Depression and Anxiety Screening in iOS 18 Health App

The Apple Health app in iOS 18 provides built-in mental health assessments designed to help users identify their potential risk for depression and anxiety. These evidence-based evaluations utilize standard clinical questionnaires—the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7). By integrating these tools, iOS 18 enables users to privately monitor their psychological well-being over time, understand their symptoms, and generate reports suitable for sharing with healthcare providers.

The Screening Questionnaires

Apple utilizes two clinically validated, self-administered assessments within the Mental Wellbeing section of the Health app:

  • PHQ-9 (Patient Health Questionnaire-9): This assessment evaluates risk levels for depression. It consists of nine questions measuring how often a user has been bothered by specific symptoms over the past two weeks, such as a lack of interest in daily activities, changes in sleep or appetite, fatigue, and feelings of hopelessness.
  • GAD-7 (Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7): This assessment screens for generalized anxiety disorder. It asks seven questions focused on symptoms experienced over the past two weeks, including uncontrollable worrying, restlessness, irritability, and trouble relaxing.

How to Access the Assessments

To access and complete these assessments on an iPhone running iOS 18:

  1. Open the Health app.
  2. Tap the Browse tab in the bottom right corner.
  3. Select Mental Wellbeing.
  4. Scroll down and tap Mental Health Assessments (or Take Assessment).
  5. Choose whether to screen for depression, anxiety, or both, and follow the on-screen prompts to answer each question honestly.

Understanding the Results and Privacy

Once completed, the Health app calculates a risk score based on clinical standards:

  • Risk Categorization: Results categorize your risk as None/Minimal, Mild, Moderate, Moderately Severe, or Severe. The app provides context for what each score means alongside educational resources and crisis support hotlines.
  • PDF Export: Users can export a PDF summary of their assessment results and history to review privately with a doctor or therapist.
  • Privacy: All mental health data is encrypted on the device when locked with a passcode, Touch ID, or Face ID. If synced to iCloud, the data remains protected with end-to-end encryption.