Mental Health Test: See Your Overall Psychological Distress in Minutes
This Mental Health Assessment uses the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) to screen for overall distress. Get an instant score and optional PDF to help describe your concerns; it does not identify a diagnosis.
Reviewed by Michael Callans, MSW 
Mental Health Assessment is a free, confidential 10-question self-assessment, based on the validated K10. It takes about 8 minutes, runs entirely in your browser, and gives you a plain-language score across 4 interpretation bands plus an optional in-depth report. It is an educational screening, not a diagnosis.
One honest number for how you have been doing overall
The K10 was built to capture general psychological distress rather than any single condition. It asks how often ten common experiences of low mood, nervousness, and fatigue showed up over the past 30 days, then turns your answers into a single distress score with research-backed ranges.
Signs of distress
Ten items ask how often, in the past 30 days, you felt nervous, hopeless, restless, depressed, worthless, or worn out. Together they cover the overlap between anxiety and low mood that most single-condition tests miss.
A recent time window
Every question asks about the past 30 days, so your result reflects how this last month has actually been rather than your whole life or your worst year.
Research-based ranges
Your answers sum to a general distress score. The displayed ranges use a published interpretation approach described by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, with this page’s scoring offset applied. Other services use different groupings, so compare the scoring system as well as the label when reviewing results.
| Feature | Typical free quiz | Psychology.com |
|---|---|---|
| Validated K10 questions | Sometimes | Yes, faithful wording |
| Research-based severity ranges | Vague labels | Real population-study cutoffs |
| Covers mood, anxiety, and stress together | Usually one topic | Yes, general distress |
| Plain-language interpretation | Rarely | Yes, for every range |
| Clinician-reviewed | Rarely | Yes, clinician reviewed |
| Optional in-depth personalized report | No | Yes, written to your exact scores |
| Confidential (no data sent) | Often tracked | Runs in your browser |
How scoring works
Answers are scored 0–40 in total. Your result falls into one of 4 bands:
| Score | Band | What it suggests |
|---|---|---|
| 0–9 | Likely well | Your answers point to a low level of psychological distress over the past month. That is a reassuring result on this measure. |
| 10–14 | Mild distress | Your answers point to mild psychological distress over the past month. Plenty of people pass through this range, and there is a lot you can do. |
| 15–19 | Moderate distress | Your answers point to moderate psychological distress. This is the range where talking with a professional is genuinely worth it. |
| 20–40 | Severe distress | Your answers point to a high level of distress over the past month. Please be gentle with yourself, and consider reaching out for support soon. |
Why a general distress score is a useful starting point
This Mental Health Assessment uses the K10 to explore general psychological distress, including experiences of nervousness, low mood, restlessness, and fatigue. These experiences can occur together, and a questionnaire focused on a particular condition may leave you unsure where to begin. The K10 asks about the shared experience of distress, giving you a starting point for describing what has been difficult without requiring you to choose a diagnosis first.
That makes it a reasonable first stop when you are not sure what to search for, only that something feels off. The total summarizes how often you endorsed the experiences asked about. It cannot identify the cause, measure everything that matters to you, or establish whether a condition is present. Read the result alongside changes in your daily life, including difficulties that the questions did not ask about.
What to do with your score before your next appointment
Write down your total and the date next to it. If you plan to see a doctor or therapist, bring that number along with a short list of what has changed recently: sleep, appetite, energy at work, and how you have been with the people close to you. Concrete, dated details are more useful to a clinician than trying to describe a whole month from memory in the room.
If you repeat the assessment, record relevant context alongside the score and consider the same recall period each time. A rising score is a reason to discuss what has changed, and a falling score suggests you reported less frequent distress. Neither trend proves what caused the change or establishes whether a treatment is working. You can search the Psychology.com therapist directory whenever you decide the time is right, without waiting for a particular score.
A Mood Tracker can help you bring concrete observations about mood and daily activities to that conversation. If a particular concern stands out, the Depression Test and Anxiety Test in the Psychology.com tests hub provide more focused screening questions. Their results can support a discussion, but taking additional tests is optional and cannot replace a clinical assessment.
Can a low mental health assessment score miss a concern?
Yes. The K10 asks about general distress and does not assess every symptom or the full context of your life. You may have a concern that these questions do not capture, or a difficulty that happens infrequently but has serious consequences. A low score does not cancel that concern or mean you must wait until it gets worse before asking for help.
Tell a professional about the issue that led you to take the assessment, even when it differs from the result summary. Describe its effects on sleep, relationships, work, or caring for yourself. If you feel unsafe or are thinking about harming yourself, seek immediate support regardless of your total; a screening score is not a safety assessment.
Methodology & sources
This assessment reproduces the ten items of the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10), developed by Kessler and colleagues (2002) and used in national health surveys in the United States, Australia, Canada, and elsewhere. Each item asks how often you had a particular experience over the past 30 days, rated on a five-point frequency scale from none of the time to all of the time. Item wording stays faithful to the validated instrument.
In a common Australian scoring convention, the K10 assigns each answer 1 to 5 points, giving a total of 10 to 50, with the interpretation ranges used here of 10 to 19 likely well, 20 to 24 mild, 25 to 29 moderate, and 30 to 50 severe. Our engine scores each answer 0 to 4 instead, so your total runs from 0 to 40. The two versions are identical apart from a constant: our score is simply the published score minus 10, and our ranges are the published cutoffs shifted down by the same 10 points (0 to 9 likely well, 10 to 14 mild, 15 to 19 moderate, 20 to 40 severe). These are the shifted ranges from a published interpretation approach, not universal diagnostic thresholds. This test is provided for education and self-reflection, not diagnosis. Only a licensed clinician can assess a mental-health condition, and a high score here is a prompt to reach out, not a label.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics describes several approaches to grouping K10 scores and notes that no universally agreed categories exist. A service using different range labels may still be measuring the same reported distress. When sharing your result, include the questionnaire name, scoring range, and completion date so the clinician can interpret it correctly. The K10 score summarizes distress frequency; a clinical conversation also considers persistence, effects on functioning, health history, and concerns outside the questionnaire.
References
- Kessler RC, Andrews G, Colpe LJ, et al. Short screening scales to monitor population prevalences and trends in non-specific psychological distress. Psychol Med. 2002;32(6):959-976. doi.org/10.1017/s0033291702006074
- Andrews G, Slade T. Interpreting scores on the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10). Aust N Z J Public Health. 2001;25(6):494-497. doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-842x.2001.tb00310.x
- Furukawa TA, Kessler RC, Slade T, Andrews G. The performance of the K6 and K10 screening scales for psychological distress in the Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Well-Being. Psychol Med. 2003;33(2):357-362. doi.org/10.1017/s0033291702006700
- Australian Bureau of Statistics. Information Paper: Use of the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale in ABS Health Surveys, Australia. K10 Scoring. abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs%40.nsf/lookup/4817.0.55.001Chapter92007-08
- Kessler RC. K10 and K6 Scales. Harvard University. rckessler.scholars.harvard.edu/k10-and-k6-scales
Cite this source
Psychology.com. (2026, September 16). Mental Health Assessment. Psychology.com. https://psychology.com/tests/mental-health-assessment
Mental Health Assessment FAQ
What does this mental health assessment measure?
It measures general psychological distress: the mix of low mood, nervousness, restlessness, fatigue, and hopelessness that cuts across depression, anxiety, and stress. It uses the ten questions of the validated K10 scale, asking how often each experience occurred over the past 30 days, and gives you a single distress score with research-based ranges.
Is this a "what mental illness do I have" test?
This mental health assessment cannot tell you which mental illness, if any, you have. The K10 summarizes reported distress, while a clinician considers symptoms, history, and daily functioning to evaluate possible explanations. The Depression Test, Anxiety Test, Bipolar Test, and Personality Disorder Test explore different concerns through screening or self-reflection. Taking several tests does not combine their results into a diagnosis or establish which condition explains your experiences.
Is this test a diagnosis?
No. It is a screening for education and self-reflection only. The K10 was designed to flag distress in populations, not to diagnose any condition in an individual. Only a licensed clinician can do that, usually by talking with you about your symptoms, history, and life context. If your result concerns you, treat it as a nudge to reach out.
What does a high score mean?
On our 0 to 40 version, a score of 15 or more suggests moderate distress and 20 or more suggests severe distress, matching the published K10 cutoffs of 25 and 30 on its 10 to 50 scale. In population research, people scoring in these ranges are considerably more likely to meet criteria for an anxiety or depressive disorder. A high score does not confirm anything on its own, but it is a strong signal that a conversation with a professional would be worthwhile.
Where does the K10 come from?
The K10 was developed by Ronald Kessler and colleagues at Harvard in the 1990s for the US National Health Interview Survey. It was built through large-scale item testing to pick the ten questions that best detect psychological distress across the population. It has since become a standard measure in national health surveys and in primary care in several countries, including Australia, where its interpretation ranges were established.
Is the test really confidential?
Yes. It runs entirely in your browser. Your individual answers are scored in your browser and are never sent to us or linked to you. They stay in this tab so you can return to your result, and closing or clearing the tab clears them. If you ask us to email the PDF, we receive your summary scores with your email address, never your individual answers. No account is needed.
Can psychological distress get better?
Psychological distress can change, and professional care can help you understand it and consider support suited to your situation. Discuss sleep, daily responsibilities, relationships, and what feels hardest with a clinician. A lower score means you reported less frequent distress on these questions; it does not prove that a particular change or treatment caused the improvement. Ongoing concerns still deserve attention.
What disorder do I have?
This test cannot tell you that. It measures overall psychological distress, not which condition might explain it, and no online screener can diagnose a mental disorder. To narrow things down, the closest step is a screening built around one condition's specific pattern: the Depression Test at /tests/depression, the Anxiety Test at /tests/anxiety, the Bipolar Test at /tests/bipolar, the PTSD Test at /tests/ptsd, and the ADHD Test at /tests/adhd. Even taken together, these only describe patterns worth raising with someone qualified to assess them; only a licensed clinician can diagnose a mental disorder, through a conversation about your symptoms, history, and daily functioning.
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