Your PHQ-8 score shows how often eight symptoms of depression bothered you over the past two weeks. It runs from 0 to 24, and a higher total means more symptoms, more often. The PHQ-8 also omits the PHQ-9 question about death or self-harm, so the total provides no suicide or self-harm answer.
What do PHQ-8 score ranges mean?
Your total falls into one of five bands, from none to severe:
| Score | Band |
|---|---|
| 0-4 | None |
| 5-9 | Mild |
| 10-14 | Moderate |
| 15-19 | Moderately severe |
| 20-24 | Severe |
A large PHQ-8 study of adults in the general population used 10 or more as a screening threshold. A score at that level can prompt a fuller assessment. A score below 10 does not make troubling symptoms unimportant.
The bands describe how often symptoms bothered you. A band is not a diagnosis. It cannot rule depression out or choose therapy, medication or another treatment.
How is the PHQ-8 different from the PHQ-9?
The PHQ-9 score guide covers a nine-question form with a 0-to-27 total. Its ninth question asks about thoughts of death or self-harm. The PHQ-8 leaves that question out and ends at 24. A PHQ-8 total should not be swapped in for a PHQ-9 total.
Omitting the question is not a safety feature. It means the PHQ-8 cannot show how someone would have answered it, so ask about safety directly. A clinical, workplace, research, or digital program still needs a direct way to receive and respond to urgent safety concerns.
If you are thinking about suicide or self-harm, seek support based on those thoughts. Do not wait for a questionnaire result. Your PHQ-8 total does not capture them.
If you need help now. In the US, Call 988 or text 988. Call 911 if you are in immediate danger. Outside the US, contact your local emergency number or find support in your country.
How is the PHQ-8 scored?
Each question asks how often a symptom bothered you. You answer not at all, several days, more than half the days, or nearly every day. Those answers score 0, 1, 2 or 3 points, and your total adds up all eight.
The questions cover interest, mood, sleep, energy, appetite, self-worth, concentration and changes in movement. The last one covers moving or speaking unusually slowly, or the opposite: visible fidgeting and restlessness. The total shows how often these symptoms happened, not how much they affect your daily life.
Can physical health problems raise my score?
Yes. Sleep, energy, appetite and movement can change for many reasons. The PHQ-8 counts how often these changes happened, but it cannot tell you what caused them.
The PHQ-15 score guide covers a separate four-week measure of how much selected physical symptoms bothered you. Some topics overlap, but the time frames, questions and totals differ. Do not add the two scores together or convert one into the other.
Can I compare PHQ-8 scores over time?
Yes, if you compare like with like. Repeated totals can show whether your answers changed. Compare scores from the same form, covering the same two-week window, with all eight questions answered.
There is no verified five-point change rule for every use of the PHQ-8, and no single repeat schedule. A difference in score does not prove that treatment worked or failed.
What should I do next?
Book an appointment with a doctor or therapist if your score is 10 or more. Do the same if symptoms are making daily life harder, whatever your score. Bring your score, and your answers if you have them.
Talk through the whole picture, not just the total. Your symptoms, daily coping, physical health, safety and life circumstances all belong in that conversation.