PHQ-2 depression pre-screen
Answer the two PHQ-2 questions and see where your total out of 6 sits against the published cut point. They are the first two questions of the PHQ-9, reproduced word for word, and this is a screen rather than a diagnosis. For adults.
Medically reviewed by Kevin Brandstetter, M.D.Updated September 23, 2026
Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by any of the following problems?
1. Little interest or pleasure in doing things
2. Feeling down, depressed, or hopeless
Your PHQ-2 score
Incomplete
0 of 2 answered
Answer both questions to see the score. A partly answered questionnaire has no score of its own.
A score is a screen, not a diagnosis. The next step is a conversation with a licensed clinician, who reads a number like this alongside your history, not on its own.
A screen, not a diagnosis.
The PHQ-2 asks how often two problems have bothered you over the last two weeks. It cannot diagnose depression or anything else, and a number on its own says little about one person. Only a licensed clinician can make a diagnosis, and they read a score alongside your history, not instead of it. This tool is for adults.
If you are thinking about harming yourself, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, free and open 24 hours a day. If you are in immediate danger, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room.
Methodology
- How this is calculated
- Each of the two items scores 0 for “Not at all”, 1 for “Several days”, 2 for “More than half the days”, and 3 for “Nearly every day”. The two are added for a total between 0 and 6, which sits either below the published cut point of 3 or at or above it. No total appears until both items are answered, because a partly answered questionnaire has no score.
- Where the data comes from
- Kroenke K, Spitzer RL, Williams JBW. The Patient Health Questionnaire-2: validity of a two-item depression screener. Med Care. 2003;41(11):1284-1292. The form is adapted from the PHQ screeners, developed by Drs. Robert L. Spitzer, Janet B.W. Williams, Kurt Kroenke and colleagues with an educational grant from Pfizer Inc. The instruction line, the two items, and the four answer choices are reproduced word for word, and the cut point is the published one. The form states: “No permission required to reproduce, translate, display or distribute.”
- Last updated
- September 23, 2026
- What this does not account for
- Everything the full PHQ-9 and a clinician ask beyond these two questions: sleep, energy, appetite, concentration, how long this has gone on, what else is happening in your life, your medical history, and your medications. The PHQ-2 is a first step, built to be short, and it gives no severity band.
What the cut point means
The PHQ-2 has no severity bands. It has one published cut point: in the original study, a total of 3 or more was the threshold the authors identified as the best balance between catching depression and flagging people without it. The result says only which side of that number a total sits on. Below it, a clinician usually needs nothing further on the strength of the score alone. At or above it, the usual next step is the longer PHQ-9 or a conversation with a clinician. Neither side is a decision about you.
The PHQ-2 and the PHQ-9
These two questions are the first two questions of the PHQ-9, word for word, with the same instruction line and the same answer choices. The PHQ-9 depression screening asks them again as its first two items, then seven more, and gives a total out of 27 with a severity band. Nothing carries over from this page, so nothing is lost by answering them there.
Why the wording is not edited
The PHQ-2 is a validated questionnaire: its cut point means what it means because large numbers of people answered these 2 questions in this wording. Shorten an item or soften a phrase and the score is no longer the score the research is about. So the instruction line, the items, and the four answer choices here are reproduced exactly, including the punctuation, rather than rewritten in Temi's voice the way the rest of this page is.
Nothing here is stored
Your answers stay in your browser. They are not sent to Temi, not saved, not attached to you, and not recorded in any session replay, and closing the tab clears them. Temi knows only that someone opened this tool, the same thing it knows about every page.
Copying the result link is the one way answers leave your browser, and you decide when. The link carries the two answers in the part of the address after the “#”, which browsers never send to a web server, so Temi still never sees a score. Anyone holding the link can open it and read the answers, so send it only to someone you mean to show.
If you want to act on what you see, the useful next step is a conversation with a clinician who knows you, or one you can get to. If you already take a medication for your mood and just need it renewed, Temi's physicians review non-controlled renewals. Temi does not prescribe controlled substances.
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Already taking a medication for your mood?
Temi's physicians review renewals for non-controlled medications, usually within 48 hours. A score on this page is not a prescription and does not decide anything.
A licensed physician reviews every request. Nothing on this page is a prescription.