🧠 GAD-7 Anxiety Test — Clinically Validated Screening
7 questions based on the official GAD-7 scale used by doctors worldwide. Takes under 2 minutes. Get your score with a plain-English explanation.
This is a screening tool, not a diagnosis. Results indicate whether symptoms are present — only a qualified healthcare professional can diagnose anxiety disorders. If you are in crisis, contact Samaritans on 116 123 (UK) or text HOME to 741741 (US).
Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by the following problems?
What GAD-7 Measures
Based on Spitzer RL et al. (2006). GAD-7 — validated in primary care populations across 15 countries.
Understanding Your GAD-7 Score
Scores range from 0 to 21. Higher scores indicate greater anxiety symptom severity.
Anxiety symptoms are minimal or absent. Normal stress responses are present but not impairing daily function. No action required beyond maintaining healthy habits.
Mild anxiety symptoms present. May be causing some discomfort but typically not severely limiting. Self-help strategies and lifestyle changes are a good first step.
Moderate anxiety likely affecting multiple areas of daily life. Clinical guidelines recommend professional assessment at this level. Therapy (especially CBT) is highly effective.
Severe anxiety causing significant impairment. Please speak to a GP or mental health professional. Treatment is very effective — severe anxiety is not a permanent state.
What Is the GAD-7?
The GAD-7 (Generalised Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale) was developed by Robert Spitzer and colleagues and published in Archives of Internal Medicine in 2006. It was designed as a brief, practical screening tool that primary care physicians could use in everyday consultations to identify patients with clinically significant anxiety.
Since publication, the GAD-7 has been translated into over 30 languages and validated across dozens of countries and populations. It is now one of the most commonly used mental health screening instruments in primary care globally, included in standard electronic health record systems in the UK (NHS), US, Canada, and Australia.
The scale covers the core diagnostic criteria for generalised anxiety disorder as defined in the DSM-5 and ICD-11: excessive worry, difficulty controlling worry, associated physical and psychological symptoms, and functional impairment. A score of 10 is the recommended clinical cut-off for probable GAD, offering the best balance of sensitivity (89%) and specificity (82%).
Importantly, the GAD-7 also has demonstrated sensitivity for other anxiety disorders — panic disorder (74%), social anxiety disorder (72%), and PTSD (66%) — making it a useful general-purpose anxiety screener even when the primary presentation is not classic GAD.
When to Seek Help
You do not need to be in crisis to seek support. Seeking help early leads to better outcomes. Speak to your GP or a mental health professional if any of the following apply:
Clinical guidelines recommend professional evaluation at moderate severity or higher. Your GP can refer you to CBT or prescribe medication if appropriate.
When anxiety limits what you can do or enjoy in daily life, it has crossed from normal stress into a clinical concern worth addressing.
If worry feels automatic and unstoppable — running in the background regardless of circumstances — this is a core feature of GAD and responds well to CBT.
Racing heart, chronic muscle tension, digestive issues, and fatigue are common physical manifestations of anxiety that a doctor should assess.
Avoidance is how anxiety grows. If you are skipping work, social events, or activities because of anxiety, earlier treatment gives significantly better outcomes.
Using alcohol to manage anxiety creates dependency and worsens anxiety in the long run. This pattern warrants early professional support.
Self-Help Strategies for Anxiety
Evidence-based approaches that can meaningfully reduce anxiety symptoms — especially for mild to moderate scores.
CBT is the gold-standard treatment for anxiety disorders. Core techniques include identifying cognitive distortions (catastrophising, all-or-nothing thinking), cognitive restructuring, and gradual exposure to feared situations. Self-guided CBT workbooks and apps (such as those using MindShift or Woebot) show meaningful effects for mild to moderate anxiety.
Slow, diaphragmatic breathing directly activates the parasympathetic nervous system, counteracting the fight-or-flight stress response. Try 4-7-8 breathing: inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 7, exhale for 8. Practised daily for 10 minutes, this reduces baseline anxiety within 2–4 weeks.
Consistent aerobic exercise (30 minutes, 5 days per week) reduces anxiety comparably to medication in mild to moderate cases. Exercise reduces cortisol, increases GABA (the brain's main inhibitory neurotransmitter), and promotes neuroplasticity in the prefrontal cortex — which regulates the amygdala's fear response.
Rather than trying to suppress worry (which paradoxically increases it), schedule a dedicated 15-minute "worry period" daily. When anxious thoughts arise outside this time, note them and postpone them. This technique, drawn from CBT, significantly reduces worry frequency and intensity within 3–4 weeks.
Anxiety and sleep are bidirectionally linked — poor sleep increases anxiety, and anxiety worsens sleep. Prioritise sleep consistency (same wake time daily), reduce screens 60 minutes before bed, and keep your bedroom cool (18–20°C). CBT-I (CBT for insomnia) is often necessary when anxiety is the primary driver of sleep problems.
Mindfulness trains sustained attention to the present moment without judgment — the opposite of the future-focused, threat-monitoring pattern that drives anxiety. Even 10 minutes per day of guided mindfulness (via apps like Headspace or Insight Timer) produces measurable reductions in anxiety after 8 weeks. MBSR (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction) has strong clinical trial support.