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Are you depressed? – two tests and when to see your doctor

These two depression tests will give you a good indication of whether you may be depressed. Also  check out the key symptoms of clinical depression which would indicate that you may have a clinical depression and should go to your doctor at once. These were given me by a friends who is a psychiatrist. Finally the page has some resources for young people who feel very down.

Are you depressed? Should you see your doctor or a therapist?

This page contains (i) two depression tests to help you know if you’re depressed. (ii) a short guidance on when to go and see a doctor, written by a friend of mine who is a psychiatrist (iii) some links with sources of help in Bristol and the UK for young people who feel down.

(1) The Goldberg Depression Test

This depression self-test is copyright © Dr Ivan Goldberg 1993 and is used here with his kind permission.

Score each question as: 0 = Not at all, 1 = Just a little, 2 = Somewhat, 3 = Moderately, 4 = Quite a lot, 5 = Very much.

Then add your answers up to give a total between 0 and 90, and see below for the meaning of the scores.

1. I do everything slowly
2. My future seems hopeless
3. I find it hard to concentrate when I read.
4. All joy and pleasure seem to have disappeared from my life.
5. I find it hard to make decisions.
6. I have lost interest in things that used to mean a lot to me.
7. I feel sad, depressed and unhappy.
8. I feel restless and cannot relax.
9. I feel tired.
10. I find it hard to do even trivial things.
11. I feel guilty and deserve to be punished.
12. I feel like a failure.
13. I feel empty – more dead than alive.
14. My sleep is disturbed: Too little, too much or disturbed sleep.
15. I wonder HOW I could commit suicide.
16. I feel confined and imprisoned.
17. I feel down even when something good happens to me.
18. I have lost or gained weight without being on a diet.

 

Scoring the Goldberg Depression Test

Add your answers up to give a total between 0 and 90:

  • 54 +     Severe depression
  • 36 – 53 Moderate/severe depression
  • 22 – 35 Mild to moderate depression
  • 18 – 21 Borderline depression
  • 10 – 17 Mild depression
  • 0 – 9     No depression likely

(2) The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Test (CES-D)

Score each question like this
This public-domain depression self-test refers to the past week, and a fluctuation of 5 points or more up or down from week to week is significant. But you can also think of longer time periods.

Score:
0 for Rarely or none of the time (less than 1 day)
1 for Some or a little of the time (1-2 days)
2 for Occasionally or a moderate amount of time (3-4 days)
3 for Most or all of the time (5-7 days) 
On the items with a “*” reverse the scoring, ie score
0 for Most of the time, 1 for Occasionally, 2 for Some of the time, 3 for Rarely

Add your answers up to give a total between 0 and 60, and see below for the scores.

1. I was bothered by things that usually don’t bother me.[“Bothered” includes angry or irritated]
2. I did not feel like eating; my appetite was poor.
3. I felt that I could not shake off the blues even with help from my family or friends.
4. * I felt I was just as good as other people.
5. I had trouble keeping my mind on what I was doing.
6. I felt depressed.
7. I felt that everything I did was an effort.
8. * I felt hopeful about the future.
9. I thought my life had been a failure.
10. I felt fearful.
11. My sleep was restless.
12. * I was happy.
13. I talked less than usual.
14. I felt lonely.
15. People were unfriendly.
16. * I enjoyed life.
17. I had crying spells.
18. I felt sad.
19. I felt that people dislike me.
20. I could not get going.

Scoring the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Test

Add your answers up, being careful with the reversed-scoring items, to give a total between 0 and 60.

If your total is more than 16, then the chances are good that you are depressed. This public-domain depression self-test refers to the past week, and a fluctuation of 5 points or more up or down from week to week is significant. But you can also think of longer time periods.

Should you see your doctor?

These criteria were given to me by a friend who is a psychiatrist.

Sometimes medication for depression and anxiety is the right choice, particularly if things are very heavy. If you in any way fit the signs of clinical depression below, them go to your doctor at once. A well-chosen anti-depressant can reasonably be expected to make a significant improvement in a few weeks. Then you will be much better placed to tackle any underlying issues via therapy.

The only way to diagnose if you are clinically depressed is to visit your doctor and I encourage you to do that. This informal educational self-help information may not apply to everyone. It is not a diagnosis one way or the other and it not a substitute for going to the doctor. In particular, it is not to be read as:
“If I don’t fit these criteria, I needn’t go to the doctor.”
Medical help can be valuable. Even if you don’t fit these symptoms, but feels things are on top of you, I encourage you to go and see the doctor anyway.

If you’re not sure whether you are depressed, see the depression tests in the box below. If you think you may have a clinical depression, read on.

Symptoms of clinical depression

You should go to your doctor immediately if for even just two weeks, or more:

  • you have felt unremittingly down, sad, empty, despairing or hopeless with no breaks even when distracted by friends or enjoyable situations, or
  • you feel terrible when you wake up (possibly waking early after disturbed sleep) but then slowly feel better as the day goes on. In this case, be sure to see your doctor early in the morning. Or,
  • you think of suicide either actively (“Maybe I should kill myself”) or passively (“If only I had some luck for once, I wouldn’t wake up tomorrow morning,” or “What would it be like to drive my car into that tree?”). If you have started to plan how you might kill yourself, seek your doctor’s help today.

Advice given on these pages is not a substitute for your doctor’s advice. It intended to encourage you to go and see your doctor, not to rule that out.

Help in Bristol and UK for teenagers and young people who feel depressed

I don’t work with teenagers or college students. So I’ve added these links so that if someone this age looks at the depression tests, they come away with something useful in their hands.

if you are a teenager looking at depression texts, then I STRONGLY urge you to talk to someone in confidence. It’s easy to feel isolated even when you are surrounded by people. However there is help. Don’t assume that you have to solve it all on your own – you don’t. Yes, some people may not understand, but there are others who will.

Links here are correct at Feb 2026. Please let me know if any need updating, or of others. Age ranges run from 10 to 25 on different sites.

These are sources in Bristol or the UK of confidential support and information about face-to-face counselling:

  • Your GP, who may be able to offer counselling and who can also offer medication. It’s always good to talk to your GP.
  • The NSPCC website NSPCC website > Helpline with their excellent 24 hour helpline,
    Childline on 0800 1111 for 18’s and under
  • The Mix, help and support for under-25’s on www.themix.org.uk
  • https://www.selfharm.co.uk/home is a site to help young people with self-harm issues.
  • If you are having suicidal thoughts, then there is a specialist helpline for young people and those concerned about them, Hopeline, on 0800 068 41 41. It’s not 24 hours. See http://www.papyrus-uk.org/ for opening hours.
  • Here in Bristol, Off The Record, located on St Michael’s Hill, near the BRI, offer young people aged up to 25 free, confidential counselling and support. http://www.otrbristol.org.uk/
  • And of course is anyone is feeling suicidal, there is always the Samaritans: 08457 90 90 90 (ROI: 1850 60 90 90) http://www.samaritans.org

If you are a teenager or young person,
looking at online depression tests,
TALK TO SOMEONE.

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Client who requests anonymity.

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Jenny, Massage therapist, Bristol