High Score on an Anxiety Test: How to Read It and What to Do

You have just completed the anxiety test and the result surprises you — or confirms what you suspected. A high score often raises questions: Is it serious? Should I see someone? How did I get here? This article helps you decode your score, understand what it really reveals and, above all, know which concrete steps to take.

In the article that follows, I explore anxiety and chronic worry. If you recognise yourself in this theme, I designed a generalized anxiety test that helps you take stock of your everyday anxiety level. It comes with a guide to extend your reflection beyond the results. I also wrote a book on this subject, Overcoming Anxiety and Stress, if you would like to go further.

What does a high score really mean?

A high score on an anxiety test is not a diagnosis. It is a confidential self-check that helps put words to an experience — it is no substitute for a professional opinion. Thinking that you "have" anxiety and being in daily distress are two different things.

The three dimensions of a high score

1. The intensity of physical symptoms Trembling, palpitations, sweating, chronic muscle tension. Your body is signalling an activation of the sympathetic nervous system (the "fight or flight" response) that is not switching off as quickly as the situation calls for. It can feel as though your internal alarm is stuck at "maximum alert" — but this state is not fixed or permanent; it responds to rest, practice and, when needed, professional support. 2. Recurring, intrusive thoughts You anticipate the worst, you replay disaster scenarios, you ask yourself a thousand "what ifs". These thoughts are not facts — they are cognitive distortions, those mental biases that amplify threat. Discover how these distortions sabotage your relationship and your wellbeing. 3. Avoidance and a shrinking life You avoid situations, places and people in order to escape discomfort. In the short term, it brings relief. In the long term, it reinforces anxiety by (falsely) confirming that the threat is real.

Why a high score? The possible roots

A high score on an anxiety test rarely comes out of nowhere. It usually has origins that CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) helps untangle.

Early emotional wounds

If you grew up in an unpredictable, critical or overprotective environment, your brain learned to stay on alert. The 5 emotional wounds — rejection, abandonment, humiliation, betrayal, injustice — deeply affect your relationship and your peace of mind. Anxiety is often the relational scar left by those wounds. What I describe here, I develop further in The Practical CBT Guide.

Young's schemas

Jeffrey Young, the founder of schema therapy, identified 18 early maladaptive schemas — fixed beliefs about yourself and the world. High anxiety often correlates with schemas such as:

• Vulnerability to harm: the conviction that something terrible is going to happen
• Loss of control: the fear of losing your grip on your life
• Abandonment: the fear of being left alone

Explore your 18 Young schemas to identify your emotional wounds.

Current life factors

A divorce, a career change, a toxic relationship, debts, a bereavement — a high anxiety score can also be a healthy reaction to a threatening situation. Before pathologising yourself, ask yourself: Is my life objectively stressful right now?

How to interpret your score

There is no universal 0–100 anxiety scale. Start with the name of the questionnaire, its scoring range and the explanation attached to your result. Your daily experience matters as well: how much distress you feel, what you avoid and what has changed.

Traps to avoid after a high score

1. Catastrophising the result

"I have a high score, so I'm anxious for life." False. A test measures a moment in time. Your score can come down with concrete changes.

2. Self-diagnosis without a professional

A high score does not mean "generalised anxiety disorder" or "social anxiety". Only a psychologist or psychiatrist can make a diagnosis.

3. Waiting for it to go away on its own

Anxiety tends to be self-perpetuating. Without intervention, it takes root. But it is also very treatable — CBT has proven effectiveness.

5 concrete steps after a high score

Step 1: Accept without judging

Your high score is not a weakness. It is information. You are not "broken" — you are someone going through an anxious period who has the wisdom to acknowledge it.

Step 2: Identify your triggers

For one week, note down:

• When anxiety rises (time, context, person)
• How it shows up (thoughts, sensations, behaviours)
• What you did to relieve it

This journal reveals patterns. Perhaps anxiety spikes before work meetings, or when you are alone in the evening, or after an argument with your partner.

Step 3: Try a simple breathing technique, if it suits you

The 4-7-8 breath (inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 7, exhale for 8) is one option some people use to help settle physical arousal. Try it for a few minutes if you find it comfortable — it is not a guaranteed mechanism, and breathing exercises do not suit everyone. If it increases your discomfort or makes you more aware of your breathing in an unpleasant way, stop and try something else instead.

Step 4: Consult a professional

If your score is high or very high, a consultation with a psychologist or a CBT psychotherapist makes sense. Visit psychologieetserenite.com to find a practitioner. CBT offers concrete tools; the number of sessions needed varies from person to person and is something to discuss with the professional you consult.

Step 5: Act on your lifestyle

• Sleep: 7–9 hours, regularly (anxiety thrives when you are tired)
• Movement: 30 minutes of walking or exercise each day (reduces cortisol)
• Limit stimulants: caffeine and alcohol amplify anxiety
• Connection: talk to someone you trust — isolation feeds anxiety

Anxiety and relationships: an often forgotten link

Anxiety does not live in a vacuum. It affects your relationship, your friendships, your work. You may become:

• Hypervigilant to your partner's judgement
• Emotionally dependent — seeking constant reassurance
• Avoidant — fleeing intimacy for fear of rejection

If you are in a relationship and have a high score, a useful question is: Does my anxiety come from my relationship, or am I projecting it onto the relationship? Analyse your conversations with your partner on ScanMyLove to identify the communication patterns that fuel the tension.

When anxiety is hiding something else

Sometimes a high score signals something else. Check for:

• Depression: anxiety and depression often go together. A high score plus fatigue, emotional emptiness and loss of interest may point to a masked depression.
• Trauma: if your anxiety worsened after an event (a break-up, an accident, an assault), you may be dealing with post-traumatic anxiety.
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder: if your anxiety is tied to intrusive thoughts or compulsions, that is a different profile.

If you are going through real difficulty — not just a bad day — these 10 signs will help you get clear.

The key message: a high score is a starting point, not a sentence

Your high score is telling you: "Hey, something here deserves attention." It is an invitation to understand your brain, your wounds, your beliefs — and to transform them.

Anxiety is treatable. Scores can and do come down with time, consistency and often professional support — but there is no fixed timeline or guaranteed trajectory.

Already have a report? Revisit the areas that stand out before taking another test. Considering the detailed version? View a sample report to decide whether it offers information that would be useful to you.

If you are in immediate distress or having dark thoughts, contact your local emergency services, or find a helpline in your country at findahelpline.com. For free emotional support, wherever you are, befrienders.org lists volunteer listening services available around the clock.

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Gildas Garrec, CBT psychotherapist