Your iPhone (thanks to iOS 17) now features a Mental Health Questionnaire to help diagnose anxiety and depression, and to help you understand your risk from either.
Mental health issues are often scary, complex and nuanced and you can't always put your finger on exactly what category your feelings fall into. So if you're struggling with your mental health and/or feeling like you need support, this could be a useful tool to try and nail down what kind of issues you're having.
It will ask you a few questions to try and narrow down the thoughts and feelings you're having, to help understand what is going wrong, so that you're better placed to get the right support for you. It'll even generate a PDF for you to hand to a clinician and help them to quickly assess your mental health state. Importantly: this tool will not provide a full medical diagnosis, it will instead give you a preliminary diagnosis based on your answers, allowing you to more easily seek an official medical diagnosis via a clinician.
Here's how you find and use it. But before we start, if you are struggling, remember that help is out there for you, and you should seek it. Make a start by using this iPhone tool if you need to, but please do seek professional help as soon as you can. Currently the iPhone tool below only covers generalized anxiety and depression, so if you're having issues which you think fall into a different category, please read the next paragraph.
In all cases, we'd advise turning to a registered mental health charity, as these have resources and directions to help you get support. In the U.S. you can check out nami.org, while in the U.K. you can head to mind.org. We're rooting for you.
How to use the iPhone's Mental Health Questionnaire to diagnose anxiety and depression
You'll need iOS 17 to use this feature. We can show you how to update your iPhone if you need some help getting it up to date.
1. Go to Health > Browse > Mental Health Questionnaire
Open the Health app, and tap Browse on the bottom right. Now scroll down to Mental Health Questionnaire and tap Take Questionnaire.
2. Select your age range and tap begin
This tool is designed for those ages 13 and above. Select your age range and then tap Begin.
3. Answer all 16 of the questions
Now answer all 16 of the multiple choice questions. Simply tap the circle next to the answer you want to give. Try to answer as honestly as possible, as this will help you get the right support you need later down the line.
4. Tap Done
When you've answered all the questions, tap Done.
5. (Option 1) Review your risk levels and tap Done
Now you will be shown your risk levels of anxiety and depression based on your answers. At this point, you might feel like you have enough of an understanding about your mental health to speak to an appropriate clinician. If so, tap Done.
6. (Option 2) View resources and/or Export a PDF
Alternatively, scroll down and tap Website to see mental health resources for your area. Tap Export PDF to export a summary of your risk levels to give to your clinician. Tap Done when finished.
If you're having a rough time, we hope you get the support you need. You might also be interested in other features of the Health app. We can show you how to track your moods on iPhone and how to set up medications on iPhone using the Health app.
