About 20% of U.S. adults are affected by depression in a given year, yet only around a third of people with depression seek professional help, according to figures cited around National Depression Screening Day and Mental Illness Awareness Week each October. A short, standardized screening questionnaire -- not a diagnosis, just a starting point -- is one of the lowest-friction ways to decide whether that conversation is worth having.
PHQ-9 questionnaire free: what it is and where it comes from
The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) is a public-domain, 9-item screening tool developed by Drs. Robert Spitzer, Janet Williams, and Kurt Kroenke with support from Pfizer. It's the same instrument used in primary care offices and referenced by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force -- nine questions about the past two weeks, each scored 0 ("Not at all") to 3 ("Nearly every day"), for a total out of 27.
National Depression Screening Day: why a free, quick check matters
National Depression Screening Day falls in October, alongside Mental Illness Awareness Week -- timed specifically to lower the barrier to a first check-in. The PHQ-9's scoring bands (0-4 minimal, 5-9 mild, 10-14 moderate, 15-19 moderately severe, 20-27 severe) give a quick, standardized read that's far more useful than guessing at how you've been feeling.
Depression test private, no signup: why that actually matters
Several existing online PHQ-9 tools route your result straight into a list of paid therapy platforms or referral services, or use a clinical, clinician-facing interface that feels cold for something this personal. A private version -- no account, no email capture, nothing saved or sent to a server -- removes that friction entirely; your answers exist only in your browser and disappear when you close the tab.
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: always worth knowing, regardless of your score
The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (call or text 988) is free, confidential, and available 24/7, for any level of distress -- not only a crisis. If the PHQ-9's ninth question, about thoughts of self-harm or being better off dead, applies to you at all, reaching out to 988 is worth doing regardless of your total score.
The Depression Screening Self-Check (PHQ-9) uses the exact standard questionnaire, explains your score band in plain language, and keeps the 988 Lifeline visible throughout -- with zero signup and zero server storage of your answers.
Sources: USPSTF and AHRQ official PHQ-9 forms (questionnaire wording and standard scoring bands); WIC Works Resource System citing national depression screening statistics; 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (public service).
