Screening questionnaires: ADHD, depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress
Four short, validated questionnaires, scored on your own device in a few minutes. They can help you decide whether to ask for an assessment; they cannot make a diagnosis.
Before you start. A screening questionnaire is not a test you pass or fail, and not a diagnosis. A score above the threshold means an assessment is worth considering; a score below it makes the condition less likely but does not rule it out. Only a full assessment can answer the question, and how you feel counts more than any number.
Your answers stay on your device. The score is worked out by your browser and disappears when you leave the page. Nothing is sent to us or to anyone else, and we never see what you entered. If you want to tell us your result when you get in touch, that is entirely up to you.
If you are in crisis, or you have thoughts of harming yourself, do not wait for a questionnaire: call 999 or 112, or the Samaritans on 116 123, free, day or night.
Questionnaire 1 of 4
ADHD
ASRS v1.1 · eighteen questions in two parts · past six months
The Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS v1.1) was developed by the World Health Organization with the Workgroup on Adult ADHD (Kessler and colleagues, 2005). Part A, six questions, is the screener used in clinics and research worldwide; Part B, twelve further questions, adds detail on how frequent each symptom is. It is one of the scales used in an ADHD assessment at Seaward Clinic.
Think about how you have felt and conducted yourself over the past six months, and choose the answer that best describes you.
Questionnaire 2 of 4
Depression
PHQ-9 · nine questions · last two weeks
The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) was developed by Spitzer, Kroenke and Williams (1999) and is used in general practice and psychiatry worldwide to screen for depression and to measure how it changes over time. It is one of the scales used at Seaward Clinic.
Over the last two weeks, how often have you been bothered by each of the following problems?
Questionnaire 3 of 4
Anxiety
GAD-7 · seven questions · last two weeks
The Generalised Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7), by Spitzer, Kroenke, Williams and Löwe (2006), screens for generalised anxiety and is also a reasonable indicator of panic, social anxiety and post-traumatic stress. It is used at Seaward Clinic to measure change.
Over the last two weeks, how often have you been bothered by each of the following problems?
Questionnaire 4 of 4
Post-traumatic stress
PC-PTSD-5 · five questions · past month
The Primary Care PTSD Screen for DSM-5 (PC-PTSD-5), by Prins and colleagues (2016), is the short screen used in general practice to decide whether a fuller assessment for post-traumatic stress disorder is worth having.
Sometimes things happen to people that are unusually or especially frightening, horrible or traumatic: a serious accident or fire; a physical or sexual assault or abuse; an earthquake or flood; a war; seeing someone be killed or seriously injured; having a loved one die through homicide or suicide. If you have never experienced an event of this kind, this questionnaire does not apply to you and you can skip it. If you have, answer for the past month: have you…
What to do with your result
If you would like an assessment, the first step is the same whatever your score: a referral letter from your GP, or simply your GP’s details, and a message to us. We confirm the fee and the waiting time, and the assessment takes place in one hour (two for ADHD), in Dún Laoghaire or by video. If you would prefer the public services, or you are looking for peer support whatever the outcome, the organisations on our Support and resources in Ireland page are a good place to start.
The PHQ-9 and GAD-7 are reproduced with attribution to their authors (© Pfizer Inc., free for clinical use); the PC-PTSD-5 is in the public domain (US National Center for PTSD, Prins et al., 2016); the ASRS v1.1 with attribution to the WHO and Kessler et al. Scoring rules: PHQ-9 and GAD-7, sum of items with the severity bands above; PC-PTSD-5, three or more “Yes” answers; ASRS v1.1 Part A, four or more of six answers in the shaded range; Part B, the count of shaded answers out of twelve, as additional cues without a threshold; frequency scores, 0 to 4 points per answer, with the reference ranges of the scored version used at Seaward Clinic.