Calculators / Bipolar spectrum
Modified RMS
Rapid Mood Screener, modified version. Where a depression sits on the bipolar spectrum.
Members Library
The Modified RMS calculator is in the Library.
Every rating scale calculator comes with the Library, along with the prescribing guides, medication handouts, DSM-5 criteria and sheets, and the Guide Builder.
Use it for
- Screening a person with depression for where they sit on the bipolar spectrum, before an antidepressant is chosen or changed.
- Deciding how much more history to gather: family history, episode detail and collateral.
- Opening a conversation about hypomania with someone who has never thought of their highs as a symptom.
Do not use it for
- Diagnosing bipolar disorder. A high score points to a diagnostic interview.
- Ruling bipolarity out. A low score makes it unlikely, but in the validation that included bipolar II, sensitivity was only 0.68.
- Replacing the Mood Disorder Questionnaire or the Hypomania Checklist where you want to rate hypomanic symptoms in detail.
These questions ask about the person's whole life, not just how they have been lately, so they can answer for any period, however long ago. If they are unsure about one, they mark their best guess and you note that they were not certain.
Modified RMS
Answer the questions to see the result.
This calculator adds up the score in your browser. Nothing you enter is stored or sent.
More about the Modified RMS
About the Modified RMSWhat it is and what it is for
The Rapid Mood Screener is a six-item yes or no screen for bipolar disorder in a person with depression. McIntyre and colleagues published it in 2021, with a positive screen at four or more yeses. It was built to separate bipolar I from major depression and was not validated for bipolar II.
This is the modified version. Phelps and Schley (2026) recommend three threshold changes for greater sensitivity, and scoring as a probability and not as pass or fail: three depressive episodes and not six, onset before age 25 and not 18, and four-day periods of elevated mood, the DSM-5 duration for hypomania, and not seven. It is not the screener as originally published and validated.
How to use itGiving it and scoring it
Ask the six questions, or have the person answer them alone. Count the yeses, from 0 to 6. This page does the counting.
At 2 or more, gather before treating. At 4 or more, start from the assumption of bipolar disorder unless more information points elsewhere.
Interpreting the scoreScore ranges and what they suggest
| Yes answers | What it suggests | Usual response |
|---|---|---|
| 0 to 1 | UnlikelyBipolar depression is very unlikely. | The usual options, such as lifestyle change, psychotherapy and antidepressants, are reasonable to consider. |
| 2 to 3 | ModerateWorth gathering more before choosing treatment. | Take a family history, a fuller picture of the depressions and collateral. Then place the person on the spectrum and decide together. |
| 4 to 6 | HighBipolarity is likely. | Start treatment from the assumption of bipolar disorder, unless further information and a shared decision point elsewhere. |
There is no pass or fail line. Bipolar and unipolar depression do not sort into two clean groups, so a cutoff would draw a line that is not there. The originally published screener counted four or more yeses as positive.
Pearls and pitfallsTips and common mistakes
- Ask about the experience behind each yes, and write down what the person says in their own words.
- Item 3, an antidepressant that made the person highly irritable or hyper, is easy to forget. Ask about every antidepressant they have taken.
- Look for the high that the person does not call a high. Four days of needing little sleep and feeling great often gets described as a good week.
- Pair it with the HCL-32 to rate hypomanic symptoms in more detail.
- Repeat it if a depression turns out to behave differently from the last one.
EvidenceAccuracy and reliability
- The original Rapid Mood Screener (McIntyre 2021) was validated in 139 adults, 67 with bipolar I and 72 with major depression. At four or more yeses, sensitivity was 0.88 and specificity 0.80.
- It was built to find bipolar I in people with depression. It was not validated in bipolar II, which is where a stricter cutoff misses people.
- Phelps and Schley (2026) argue that the screener should not be used without modifications for greater sensitivity, and set out the three threshold changes and probability-based scoring that this page uses.
- The bands on this page apply the recommendations in that paper. Use the original screener where you need the validated four-or-more cutoff.
Source, license and referencesWhere it comes from
The Rapid Mood Screener was developed by McIntyre and colleagues and published in Current Medical Research and Opinion in 2021. This page uses the threshold changes and scoring recommended by Phelps and Schley (Bipolar Disorders, 2026) and the question wording on the Psychofarm Modified RMS one-page sheet. It is not the screener as originally published and validated.
- Phelps J, Schley S. Don't use the Rapid Mood Screener without modifications for greater sensitivity. Bipolar Disord. 2026;28:e70084. doi:10.1111/bdi.70084.
- McIntyre RS, Patel MD, Masand PS, et al. The Rapid Mood Screener (RMS): a novel and pragmatic screener for bipolar I disorder. Curr Med Res Opin. 2021;37(1):135-144. doi:10.1080/03007995.2020.1860358.
- Yatham LN, Kennedy SH, Parikh SV, et al. Canadian Network for Mood and Anxiety Treatments (CANMAT) and International Society for Bipolar Disorders (ISBD) 2018 guidelines for the management of patients with bipolar disorder. Bipolar Disord. 2018;20(2):97-170.
- American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision. 2022.