The Coronavirus pandemic has resulted in increasing mental health concerns around the world, which has led to medical experts teaming up with various social media platforms to generate awareness and provide useful techniques and other resources to individuals who need them. The World Mental Health Day is also approaching, and so Facebook has just announced the launch of its new resource center of Emotional Health.
According to Facebook, Emotional Health is a centralized resource center on the Facebook app which will provide people with tips and information from leading experts.
Facebook has worked with global leading authorities including NAMI, Kids Help Phone, and It’s OK To Talk, in order to assist people struggling with financial stress, parenting problems, loss and grief, substance abuse, and other mental and emotional concerns.
Facebook says that it will continue to expand the information and resources provided as it receives more updates and feedback regarding people’s current emotional needs.
The resources that will be accessible within Emotional Health include a WHO Health Alert WhatsApp Chatbot, WHO Messenger sticker pack, Crisis Support Over Messenger, Mental Wellbeing Guides on Instagram, and an original series of ‘'Peace of Mind with Taraji’' on Facebook Watch.
The WHO sticker pack is meant to facilitate conversations around mental health, while the Crisis Support over Messenger will provide help for suicide and self-harm prevention via Crisis Text Line. The Peace of Mind Series have been created to highlight the latest mental health issues around the world.
Apart from launching a resource center, Facebook has also invested in research around the impact of social media on mental health. The company has worked with the Aspen Institute to particularly develop an understanding of loneliness, social connection, technology and the relationship of all of these factors with one another. The findings gathered through the research have already been published as Lessons in Loneliness.
In addition to that, the social media company’s next goal is to conduct further research in collaboration with mental health professionals on the tipping point between feel-good social media activity and the spiraling of toxic feelings.
