Could Apple Watch measure anxiety?

[The Cockney Rebel]

When really anxious, heart rate and perspiration/temperature increases.

Could this be measured by Apple Watch, then maybe suggest a calming breathing exercise?

I think it could be useful.

Thoughts?

 

[Madonepro]

When really anxious, one’s heart rate and perspiration/temperature increases.

Could this be measured by Apple Watch, then maybe suggest a calming breathing exercise?

I think it could be useful.

Thoughts?

HRV and Stress metrics, show the effects of chronic anxiety. Anxiety is a normal response to stress, as it's our 'fight and flight' system at work. The chronic part, is when there are no external stimulus, just our internal voice.As you've stated, breathing exercises are good.

May I offer this suggestion of one, to listen/watch.

 

[The Cockney Rebel]

HRV and Stress metrics, show the effects of chronic anxiety. Anxiety is a normal response to stress, as it's our 'fight and flight' system at work. The chronic part, is when there are no external stimulus, just our internal voice.As you've stated, breathing exercises are good.

May I offer this suggestion of one, to listen/watch.

Thanks for that.

I’m watching the video, now 👍🏼.

 

[Beau10]

When really anxious, heart rate and perspiration/temperature increases.

Could this be measured by Apple Watch, then maybe suggest a calming breathing exercise?

I think it could be useful.

Thoughts?

I use Athlytic, which is a health tracking app that requires a sub @ $30/year. I pay for it as it tracks HRV which is the top indicator for cardiovascular health.

It has an active stress scoring system, which is a combo of HRV and RHR. You can assign a notification to be sent to the watch if a certain stress threshold is eclipsed.

 

[PaladinGuy]

I use Athlytic, which is a health tracking app that requires a sub @ $30/year. I pay for it as it tracks HRV which is the top indicator for cardiovascular health.

It has an active stress scoring system, which is a combo of HRV and RHR. You can assign a notification to be sent to the watch if a certain stress threshold is eclipsed.

This is a good suggestion. I’ve used Athlytic for years. The biggest limitation is that Apple Watch takes very infrequent HRV readings and sometimes infrequent HR readings. So you are likely not going to catch the spike in readings at the time you’d really need to have a moment of calmness/mindfulness.

 

[Abazigal]

Back when I was still using the Siri watch face on my apple watch, it would occasionally remind me to breathe, but I have no idea if the notification was a random one or pegging to some health metric the sensors detected. 😛

 

[The Cockney Rebel]

Appreciate the advice.

I’ll have a look at the app that’s been suggested.

 

[dotzero123]

Pair AW with a Whoop band

 

[martint235]

When really anxious, heart rate and perspiration/temperature increases.

Could this be measured by Apple Watch, then maybe suggest a calming breathing exercise?

I think it could be useful.

Thoughts?

An increase in heart rate and temperature could be anything though and potentially much more serious than anxiety. I have atrial fibrillation for example and while not serious in itself I wouldn’t want an episode to be misdiagnosed as anxiety.

 

[The Cockney Rebel]

An increase in heart rate and temperature could be anything though and potentially much more serious than anxiety. I have atrial fibrillation for example and while not serious in itself I wouldn’t want an episode to be misdiagnosed as anxiety.

Wishing you well, Martin.

 

[Bichon]

I'd think you need a different kind of wearable, perhaps a future product like an Apple Hat with integrated EEG sensors (that could measure and assess brain waves) to have any kind of real shot at accurately detecting mental health issues like anxiety and depression.

 

[mybodywatchdev]

When really anxious, heart rate and perspiration/temperature increases.

Could this be measured by Apple Watch, then maybe suggest a calming breathing exercise?

I think it could be useful.

Thoughts?

That's a great idea! The Apple Watch actually does detect some stress indicators through heart rate spikes and HRV drops. Apple's Breathe app tries to address this, but it's not proactive enough.

The challenge is distinguishing anxiety from normal elevation (walking upstairs, coffee, etc). You'd need a baseline for each person and context awareness.

I've been working with HRV data a lot lately - combining multiple metrics like HRV, RHR, and temperature trends gives much better insight than any single measurement. The key is making it simple enough that people actually use it rather than getting overwhelmed by data.

Have you tried any of the existing stress detection features in watchOS? Curious what your experience has been.

 

[The Cockney Rebel]

That's a great idea! The Apple Watch actually does detect some stress indicators through heart rate spikes and HRV drops. Apple's Breathe app tries to address this, but it's not proactive enough.

The challenge is distinguishing anxiety from normal elevation (walking upstairs, coffee, etc). You'd need a baseline for each person and context awareness.

I've been working with HRV data a lot lately - combining multiple metrics like HRV, RHR, and temperature trends gives much better insight than any single measurement. The key is making it simple enough that people actually use it rather than getting overwhelmed by data.

Have you tried any of the existing stress detection features in watchOS? Curious what your experience has been.

Thanks for the response.

I do get fairly regular high heart rate notifications, when I know I’m stressed/anxious.

Would be nice if Apple developed a specific app for this topic, as the watch can measure the metrics.

Thanks again, and wishing you well 👍🏼.