Pinterest expands self-help exercises
Pinterest is giving more people access to its mental health and wellbeing self-help exercises, with the tools now being made available in nine new regions.
As per Pinterest:
"Today we’re bringing our collection of emotional well-being activities to Pinners in nine additional countries, including the UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia, Singapore, India, the Philippines, Hong Kong and New Zealand."
Originally launched in the US last July, Pinterest's mental health tools are displayed in search results when users enter queries like “sad quotes,” “work anxiety” or other terms which may indicate a mental health concern (users can also access them at any time by searching #pinterestwellbeing).
The tools, when selected, then guide the user through an exercise designed to help them take a moment and reflect on their state.
Pinterest says that it was compelled to implement the processes after seeing a rise in mental health-related queries on its platform:
"As people look for ways to cope with their emotions, searches for anxiety quotes increased 8x year-over-year, and searches for how to support someone with depression have doubled. Sometimes, you need more than an inspirational quote. That’s why we’re going a step further to offer tools people can use on a regular basis to help manage their emotions, and we hope they leave Pinterest feeling a little bit better."
Pinterest developed the exercises in conjunction with various expert groups, including Samaritans, Vibrant Emotional Health and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, ensuring that each aligns with the latest research in the field.
It's a good program from Pinterest, and all social platforms should be considering similar. It's one thing to display links to relevant support services, but by providing immediate access to simple exercises like these, Pinterest is giving users practical, simple steps that they can follow, right there and then, to ideally ease their tension.
Pinterest says that in addition to these nine new regions, it's working to make the tools available to more of its users around the world in the near future.
