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If you have anxiety disorder, your doctor may use a list of questions or statements to measure your symptoms. Later, your doctor may use the same list to see if your treatment has helped. There are several different scales. Here are some of the scales mentioned in the research on anxiety disorder.

This scale lists 14 types of symptoms. You and your doctor rate each symptom on a scale from 0 (meaning you don't have that symptom) to 4 (meaning you have it very badly). Total scores range from 0 to 56. A total of 18 or more means you should get treatment for anxiety disorder. The symptoms are:¹

• Anxiety, including worry, insecurity, irritability, fear, dread and panic
• Tension, including nervousness, muscle tension and trembling
• Fears, such as fear of riding the subway or fear of open spaces, and avoidance of these situations
• Lack of sleep or poor sleep
• Poor concentration or trouble making decisions
• Depression, including sadness, gloom and hopelessness
• Muscle pain or weakness
• Trouble hearing or tinnitus (ringing in the ears), poor vision or blurred vision, or unusual sensations on your skin (such as prickling)
• Symptoms to do with your heart, such as palpitations or feeling faint
• Trouble breathing
• Constipation, diarrhea, nausea or other problems with your digestive system.
• Needing to urinate too often or abnormal menstrual periods
• Nervous symptoms, such as sweating, dizziness or a dry mouth
• Feeling anxious, nervous or agitated while talking with your doctor.

This test consists of two scales. The "trait anxiety" scale measures how anxious you generally feel. The "state anxiety" scale measures how anxious you feel at the moment. For a patient who may have anxiety disorder, doctors typically use just the "trait" scale, which looks at ongoing anxiety levels. This scale measures your symptoms in four categories:^{2 3}

• Excessive worry
• Tension
• Low self-esteem (feeling that you are not good enough, even worthless)
• Feeling demoralized (feeling that you can't be bothered to do anything because you won't do it well).

These categories include a total of 20 symptoms. For each symptom, you rate how you generally feel on a scale of 1 (meaning "almost never") to 4 (meaning "almost always"). Scores can range from 20 to 80. Higher scores mean worse anxiety.

For this scale, you describe how much you have been bothered in the past week by various symptoms.⁴ You rate each of the 21 symptoms on a scale from 0 to 3. Total scores can go up to 63. Higher scores mean higher anxiety levels. Some of the symptoms are:

• Numbness
• Feeling hot
• Feeling shaky
• Fearing the worst
• Losing control
• Fainting
• Sweating.

This scale measures how much you worry.⁵ You score yourself from 1 to 5 on the following 16 statements. A rating of 1 means the statement does not describe you at all, and 5 means it describes you perfectly. Higher total scores mean higher anxiety levels.

• If I do not have enough time to do everything, I do not worry about it
• My worries overwhelm me
• I do not tend to worry about things
• Many situations make me worry
• I know I should not worry about things, but I just cannot help it
• When I'm under pressure, I worry a lot
• I am always worrying about something
• I find it easy to dismiss worrying thoughts
• As soon as I finish one task, I start to worry about everything else I have to do
• I never worry about anything
• When there is nothing more I can do about a concern, I do not worry about it anymore
• I have been a worrier all my life
• I notice that I have been worrying about things
• Once I start worrying I cannot stop
• I worry all the time
• I worry about projects until they are all done.

This information is for educational use only, and is not a substitute for prompt professional medical advice. Readers should always consult a physician or other professional for advice and treatment. ©BMJ Publishing Group Limited 2008. All rights reserved.