Pinterest launches wellness activities to help users cope with stress, anxiety [TechCrunch]

Pinterest has introduced emotional wellness activities tailored for the millions of users searching the visual pinboard for emotional health and related topics.

Created in partnership with Brainstorm, the Stanford Lab for Mental Health Innovation, Vibrant Emotional Health and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, the activities, meant for users to complete when they are feeling anxious, sad or stressed, include deep-breathing and self-compassion exercises.

Emotional well being activites 1

The option to engage with the new activities pops up when a Pinterest user searches for “stress quotes,” “work anxiety” or other terms that indicate they might be feeling down, the company explained.

The look and feel of the activities is different from the rest of Pinterest. The company wants users to understand their use of these activities are private and not connected to their account; no recommendations or ads will be based on their use of the new resources and Pinterest doesn’t track who is using the tools — rather the activity is stored anonymously using a third-party service. Pinterest declined to disclose the name of the service, but said it was a “reputable leader in third-party analytics.”

“People come to Pinterest to discover ideas, get inspired and focus on themselves, their interests, their futures,” writes Pinterest product manager Annie Ta. “One of the main ways people find inspiration is through Search, from summer activities to try to creative ways to express yourself. But we know that life isn’t always so inspiring, and things on the internet aren’t either.”

The company will fully roll out the new product in the coming weeks.