Seasonal depression self-check: how your darker months compare
A seasonal depression self-check: eighteen original statements comparing your darker months with the rest of the year. Six pattern cards, no score.
18 items
5 min
Full result free
A self-check, not a diagnosis
Free · no sign-up · results on screen
Published by MyTestAtlas (who makes it). Not medically or clinically reviewed. Updated 10 October 2026.
How this test works
What this assessment measures
This self-check compares the darker part of your year with the rest of it across six patterns: energy and sleep, appetite and eating, pulling in, mood and interest, the lift when the season turns, and what those months cost. It asks about eighteen everyday situations from the last year or two and shows each pattern on its own scale. The statements are original to MyTestAtlas. There is no total and no cut-off, and the result cannot tell you whether you have seasonal depression.
What this test looks at
Energy and sleep · 3 statements
Appetite and eating · 3 statements
Pulling in · 3 statements
Mood and interest · 3 statements
The lift · 3 statements
What it costs · 3 statements
Time
5 minutes
Items
18
Result
attainable-range pattern summary
Time frame
Answer for the last year or two, comparing the darker months with the rest of your year.
Source
Original MyTestAtlas clean-room items written from NIMH and NHS descriptions of seasonal affective disorder; not the SPAQ, PIDS or any seasonal-pattern questionnaire
Original reflection items with no norm group cannot separate a seasonal pattern from the things that look like it: a hard stretch at work or study every winter, holidays with relatives, grief that falls at one time of year, thyroid trouble, low vitamin D, medication changes, broken sleep, or low mood that is not seasonal at all. Only a clinician who takes a history over at least two years can weigh those.
Scoring happens in this browser tab: answers and result text are not sent as analytics properties or written to browser storage. If you are signed in, Save this result stores the scored result, never your answers, under your account.
Your progress
Review
You answered every item
Calculate the result now, or go back and change your answers.
Optional. Tick the months your patterns usually show up in and the table lines them up against the patterns that stood out. The months stay on this page: they are not sent, not stored and not saved with the result.
Read these six patterns one at a time. They are reported separately and are never added together. What makes a pattern seasonal is the contrast: the dark months against the rest of the year, and a lift when the light comes back. If it lasts for weeks or gets in the way of ordinary days, see a GP.
Was this result clear and useful?
Something went wrong
We could not calculate this result.
Your answers were not sent or stored. Restart, or contact support with error code MTA-LOCAL-1—not your answers.
Use the result
Why this route is different
Seasonal depression is about timing, so the useful result is a pattern you can put dates on rather than a number. Six separate cards, plus a table of the months you choose to mark, give you something a GP can work with: which part of the year, which changes, and whether they lift when the light comes back.
A small next step
Mark last winter's months on a paper calendar as best you remember them: when sleep got longer, when plans dropped away, when things lifted again. If the same months come back this year, take both years' dates to a GP.
What tends to help
What helps is less settled than most advice suggests, and the public sources disagree about light therapy. Each line links to where it comes from.
If you have bipolar disorder, talk to a doctor before trying a light box.
Daylight and routine are the cheapest things to try: a walk outside in the brightest part of the day, and the same bedtime and getting-up time all week.
See a GP if a low stretch lasts more than a couple of weeks, or gets in the way of work, home or the people around you.
Questions people ask
Can this test tell me if I have seasonal affective disorder?
No. It has no cut-off, no total and no diagnostic rule, and no online questionnaire can diagnose seasonal depression. A GP or another clinician does that from your history across at least two years.
Is this the SPAQ or a seasonal screening questionnaire?
No. No seasonal questionnaire was opened to write it, and no statement adapts one. Every statement was written for this site from public descriptions of the condition.
What is the month table on the result?
An optional table you fill in yourself. Tick the months a pattern usually arrives in and it lines them up against the patterns that stood out. The months stay on this page: they are not sent, not stored and not saved with the result.
Are my answers stored or sent anywhere?
No. The result is calculated in this browser tab. Answers and result text are never sent as analytics properties and are never written to browser storage.
What should I do if the result worries me?
Write down the months and three concrete examples, and take them to a GP. If you feel unsafe or are thinking about harming yourself, contact a crisis line now rather than taking another test.
Source and method boundary
These items and their scoring are original to MyTestAtlas. They were written from public construct descriptions without any clinical instrument open, are not the MDQ, the HCL-32 or another mood screener, and do not produce a diagnostic classification, total score, or cut-off.
