Anxiety, stress, depression, and unhappiness are direct consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has been going on worldwide for more than a year. While health professionals continue to sound the alarm about this public health problem, consumers seem keen to take their personal wellbeing in hand and find ways to be kind to themselves in uncertain times.
Self-love and self-acceptance—two notions gaining traction in the media—seem to be of particular concern to the world's population right now. According to data published by Pinterest, searches on the network for the questions "how can I love myself?" and "how can I heal myself?" have increased six- and four-fold, respectively, in recent months. It seems that people have decided to take control of their mental health, tackling these issues head-on to keep themselves afloat during the crisis.
Amid the various lockdowns, curfews, and periods of restricted movement, people are searching for ways to learn how to love themselves and to take care of their emotional wellbeing. This has been seen in an uptick of searches for positive ideas and inspiration for boosting mental health. Pinterest has seen strong growth in searches for "mental health painting," which have doubled compared to last year, as well as searches for "mental health journaling," which have increased tenfold.