As Mental Health Awareness Month gets underway, Snap is announcing several new partnerships and in-app resources to continue supporting the mental health and well-being of our community. 

From our earliest days, Snapchat was designed in a way to empower Snapchatters to express themselves authentically. That's why we built the platform without public vanity metrics such as public comments and friend counts, and without an unmoderated newsfeed. 

We have always been inspired by the power that real friendships have in determining health and happiness – and this is particularly true among young people. Studies show that spending time with friends, whether in person or online, is the best defence against feeling lonely or depressed and that friends are often a first port of call for those struggling with a mental health challenge. 

As a platform made for close friends, we believe Snapchat has a unique opportunity to make a difference, and have built a suite of in-app resources and features to support our community. 

Here's a recap of our current features:

• Early last year, we created Here For You, partnering with leading international advocacy and mental health organisations including ActiveMinds, AdCouncil, Crisis Text Line, Diana Award, eEnfance, Manas Foundation, Mariwala Health Initiative, MindUp, National Alliance on Mental Health, National Eating Disorders Association, National Network to End Domestic Violence, Project ROCKIT, Shout 85258, The Calm Zone, The Human Rights Campaign, The Samaritans and Young Minds to provide expert in-app resources related to mental health, anxiety, eating disorders, depression, stress, suicidal thoughts, grief and bullying.

• Also in 2020, we partnered with Headspace to launch a Mini within Snapchat to provide a safe space for friends to practice meditation and mindfulness exercises while sending encouraging messages to check in and positively boost friends in need.

Here's a few new initiatives to support Snapchatters: 

• We've signed on as a founding partner of the first-ever Mental Health Action Day on Thursday, 20 May alongside MTV Entertainment Group and more than 650 leading brands, non-profits, government agencies and cultural leaders to drive people to take action to support their mental health. As part of this activation, Snap has also partnered with Active Minds on a Mental Health Action Day Filter encouraging Snapchatters to take action around mental health for themselves and for their communities. You can learn more about the initiative HERE.

• Since everyone experiences mental health issues in different ways, we teamed up with AdCouncil to develop the “Seize the Awkward” national Filter and Lens to provide Snapchatters with unique conversation starters that spark meaningful discussions about mental health. Read more about the campaign HERE.  

• To help reduce the stigma surrounding mental health in under-represented communities, we've partnered with The Boris L. Henson Foundation to create a national Filter addressing mental health risks for Black youth. Read more about the organisation HERE. 

• For another engaging way to raise awareness and help debunk the stigma surrounding mental health, we're rolling out new Bitmoji Stickers that are paired with resources to find additional support. Share the 'Mental Health First' Bitmoji Sticker with friends in a Snap or in your Story to spread awareness. 

• We've always wanted to make sure that the content on our Discover platform reflects our community and the issues they care about, including mental health. That's why, we're debuting a new Snap Original, “Everything's Fine”, that follows a university fresher named Gemma who tries to make it big in the music industry while coping with her bipolar diagnosis. Take a look at the trailer HERE. 

Going forward, we will continue to expand our wellness efforts to further empower Snapchatters to seek out support for themselves and their friends. We hope that these tools and resources will drive awareness about mental health and encourage Snpachatters to stay healthy and safe.