GAD-7 — evidence overview

Static explainer for the GAD-7 instrument as presented inside the Help Is Coming hub. Tracker-free. Not a clinical guide and not a diagnosis.

What GAD-7 is

GAD-7 (Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item) is a validated self-report questionnaire. People rate how often they were bothered by each problem over the prior two weeks. Scoring yields a single total score reflecting self-reported anxiety symptom frequency.

Primary reference: Spitzer, Kroenke, Williams & Löwe (2006), Archives of Internal Medicine.

Rights for commercial app use

Pfizer funded development of the PHQ and GAD-7 and later released the instruments without copyright restriction and at no charge. The standard licensing statement reproduced across clinical references is that no permission is required to reproduce, translate, display, or distribute. Commercial use is permitted when item wording follows the validated published source.

Help Is Coming uses GAD-7 inside the hub for private self-assessment.

How Help Is Coming presents it

  • Administered inside the Help Is Coming app for adults 18 and over

  • Answers and scores stay on the device

  • Results use plain language for personal reflection

  • The app does not claim diagnosis, screening for clinical care, prevention, or treatment

  • Scores describe how you answered for that administration; they are not labels about who you are

What this page is not

  • Not medical advice

  • Not a crisis service

  • Not an invitation to self-diagnose

If you are in crisis, feel unsafe, or may be in danger, contact local emergency services or a crisis helpline in your area right away.

Get the app

Help Is Coming is available on the Apple App Store and Google Play under the publisher HELPISCOMING LLC. Assessments, scores, and results remain free.