This confidential screener uses the 11 DSM-5 criteria for substance use disorder, the same framework clinicians use, to help you understand whether your pattern of use falls in the mild, moderate, or severe range, and what that means for next steps.
📋 Severity screener
Answer based on your experience over the past 12 months with any substance, including alcohol or drugs.
0/11
This screener is not a clinical diagnosis. A licensed addiction professional can provide a full evaluation and discuss treatment options that fit your specific situation.
📖 Understanding severity levels
Mild (2-3 criteria)
Indicates a diagnosable disorder, but at a stage where outpatient counselling or brief intervention is often sufficient and effective.
Moderate (4-5 criteria)
Generally warrants a more structured level of care, such as intensive outpatient treatment, alongside ongoing support.
Severe (6 or more criteria)
Typically requires comprehensive treatment, potentially including residential care or medically supervised detox, depending on the substance involved.
Severity isn't permanent
Severity can decrease meaningfully with sustained treatment and support. Use the treatment type comparison to understand what level of care matches your current result.
⚕️ Next steps based on your result
Talk to a professional regardless of severity
Even a mild result reflects a real, diagnosable condition. Earlier conversations with a professional tend to be easier and more effective than waiting.
Call SAMHSA's National Helpline
1-800-662-4357. Free, confidential, 24/7 referrals to treatment matched to your level of need.
Before the DSM-5 introduced this unified severity scale, addiction was often discussed in binary terms, someone either "had a problem" or didn't, which obscured meaningful differences in how much support different people genuinely needed. The current mild-moderate-severe framework gives both individuals and clinicians a more precise, shared language for matching the level of care to the actual severity of the condition, which research consistently shows improves treatment outcomes compared to a one-size-fits-all approach.
Use this result as a starting point for a conversation with a professional, not a final verdict. The readiness to change tool can help you think through where you are in considering next steps, regardless of your severity score.
Recovery tip: Bring your specific results to a treatment conversation rather than just saying "I think I have a problem." Specific information helps a provider recommend the right level of care faster.
People also ask about addiction severity
The DSM-5 uses 11 criteria covering impaired control, social impairment, risky use, and pharmacological effects like tolerance and withdrawal. Meeting 2 to 3 criteria indicates mild severity, 4 to 5 indicates moderate, and 6 or more indicates severe substance use disorder. This severity scale applies the same way regardless of which substance is involved.
Not necessarily. A mild result still indicates a diagnosable substance use disorder, and earlier intervention at this stage is often easier and more effective than waiting until the pattern becomes more severe. Many people benefit from outpatient counselling or brief intervention at the mild level rather than waiting for the condition to progress.
Yes. Substance use disorder severity is not fixed and can increase or decrease based on use patterns, life circumstances, and treatment engagement. Severity can also decrease significantly with sustained treatment and recovery support, which is why periodic reassessment is useful rather than relying on a single screening result indefinitely.