Calm’s Mental Health Screening Helps People Get the Right Level of Support

Screening helps people take the first step toward understanding their mental health needs and getting appropriate and timely support.

Not enough people are getting the mental health support they need. For example, anxiety disorders affect nearly 1 in 5 adults (19.1%) in the US every year, yet less than 37% receive treatment .?

To help address this gap, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force made a paradigm-shifting mental health recommendation in 2023: All adults ages 19 to 64 years should be regularly screened for anxiety. (In 2022, they recommended anxiety screenings for children and adolescents ages 8 to 18 years ). In making their recommendation, the task force cited evidence that treatment for anxiety is beneficial and that mental health screening tools are accurate enough to help detect anxiety.??

Anxiety and depressive disorders are missed due to lack of screening

But a Calm survey of 1,000 people showed that less than half of respondents—just 44%—say they’ve been screened for anxiety or discuss it with a medical provider. Depressive disorders are also missed: Depression is the leading cause of disability in the US among people ages 15-to-44, but half of depression diagnoses are missed in the primary care setting.?

As a first step to getting the right mental health support at the right time, people need better access to mental health screening—outside the walls of healthcare.

Calm’s free mental health screening helps people take the first step toward getting the support they need

To help meet that need, Calm has released a free standalone mental health screening for adults at screening.calm.com . The screening takes just 1 to 2 minutes to complete and uses questions from the Patient Health Questionnaire 8 (PHQ-8) , a screening for depression symptoms, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) , a screening for anxiety symptoms.?

(Note: This screening is not intended to diagnose depression or anxiety, nor is it a substitute for care by a physician or other health care provider. It is only available to U.S. residents age 18 or older.)

Here’s how it works: Upon opening the Calm Health screening , an individual is met by a friendly and compassionate Calm narrator who welcomes them to their mental health screening. The narrator invites them to answer a few questions about how they’re feeling in day-to-day life. The respondent consents to having their answers collected on Calm Health, a secure, HIPAA-compliant platform.

At the conclusion of the questionnaire, Calm immediately recommends a combination of mindfulness content, clinical programs, and external resources aligned to the individual’s screening responses. For example:?

• Mary’s screening results indicate she may have symptoms of minimal depression and minimal anxiety. To help her maintain a positive state of mind, Calm Health recommends that Mary use content and tools available on Calm to help her manage stress, improve sleep, and live mindfully. Calm Health suggests she check with her HR department at work to find out if she has access to Calm through her employee benefits plan and also provides a link to access Calm directly at a discount.
• Philip’s screening results indicate he may have mild levels of symptoms for anxiety or depression. He also inputs his type 2 diabetes condition into the app. In addition to mindfulness content, Calm Health recommends condition-specific programs in the app, including Type 2 Diabetes Mindset, Anxiety Survival Guide, and Navigating Depression with Practical Tools. All Calm Health programs are developed by clinical psychologists using the principles of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance Commitment Therapy, and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy. Calm Health provides personalized, evidence-based support not just for people with a chronic condition like Philip but also for those experiencing mental health challenges associated with specific life stages, such as pregnancy, postpartum, and parenting, and for people in challenging occupations or environments, such as healthcare professionals, college students, and teachers.
• Janet’s screening results indicate she may be experiencing moderate symptoms of depression or anxiety. The narrator tells her that the best way to deal with her symptoms is to reach out to a mental health practitioner. Calm Health provides links to external resources SAMHSA , ADAA and NAMI to help her find appropriate support. Janet, a nurse, is also encouraged to explore Calm Health resources, which include clinical programs specific to her occupation, such as Stress Management for Busy Nurses.

Helping people take the first step toward better mental health

In minutes, Calm Health gives people a better understanding of their current state of mind and guides them to an appropriate level of support based on their needs. Without ready access to the mental health screening, many people wouldn’t know how to get started or where to look for mental health support. Others may be worried about the mental health stigma. Calm Health makes it simple to take the first step toward better mental health and well-being, a step they might not otherwise take at all, especially if feeling stressed. anxious, overwhelmed, or depressed.

The importance of mental health screening

Although a screening is not a diagnosis, it’s a strategy to identify the likelihood of mental health symptoms early and allow people to take informed action to improve their mental health. NAMI points to the impact of early mental health screenings and calls for making them a standard practice: “We’ve found that early identification and treatment leads to better outcomes. Early treatment may also lessen long-term disability and prevent years of suffering. Health care screenings are common in this country, and mental health screenings should be no exception.”

Calm Health connects employees to their mental health benefits

Organizations that offer Calm Health as part of their employee benefits plan can enrich the end-user experience by configuring the app to recommend the use of employer-sponsored mental health resources, where appropriate, as part of an employee’s personalized plan. For example, if an employee’s screening results indicate they may benefit from therapy, Calm Health can be configured to recommend they contact their employee assistance program (EAP).?Centralizing access to all mental health benefits and resources—and guiding employees to them—helps build employee and dependent awareness and drive utilization of mental health benefits.?

Employers can also configure the Calm Health mental health screening to use the PHQ-9 questionnaire, which, in contrast to PHQ-8, includes a question about thoughts of self-harm. If an employee signals through the screening that they’re having thoughts of hurting themselves, they are directed to crisis support, either the National 988 line or an alternative crisis response configured by the employer in the Calm Health app.

About Calm Health

Calm Health is a secure mental wellness app that offers personalized plans with content written by licensed psychologists. Calm Health offers personalized plans with evidence-based content to support employees with their mental health, physical health conditions, and life stages.

For more information on proactively supporting employee mental health and well-being, check out our pricing or connect with a Calm specialist today.