Apple is set to release iOS 17, featuring mental health and wellness tools that go beyond traditional health tracking. These new features aim to provide insights into users’ mental states and well-being by incorporating mood tracking, mental health questionnaires, and a journaling app that collects various data points from users’ interactions with technology.
Mood Tracking: The “State of Mind” tool allows users to rate their emotions randomly or daily using a sliding scale of mental states. Users can log their mood at specific times or for the entire day, with options ranging from “unpleasant” to “pleasant.” Contextual information can be added, including specific emotions and contributing factors.
Mental Health Questionnaires: Users can access preliminary screenings for depression and anxiety using the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 screening tools, respectively. The results can alert users to their risk levels and connect them with licensed professionals in their area.
Journaling App: The journaling app collects user data from various sources, such as photos, texts, music, gaming, TV history, location, and fitness, to provide a comprehensive overview of each day. Users can visualize their mental state data on a calendar and graph, allowing them to track their mental well-being over time.
Integration within Apple Ecosystem: Apple’s extensive ecosystem enables the collection of unique insights about users’ lives, making it possible to offer a holistic view of their interactions with technology. This approach aims to hold a mirror up to users, allowing them to see their lives through their technology interactions.
While the introduction of these features provides valuable insights into mental well-being, it also raises questions and concerns:
Transhumanism: The ability to track both physical and mental aspects of a person’s life through technology brings users closer to a transhumanist vision, where humans and technology merge. Apple’s devices could define not only users’ active lives but also their mental lives, potentially shaping their self-concept.
Data Interpretation: The data collected by these features may lead users to make conclusions about their lives based on correlations between mental states and other metrics. However, the interpretation of data is influenced by measurement biases and the limitations of the metrics used.
Looping Effects: Users may experience looping effects where their self-concept is influenced by the insights AI draws from their data. This can affect how users shape their lives to achieve desirable graphs and self-concepts.
Corporate Mandates: Apple’s integration of health and well-being into its ecosystem reflects its corporate vision. While Apple states that it does not share personal data with third parties for marketing purposes, its health app reflects its goals for users’ well-being.
Consumer Dependence: Apple’s ecosystem fosters consumer dependence, making users reliant on the company for their digital needs and potentially even their well-being.
In conclusion, while Apple’s mental health features offer valuable insights, there are concerns about their impact on users’ self-concepts, consumer dependence, and the corporate motivations behind such tools. It remains to be seen how users will interpret and incorporate this data into their lives and self-identities.
