Symptom Tests

Depression Symptom Test for Adults

Impacting roughly 14.8 million adults each year, depression is an extremely common, and serious mood disorder. Here, you’ll learn how the symptoms of major depressive disorder may present for adults.

By ADDitude Editors Medically reviewed by Roberto Olivardia, Ph.D. on February 16, 2019

If you have depression, you feel sad or deflated most of the day, for weeks at a time. Your sadness affects your performance at work, relationships with your friends and family, and even the things you used to love.

Depression accounts for nearly $12 billion in lost workdays each year in America. Women are more likely to be diagnosed with major depression than are men, but that doesn’t mean it’s not equally likely in both genders. It is a serious illness that requires swift diagnosis and treatment; depressive symptoms are a leading cause of suicide among adults.

Depression overlaps with ADHD in two distinct ways: as a separate, unique condition occurring on its own, and as a secondary condition triggered by the frustrations of living with ADHD.

Adapted from the Goldberg Depression Inventory (c. 1993). Not a diagnostic tool. If you have concerns about possible depression see a mental health professional. An accurate diagnosis can only be made through clinical evaluation. Self-Test for personal use only.



My life seems set in stone. I feel stuck.


1 out of 18



Even when my friends extend a kind gesture or invitation, I feel sad.


2 out of 18

Even when reading a book that usually would interest me, I find myself reading the same paragraph over and over and then lose interest after a couple of pages.

3 out of 18


My productivity has declined so much lately that I feel I will get in trouble or be fired by my boss any day.

4 out of 18


I worry that my friends are hanging out without me, and that they don’t like me anymore.

5 out of 18


Even deciding which socks to wear in the morning is proving difficult.

6 out of 18


I feel sad and unhappy.

7 out of 18

I feel hopeless about my future. 

8 out of 18



The scale doesn’t lie, but I can’t understand how my weight has changed so much without being on a diet.


9 out of 18

I do tasks sluggishly. Cleaning the house is a slow plod – like walking through thick mud.

10 out of 18

I used to be high-energy, but now it’s almost impossible to get out of bed in the morning.

11 out of 18


I feel irritable in my skin all the time. It makes me constantly uncomfortable.

12 out of 18


I don’t feel full of life.

13 out of 18



Things that I used to finish in a flash – like washing the dishes – seem to take forever to accomplish. 


14 out of 18


Simple tasks that I used to do seem so hard to do lately.

15 out of 18


I think about how I might end my life.

16 out of 18


In the middle of the night, I’m wide awake, even if I’ve gone to sleep only an hour or two earlier.

17 out of 18


I don’t find pleasure or joy in life. 

18 out of 18

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