Learn how to log your daily mood using an iPhone or Apple Watch to track your mental health and emotional wellbeing and get insights into your susceptibility to depression or anxiety.
Mood-tracking apps on the App Store let you log your moods and emotional states, but why download anything if the free Health app that comes preinstalled on your iPhone and iPad already has those features? With it, you can log how you’ve felt at a specific time or report your overall mood for the entire day. Logged entries are saved securely encrypted in the Health app to view anytime you fancy.
Log your state of mind
You can log your state of mind on both your iPhone and Apple Watch.
iPhone or iPad
To log your moods and emotional states, use the Mental Wellbeing section of the iPhone’s Health app.
1) Open the built-in Health app on your iPhone and select the Browse tab.
2) Tap the Mental Wellbeing category.
3) Hit the State of Mind section and choose Get Started if this is your first time using it. Otherwise, tap the Log button in the top-right corner to record your emotional state.
4) Choose whether to log your Emotion (how you feel right now) or Mood (how you’ve felt overall today), then hit the Next button.
5) Drag the slider somewhere between Very Unpleasant, Unpleasant, Slightly Unpleasant, Neutral, Slightly Pleasant, Pleasant, or Very Pleasant, then hit the Next button.
6) Choose from the built-in choices best describing the selected feeling, then hit Next to continue. You can select multiple choices or tap Show More to browse all options.
7) Add context by selecting what’s having the biggest impact on you, then hit Done to finish logging your state of mind for the first time.
In the future, you’ll open the Health app, navigate to Browse > Mental Wellbeing > State of Mind, and tap the Log button to report your mood and emotional states whenever you like.
Apple Watch
To log your emotions and mood on your Apple Watch, use the built-in Mindfulness app.
1) Press the Digital Crown and turn it to scroll the list of installed apps, then touch the Mindfulness app to launch it.
2) Tap the State of Mind section.
3) Choose either Log how you’re feeling right now or Log how you’ve felt overall today.
4) Rotate the Digital Crown to select your mood, then tap the checkmark symbol in the top-right corner to continue.
5) Select one or more choices that best describe this feeling and then touch the checkmark symbol in the top-right corner to save this mood.
Two ways to quickly log your mood
You can also capture your mood via a dedicated Home Screen widget or Apple Watch complication.
Add the State of Mind widget to the Lock Screen
Home Screen widgets let you perform actions without opening apps. While the Health app lacks a mood-tracking widget for the Home Screen, it does offer a smaller Lock Screen widget. Once added, you’ll be able to log your mood with a tap.
Add State of Mind Apple Watch complication
Add a State of Mind complication to the watch face to quickly log moods from your wrist.
- Press the watch face and tap Edit.
- Swipe left to the Complications section.
- Select the Mindfulness app.
- Pick State of Mind to add this complication to the watch face.
Get reminded to log your state of mind
1) Go to the Health app on your iPhone, select the Browse tab, and navigate to Mental Wellbeing > State of Mind.
2) Scroll to the bottom and select Options.
3) The built-in During Your Day (middle of the day) and End of Day reminders are already switched on. To customize your mood-tracking schedule, tap Add Reminder, select a specific time of day to receive this alert, and touch Add. Or, tap Manage Mindfulness in the companion Watch app to add mood-tracking reminders.
View your logged moods and states of mind
In the Health app, you can view a calendar of your state of mind and browse any specific entries by day, week, month, six months, or year in a handy chart view.
1) Open the Health app, select the Browse tab, and navigate toMental Wellbeing > State of Mind.
2) Tap the calendar icon in the top-right corner to view logged moods in a calendar view. Each daily entry is represented with a gray dot. If you’ve logged your mood for that day, a colored badge appears in the calendar. Tap any date for details on the mood and emotions you’ve logged for that day.
3) Choose “Show in Charts” on the State of Mind screen for a visual breakdown of logged moods, with the X axis representing dates and the Y axis logged moods. To learn what can impact one’s mental wellbeing, choose States, Associations, or Life Factors.
Get an assessment of your anxiety and depression risks
The Health app includes a questionnaires you can take to get an analysis of your risks which could potentially lead to anxiety and depression, based on your logged moods.
1) Open the built-in Health app on your iPhone, select the Browse tab, and choose Mental Wellbeing.
2) Scroll down and tap Take Questionnaire in the Get More From Health section. Confirm your age, if prompted, then hit Begin and complete the test by answering 16 questions.
3) You’ll see the results, with the assessed risk level expressed as Minimal, Mild, Moderate, Moderate to Severe, or Severe. Tap to learn how each factor contributes to the overall score. Use the Export PDF option to save the questionnaire, along with your answers, and share it with people you trust.
4) If you’ve been flagged with a mild risk of depressing, scroll to the bottom for information on how to visit medical facilities near your location and get help.
To take one of the tests at a time, tap Anxiety Risk (7 questions) or Depression Risk (9 questions) and choose Take Questionnaire on the next screen. For further information about these mental health assessments, peruse Apple’s support page.
Delete any logged mood or emotion
You can delete any previously logged mood, emotion, or mental health assessment in case you made errors. Removing incorrect data will improve the accuracy of your future health assessments.
1) Open the Health app, select the Browse tab, and choose Mental Wellbeing.
2) Choose State of Mind or tap one of the assessments, like Depression Risk.
3) Scroll to the bottom and select Show All Data.
4) Use the Edit button or swipe left over any entry, then choose Delete.
There’s no switch to turn off the State of Mind section in the Health app. But if you’ve deleted all logged entries by following the above steps, the feature will reset and show a “Get Started” button so you can start anew.
As mentioned above, you can export a PDF of your mental health assessment to send to your doctor, partner, or family members. Or, select the Sharing tab at the bottom of the Health app and hit the Share with Someone or Share with your doctor button.
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