Snap’s mental health tool, called Here For You, wants you to know someone is always there for you.
Originally unveiled in 2020, Here for You is designed to serve up “proactive in-app support” to Snapchatters who may be experiencing mental health or emotional crises. It’s also just useful to anyone who may want to learn more about these issues and help others who are dealing with them. Here For You was announced before the coronavirus pandemic, and then it was rolled out early to help folks dealing with all of the effects of isolation.
What is Snap’s Here For You tool?
Here For You is designed to show “safety resources” from mental health experts – including local experts – when you search for certain topics, such as anxiety, depression, stress, grief, suicidal thoughts, and bullying. There’s a COVID-19-specific topic, for instance, complete with information from the Ad Council, World Health Organization, the CDC, Crisis Text Line, the NHS, and others. Snap, the company behind Snapchat, partnered with these experts to create content specifically related to coronavirus.
In a statement, Snap said Here For You is “informed by studies” that show connecting with others is the best defense against “feelings of loneliness”.
How to use Snap’s Here for You tool
The Search feature inside the Snapchat app for iOS and Android will help you find friends, saved memories, lenses, publishers’ stories, and now, Here For You resources. Just type in a mental health-related topic, like depression, suicide, or even just “sad”, and then you will see Here For You suggestions related to the topic you’re searching. You’ll also see resources related to the pandemic, if you search things like coronavirus or COVID-19. You can also subscribe to Here For You for regular updates.
- Open the latest version of the Snapchat mobile app.
- Unless you’re a new user who has to first sign up, you should see the Camera.
- Look for the Search button (magnifying glass icon) up top, and tap it.
- Now, start typing in the Search field. Type “Here For You” to find the feature and subscribe, or type words related to mental health crises or the pandemic to be surfaced Here For You content related to the search term.
What next?
Once you find Here For you, you can view recent stories it’s surfaced that are aimed to help you with mental health issues. You can view these stories from the subscription bar in your Stories page.