Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) Test: Screen Your Mood and Energy by Season
The Seasonal Affective Disorder Test screens seasonal changes in mood, energy, and habits, informed by the SPAQ. Get an instant educational result to help discuss a recurring pattern with a clinician.
Reviewed by Michael Callans, MSW 
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) Test is a free, confidential 12-question self-assessment, informed by the validated SPAQ. It takes about 7 minutes, runs entirely in your browser, and gives you a plain-language score across 3 interpretation bands plus an optional in-depth report. It is an educational screening, not a diagnosis.
How much the seasons move you
Seasonal affective disorder involves depression that returns in a seasonal pattern. This screening explores changes in mood and daily habits and how much they interfere with life. A seasonal preference or dislike of winter alone does not establish depression.
Seasonal swing
How much six things change across the year: mood, energy, sleep length, appetite, weight, and how social you feel. Big synchronized swings are the signature of a seasonal pattern.
The winter profile
The classic winter pattern is low mood, low energy, oversleeping, and craving carbohydrates. We look for whether your dip clusters in the darker months.
How much it is a problem
Researchers separate a noticeable seasonal pattern from a disorder by asking how much trouble it causes. We measure that interference directly, because it is what determines whether to seek help.
| Feature | Typical free quiz | Psychology.com |
|---|---|---|
| Based on the validated SPAQ | Sometimes | Yes, faithful to the seasonality items |
| Measures synchronized swing | Rarely | Yes, across six domains |
| Asks how much it is a problem | Often missed | Yes, the impairment item |
| Plain-language interpretation | Rarely | Yes, for every band |
| Clinician-reviewed | Rarely | Yes, 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 0–48 in total. Your result falls into one of 3 bands:
| Score | Band | What it suggests |
|---|---|---|
| 0–11 | Minimal seasonality | Your answers point to minimal seasonality. The seasons do not seem to move your mood or energy very much. |
| 12–27 | Mild seasonality | Your answers point to mild seasonality. The seasons clearly affect you, but the impact seems manageable. |
| 28–48 | Likely seasonal pattern | Your answers point to a strong seasonal pattern that may be worth taking seriously. Support is genuinely worth it. |
How should I interpret my seasonal affective disorder test score?
The Seasonal Affective Disorder Test result describes how strongly you endorsed seasonal changes and interference. It does not confirm depressive episodes or show that the seasons caused them. This adaptation combines seasonal changes, winter timing, and impact into its own total, so published SPAQ cutoffs should not be applied to the displayed score.
A high result is a reason to discuss your history with a clinician. A low result should not delay help for persistent low mood, loss of interest, or difficulty managing daily life. Consider what was happening around each difficult period, including work demands, disrupted sleep, and stressful anniversaries.
Can you have seasonal depression in summer?
Yes. NIMH describes a summer pattern that may include trouble sleeping, reduced appetite, anxiety, and agitation. This screening emphasizes winter timing, so it may underrepresent a summer pattern. Tell a clinician when symptoms begin and ease, even if your hardest months do not match the winter questions.
When describing a possible summer pattern, include whether sleep disruption and changes in appetite appear alongside depressed mood or loss of interest. Seasonal timing alone cannot explain the cause. Record whether symptoms ease when the season changes and whether similar difficulties occur during other parts of the year.
What to do after a seasonal depression screening
Use a Mood Tracker or Sleep Diary to record dated observations about mood, sleep, daily activities, and interference. Bring the notes and your screening result to an appointment. Include periods when you felt well, and describe whether low mood also occurred outside your usual difficult season.
The Depression Test can help you describe current depressive symptoms, while the Sleep Quality Test focuses on sleep concerns that may deserve a separate conversation. Find these through the Psychology.com tests hub. The Psychology.com therapist directory is another place to look for professional support.
NIMH notes that seasonal symptoms can occur in people with bipolar disorder. Tell your clinician about unusually elevated or irritable mood and periods when you needed much less sleep. That history matters when deciding what the pattern means and which treatment options fit.
You can seek help while the pattern is still unclear. Before an appointment, write down what has become harder, such as getting to work, keeping up with meals, or staying in touch with people. Ask how your clinician will assess current depression as well as the seasonal history. You do not need to wait for another difficult season to ask for care.
A screening result cannot determine whether a light box is appropriate for you. NIMH advises discussing treatment choices with a health care provider, including eye conditions and medicines that increase sensitivity to light. Bring a list of medications and supplements to that conversation. Ask about timing and follow-up before starting a seasonal treatment plan.
Methodology & sources
The Seasonal Affective Disorder Test is an educational self-assessment of recurring changes in mood and daily habits. This test is informed by the Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire (SPAQ), developed by Rosenthal and colleagues (1984) and studied extensively by Rohan and Sigmon among others. The core of the SPAQ is the Global Seasonality Score, which sums how much six dimensions change with the seasons: sleep length, social activity, mood, weight, appetite, and energy level, each rated from 0 (no change) to 4 (extremely marked change). The SPAQ then asks how much of a problem these seasonal changes are. Our items adapt that structure into plain-language statements rated from 0 to 4, plus items on the timing and direction of the dip and the degree of interference, giving a total seasonality score from 0 to 48. This is an educational adaptation; the bands are descriptive rather than official diagnostic cutoffs.
This test is provided for education and self-reflection. It is not a diagnosis. In current clinical language, what people call seasonal affective disorder is recognized as major depressive disorder with a seasonal pattern. A high seasonality score is not the same as having that condition, which a clinician confirms by also looking at the severity and timing of depressive episodes. If your result concerns you, treat it as a prompt to reach out, not as a label.
The DSM-5 sets a specific bar for the seasonal pattern specifier: a person's depressive episodes need to start and end at particular times of year for at least two consecutive years, with full remission (or a shift to mania or hypomania) outside that window, and lifetime seasonal episodes need to clearly outnumber any nonseasonal ones (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). This test cannot establish that two-year history on its own, which is exactly why a single high score is treated here as a prompt for a clinical conversation rather than a stand-in for that criterion.
The website's descriptive bands do not establish the sensitivity or specificity of this adaptation. Assessment also considers depressive symptoms, recurrence, functioning, and mood changes outside the difficult season. A record of symptoms can support that conversation, while an online score cannot establish the required history.
References
- Rosenthal NE, Sack DA, Gillin JC, et al. Seasonal affective disorder: a description of the syndrome and preliminary findings with light therapy. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1984;41(1):72-80.
- Rohan KJ, Sigmon ST. Seasonal mood patterns in a northeastern college sample. J Affect Disord. 2000;59(2):85-96.
- American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5). Arlington, VA: APA; 2013.
- National Institute of Mental Health. Seasonal Affective Disorder. nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/seasonal-affective-disorder
Cite this source
Psychology.com. (2026, September 16). Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) Test. Psychology.com. https://psychology.com/tests/seasonal-affective
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) Test FAQ
What is a seasonal affective disorder test?
It is a short, research-informed screening that looks at how much the seasons change your mood, energy, sleep, and other patterns, and how much of a problem that is for you. It is informed by the validated SPAQ and produces a descriptive result, not a diagnosis.
What are the signs of seasonal affective disorder?
The classic winter pattern includes low mood, low energy and fatigue, sleeping more than usual, craving carbohydrates and gaining weight, withdrawing socially, and difficulty concentrating, all clustered in the darker, colder months and lifting in spring. A smaller number of people have a summer pattern with different symptoms.
Is it really a disorder, or just the winter blues?
Many people feel a little flatter in winter, which is the everyday winter blues. Seasonal affective disorder is when the seasonal dip is severe enough to meet the criteria for depression and to interfere with daily life. The difference is one of degree and impact, which is why this test asks how much of a problem the changes cause.
Is this test a diagnosis?
No. It is for education and self-reflection only. Only a licensed clinician can diagnose depression with a seasonal pattern, usually by talking with you about your symptoms, timing, and history. If your results concern you, consider reaching out to a therapist or doctor.
Can seasonal affective disorder be treated?
Yes. Treatment options include light therapy for winter-pattern SAD, cognitive behavioral therapy adapted for seasonal depression, and certain medications. A clinician can help choose an approach based on your health and symptom history. Discuss eye conditions and medicines that increase light sensitivity before using a light box. Planning ahead may help, but prevention is not guaranteed.
How many questions are on this SAD test, and how long does it take?
The test has 12 statements informed by the SPAQ's Global Seasonality Score, covering how much your mood, energy, sleep, appetite, weight, and social life shift with the seasons, when the dip happens, and how much it interferes with your life. Most people finish in about three to five minutes.
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