SDS

The Sheehan Disability Scale (SDS) is a brief 3-item self-report measure developed by David Sheehan to assess functional impairment in three domains: work/school, social life/leisure, and family life/home responsibilities. Each domain is rated on a 0–10 visual analog scale, producing a total score of 0–30. Higher scores indicate greater functional impairment. The SDS also records the number of days lost and days of reduced productivity. It is commonly used as a secondary endpoint in psychedelic clinical trials to assess whether symptom improvements translate into functional recovery — an increasingly important outcome for regulatory agencies. The SDS is valued for its simplicity, sensitivity to change, and ability to capture real-world impact of psychiatric conditions. It is widely used alongside symptom-specific measures like the MADRS and CAPS in psychedelic-assisted therapy research.