Spirituality

Apple marks World Mental Health Day with a watch award and a new sleep meditation

Apple is marking World Mental Health Day on October 10 by offering a limited edition digital award on Apple Watch and releasing a new 20 minute Fitness Plus session called Sleep Meditation with trainer Christian, according to t2ONLINE and Mashable India.

Published

How the watch award is earned#

Apple Watch owners can unlock the digital award on October 10 by recording a 10 minute meditation or workout in any app that logs mindful minutes to the Health app, t2ONLINE reports. The watch's Mindfulness app offers Reflect and Breathe sessions meant to give users a few minutes to focus and center themselves as they breathe, Apple said according to t2ONLINE.

Apple built the new Fitness Plus release around the occasion of World Mental Health Day, and t2ONLINE reports the session is meant to help users wind down before sleep. The wider meditation library is grouped by theme, with Breath, Sleep, Sound, Calm, Resilience and Focus sessions meant to help users feel at ease, while Purpose, Kindness and Gratitude sessions aim at warmth and Awareness, Creativity and Wisdom sessions aim at inspiration, per t2ONLINE.

Mood logging and journaling tools already built in#

Beyond the new release, Apple is pointing to tools already on its devices, including mood and emotion logging in the Health app on iPhone or the Mindfulness app on Apple Watch, which Apple said can show how a person's state of mind correlates with exercise, sleep, daylight exposure and mindful minutes, per t2ONLINE. Mashable India reports that iPhone and iPad also include mental health self-assessments, which t2ONLINE says Apple describes as a way for users to gauge their risk of depression or anxiety, and that the Journal app on iPhone, iPad and Mac lets users write about their day with that time counted automatically as mindful minutes in the Health app.

The day's wider observance#

World Mental Health Day began in 1992 at the initiative of the World Federation for Mental Health, a global organization with members in more than 150 countries, and now serves as an international day for mental health education, awareness and advocacy against stigma, according to Wikipedia.

Other organizations used the same date for their own campaigns. The National Rehabilitation Center in Abu Dhabi launched an awareness push under the slogan "Mental Health: The Foundation for Recovery," aimed at reducing stigma around seeking psychological support and encouraging timely access to help, Menafn reports. In Pakistan, Dunya News reports that the UN estimates about 32.4 million people need mental health care while only 5% of the population has access to services, and that the government launched its National Mental Health Policy 2026-2035 with the World Health Organisation and UNICEF on October 1.

Discover more