. The six questions ask how often a person felt nervous, hopeless, restless or fidgety, so depressed that nothing could cheer them up, that everything was an effort, and worthless. Each answer is a frequency choice, so the result is about how often these feelings were present, not how long they lasted in a single episode or why they happened.

Recall period
The past 30 days. Mixing a bad week, a usual month, and a worst month makes repeated scores hard to compare.
Frequency answer
Each item runs from None of the time to All of the time, turning a remembered pattern into a 0 to 4 item score.
Raw total
Six item scores are added directly, producing a 0 to 24 total without subscales or reverse scoring.
Cutoff
A score boundary used for screening. It is a signal for follow-up, not proof of a specific disorder.
A K6 score bar shows the 0 to 4 lower range, 5 to 12 elevated range, and 13 to 24 serious range.

K6 totals are often used in surveys and screening workflows because the questions are brief and the score is easy to compare. The 13-point cutoff is commonly used for serious psychological distress in population reporting. A lower 5-point threshold has also been studied as a way to notice moderate distress that may still be tied to treatment need, functional strain, or risk behaviors.

Two mistakes cause many K6 results to be overread. The first is treating a high score as a diagnosis. The K6 does not separate anxiety, depression, grief, trauma, substance effects, sleep loss, medical illness, or unsafe living conditions. The second is dismissing a lower total when one item is intense. Feeling worthless or hopeless all of the time can deserve attention even when the sum stays below 13.

K6 results are informational and should not replace diagnosis, treatment, crisis support, or advice from a qualified professional. If safety is uncertain, or distress is interfering with sleep, work, study, relationships, caregiving, or basic routines, a person should seek help sooner than a repeat self-check.

How to Use This Tool:

Use one consistent past-30-days frame for every answer. The score is only meaningful when all six items refer to the same month.

  1. Select Begin Assessment to open the six K6 questions.
  2. For each question, choose the closest frequency from None of the time through All of the time. Each choice becomes a 0 to 4 item score.
  3. Watch the progress label and question navigator. If the Distress snapshot does not appear, find the item without a check icon and answer it.
  4. Start with the Distress snapshot total out of 24, then read Threshold status, High-intensity items, Average item score, and Strongest item.
  5. Use the Threshold guide to confirm whether the total is Lower, Elevated, or in the Serious range.
  6. Check Higher-scored focus and lower-scored anchors before deciding what the score means. A total can come from one dominant feeling or from several moderate feelings.
  7. Open Answer review if a response looks wrong. Correcting an answer updates the total, threshold status, focus table, and charts.

Interpreting Results:

The K6 total is a recent distress burden score. Higher scores mean the six feelings were reported more often during the past 30 days. The result does not identify the cause, and it does not measure functional impairment unless the answers are considered alongside daily life.

Output cue What it can suggest What to verify
Threshold status: 0 to 4 lower range The total is below both cutoffs used here. Check the exact item scores if daily functioning still feels clearly affected.
Threshold status: 5 to 12 elevated range Distress is above the watch range but below the common serious-distress cutoff. Review Strongest item and High-intensity items before treating the result as mild.
Threshold status: 13 to 24 serious range The total reaches the common serious psychological distress cutoff. Use the answer table for a follow-up conversation instead of relying on memory alone.
High-intensity items: 1 or more At least one feeling was present most or all of the time. Read the item wording and compare it with sleep, work, school, relationships, and safety.

A score of 13 or higher is a strong screening signal, not a clinical diagnosis. A score below 13 can still matter when a single item is severe, when the total has climbed compared with a previous check, or when functioning has become worse.

Use the Strongest item, High-intensity items, and Higher-scored focus and lower-scored anchors as the main verification step. They show whether the total reflects broad distress or one concentrated concern.

Technical Details:

The K6 is a six-item frequency scale for non-specific psychological distress. "Non-specific" matters because the score is not tied to one disorder category. The same total can arise from anxious arousal, depressed mood, effort fatigue, hopelessness, worthlessness, or a mix of these feelings.

All six items use the same five response choices and the same 30-day recall period. The scoring direction is simple: more frequent distress receives a higher number. There are no reverse-scored items, no weighted items, and no separate subscales in the 0 to 24 total used here.

Scoring part Rule Effect on the result
Item scale 0 = None of the time, 1 = A little of the time, 2 = Some of the time, 3 = Most of the time, 4 = All of the time. Each answer contributes between 0 and 4 points.
Items included Nervous, Hopeless, Restless or fidgety, Depressed and not cheered up, Everything was an effort, Worthless. All six items contribute to one raw total.
Total range Six item scores are added directly. The minimum is 0 and the maximum is 24.
High-intensity item An item score of 3 or 4. The item is counted as present most or all of the time.

Formula Core

The raw total is the sum of the six item scores:

T = ∑ i=1 6 xi

Here T is the K6 total from 0 to 24, and each x is one item score from 0 to 4. A response pattern of 1, 2, 1, 3, 2, and 0 gives a total of 9. That result is in the elevated range because it is at least 5 and below 13.

The item contribution shown in the answer table is a rounded share of the total:

pi = round ( 100⁢xi T )

When the total is 0, every contribution is displayed as 0 percent. Otherwise, a 4-point item in an 8-point total contributes about 50 percent, which helps explain whether one feeling is dominating the score.

Band Lower bound Upper bound Boundary rule Interpretation
Lower 0 4 Total is less than 5. Below the 5-point watch range and below the common 13-point serious-distress cutoff.
Elevated 5 12 Total is at least 5 and less than 13. Elevated distress that may warrant closer attention even though it is below the serious range.
Serious range 13 24 Total is at least 13. At or above the common cutoff used for serious psychological distress in public-health reporting.

The threshold gauge and item frequency radar are descriptive views of the same score data. The gauge places the total on the 0 to 24 scale, while the radar keeps each item on its original 0 to 4 scale. The raw total, band, high-intensity item count, and exact item responses remain the values to verify.

Repeated K6 checks are most comparable when the item wording, 30-day recall period, and 0 to 4 coding stay the same. Changing the time period to "worst month," "today," or "usual month" changes the question being answered.

Limitations:

The K6 is useful because it is brief, but its brevity leaves important questions outside the score.

  • It screens for distress burden and does not identify a diagnosis, cause, risk level, or treatment plan.
  • Self-report can be affected by recall bias, recent crises, sleep loss, physical illness, medication effects, substance use, culture, language, and willingness to disclose distress.
  • Routine scoring happens in the browser. Shared result links, copied rows, and downloaded answer records can still disclose sensitive mental-health information.
  • The K6 does not ask directly about self-harm, psychosis, mania, substance withdrawal, domestic violence, or immediate safety. Those concerns need direct support regardless of the total.

Worked Examples:

Quiet month with a low total

A person answers 1 for nervous, 0 for hopeless, 1 for restless or fidgety, 0 for depressed and not cheered up, 1 for everything was an effort, and 0 for worthless. The Distress snapshot shows 3/24, Threshold status is the lower range, and High-intensity items reads 0/6. The result can serve as a baseline if daily functioning also feels steady.

Elevated total driven by effort

Answers of 1, 0, 1, 0, 4, and 2 produce an 8/24 total. Threshold status is the 5 to 12 elevated range, High-intensity items reads 1/6, and Strongest item is Everything was an effort. The answer table shows that the effort item contributes about half of the total, so follow-up should not focus only on the overall number.

One point changes the threshold

A total of 12/24 remains elevated but below the serious range. If one item is corrected from Some of the time to Most of the time, the total becomes 13/24 and Threshold status changes to serious range. That one-point shift is why the Answer review table is worth checking before sharing the result.

Result missing after five answers

The progress label reads 5/6 answered and no Distress snapshot is visible. One question in the navigator has no check icon. After that final item is answered, the total, threshold guide, focus table, charts, and Answer review become available.

FAQ:

Does the K6 diagnose serious mental illness?

No. A total of 13 or higher is a screening cutoff for serious psychological distress, but diagnosis requires fuller assessment by a qualified professional.

Why does the result use a 5-point watch range?

The 5 to 12 band flags elevated distress below the 13-point serious-distress cutoff. It helps separate a very low score from a month that may still deserve closer attention.

Can one severe answer matter if the total is below 13?

Yes. Use High-intensity items and Strongest item to catch a feeling that was present most or all of the time, especially if it affects functioning or safety.

Why is my K6 total different from a 6 to 30 score?

Some questionnaires code the five choices as 1 to 5. This scoring form uses 0 to 4, so six items sum to a 0 to 24 total.

Why do I not see the result after answering?

The result appears only after all six items have valid answers. Check the progress label and the question navigator for an item without a check icon.

Are my answers sent away for scoring?

Routine scoring happens in the browser. Shared result links, copied rows, and downloaded answer records can still include your answer pattern, so handle them like private health notes.

Glossary:

K6
A six-item Kessler screen for recent non-specific psychological distress.
Psychological distress
A broad burden of negative emotional symptoms such as nervousness, hopelessness, restlessness, depressed mood, effort, and worthlessness.
Raw total
The direct sum of the six item scores, ranging from 0 to 24 in this scoring form.
High-intensity item
An item scored 3 or 4, meaning the feeling was present most or all of the time.
Elevated range
The 5 to 12 band used here to flag distress above the low range but below the serious range.
Serious range
The 13 to 24 band at or above the common K6 serious psychological distress cutoff.

References: