Snapchat to offer mental health support to those searching sensitive topics

Called Here For You, it will be launched in the coming months to help users experiencing a mental health or emotional crisis.

Snapchat

In honor of Safer Internet Day, Snapchat announced a new feature that will soon be added to its apps to help users coping with mental health issues.

Called Here For You, the new feature will provide proactive in-app support to Snapchatters who may be experiencing a mental health or emotional crisis, or who may be curious to learn more about these issues and how they can help friends dealing with them.

Here For You, which will roll out in the coming months, will show safety resources from local experts when Snapchatters search for certain topics — including those related to anxiety, depression, stress, grief, suicidal thoughts, and bullying.

Additionally, Snapchatters will also be able to engage with Creative Tools and Lenses that promote safety and privacy, which include new Filters and the first-ever Snappable quiz.

With this announcement, Snapchat is joining Facebook, which has launched an array of mental health tools. Back in 2015, the social networking giant unveiled tools to prevent suicides, which were updated with AI capabilities two years later. Also, in October 2019, Facebook introduced new tools for World Mental Health Day to help facilitate difficult conversations concerning mental health.