Anxiety · Self-test
A self-test, not a diagnosis — only a regulated health professional can assess you. In crisis right now? Call or text 988.
The GAD-7 is validated for adults, and Inner Room works with clients 18 and over. If you’re younger and want to talk to someone now, Kids Help Phone is free and available any hour.
Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by the following problems?
Add your seven answers, then read your band below. Each answer is worth 0 to 3 points.
Answers stay on this page. Nothing is saved or sent.
This measures how much worry you’ve had over the last two weeks. It does not measure whether you are in danger.
The four bands below explain what this number does and does not mean. If you want to talk to someone, the options are here.
The GAD-7 is a quick questionnaire to give you a starting point in understanding your anxiety. It is seven questions about worry, restlessness, and tension, specifically about the last two weeks. It gives you a number, and the number sits in one of four bands below. Read your band as a description of a rough two weeks, and a starting point to learn about the anxiety in your current experience.
A quick note on the number itself. The GAD-7 was built and tested mostly in specific populations, and research has found it can under-report in some groups. In one study of US university students, Black participants with comparable anxiety symptoms scored lower than other participants, not because they felt less but because the questions caught it less well. If your score feels too low for how you actually feel, trust what you feel and say so to a clinician. The number is a starting point, not a verdict.
A total between 0 and 4.
A score this low usually means the last two weeks looked close to your normal. You worried about certain everyday things, a deadline, a decision, something you said at dinner, and the worry mostly leaves on its own. Sleep was decently fine. Your stomach behaved. You didn’t need three tries to leave the house.
This band isn’t a target to maintain, and it isn’t proof nothing’s going on. Some weeks score low because you were genuinely fine. Others score low because you were too busy to notice anything else. If the number is low but something still feels off, trust that over the number.
What helps here is maintenance, not treatment: sleep on a schedule, move most days, name stress out loud before it compounds. No professional step is required at this level. If a retake shows the number climbing, or your body doesn’t match the number, that’s worth a conversation with a doctor. Don’t wait for a worse score.
A total between 5 and 9.
Here, worry shows up more than it used to, without fully taking over. You reread an email three times before sending it. Your shoulders sit near your ears by mid-afternoon. Sleep has been lighter than it usually can be. You’re quicker to snap at people who don’t deserve it. None of these signs on their own cause concern, but you do notice that these reactions come with a cost.
This range often tracks a specific change or stretch of time: a work crunch, a move, a relationship needing more managing than usual. It can also be an early pattern settling in, which is why it’s worth noticing rather than pushing through.
You may work hard to hide this from people around you, and they may have no idea. What helps is small and concrete: a scheduled wind-down before bed, and one optional expectation dropped from today. If your schedule isn’t yours to change, don’t try to overhaul your routine. If this holds for weeks, your family doctor is a reasonable next call. ConnexOntario can point you to free Ontario options.
A total between 10 and 14.
This is the range where a hard two weeks and a developing anxiety disorder produce the same number. The quiz cannot tell you which one you’re living with. You wake at 3 a.m. with your mind already running. Your head hurts mid-afternoon from clenching your jaw. Decisions that took a minute now take ten, and you second-guess them after. You may work hard to hide this, and people around you may have no idea.
Sometimes this score is a layoff, a diagnosis, a specific loss your body is trying to deal with (exactly as it should). Sometimes it’s the early signs of something that won’t resolve on its own. Only time, and a real conversation with a healthcare provider, can help you tell them apart.
Some things to try now: name the stressor if there is one, drop one optional expectation (pick any one and drop it for the day), and don’t wait for a worse score to ask for help. BounceBack is free and you can refer yourself. Ontario Structured Psychotherapy is free to request, though acceptance depends on suitability and wait times vary. OHIP covers physician visits, not all provide therapy.
A total between 15 and 21.
At this level, anxiety isn’t in the background of your week, it’s running it. Worry about several everyday matters feels difficult to control. Your jaw is clenched, your stomach knots, and sleep is short or barely there. Plans get cancelled because leaving the house feels too much. People close to you may be worried enough to say something, or treading carefully to not set you off.
A score this high is a strong signal that you need support, not a verdict on what that something is. It’s best to rule out a thyroid problem or a medication reaction as it can produce the same symptoms. Talk to a healthcare professional. That matters more now than this number.
What helps is speaking to someone rather than dealing with this alone. Request an appointment with a family doctor or a registered therapist. If you are thinking about harming yourself or ending your life, go to your local hospital’s emergency room (and wait for the distress to decrease), call or text 988 (right now, free and confidential).
Take a few breaths: in through your nose, out through your mouth, three if you can. If you’re moving, find somewhere safe to stop and sit down.
Now look around and name five things you can see. Anything counts. If seeing isn’t an option, skip ahead.
Then listen. Name three sounds.
That’s it. It won’t fix the day. It buys you a minute.
Read aloud · 33 seconds
Headphones if you’re not alone. The text above is the whole script.
Five minutes · headphones
Binaural audio plays a slightly different tone in each ear, and your brain perceives the gap between them as a slow pulse. It only works with headphones: through speakers the tones blend and the pulse disappears. Some people find it settling. A relaxation aid, not treatment. Not while driving.
Suicide Crisis Helpline · any hour · free · confidential
ConnexOntario gives information about mental health and addictions services across the province: 1-866-531-2600.
Book a free 15-minute consultA paid service if you continue.
The quiz stores nothing and sends nothing while you answer. Nothing you type is recorded or passed on. Not your school. Not your parents. Refresh the page and your answers and score are gone. If you choose to book, your enquiry reaches the Inner Room team directly, and it is entered in Jane without any quiz information.
Ten is the bottom of the moderate band. It means worry has been taking up real space in your week, and it’s the point where most clinicians would want a conversation rather than a wait-and-see.
Fifteen is where the severe band begins. At that level the score is a strong signal to seek support, though it still cannot tell you what kind of support or what is causing it.
No. It screens. A high score flags distress that deserves attention, and a clinician is the one who works out what’s driving it, including physical causes like thyroid problems or medication effects.
Two weeks is the natural interval, because that’s the window the questions ask about. Retaking it weekly tells you less than retaking it monthly.
It means the last two weeks looked manageable on these seven questions. If something still feels wrong, that matters more than the number, and it’s worth saying out loud to a doctor or a therapist.
If you want the longer version, our full guide covers anxiety therapy in Toronto, what the research says about CBT, ACT and MBSR, and how to tell whether therapy is the right next step: Anxiety Therapy in Toronto: The Complete Guide.
Instrument: Spitzer RL, Kroenke K, Williams JBW, Löwe B. A brief measure for assessing generalized anxiety disorder: the GAD-7. Arch Intern Med. 2006. PMID: 16717171.