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Quantifying Changes in the Language Used Around Mental Health on Twitter Over 10 Years: Observational Study
Anne Marie Stupinski1, Thayer Alshaabi1,2, Michael V Arnold1
1Computational Story Lab, Vermont Complex Systems Center, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, United States.
JMIR Mental Health
|March 30, 2022
Summary
Discussions about mental health on Twitter have significantly increased, indicating greater awareness and reduced stigma. While message positivity has declined, more content is shared via retweets, suggesting increased acceptance.
Area of Science:
- Social media analysis
- Computational linguistics
- Public health communication
Background:
- Mental health issues affect 10% globally, often untreated due to stigma and access barriers.
- Twitter serves as a platform for dialogue and support for stigmatized groups.
- Social media can lower barriers to discussing sensitive topics like mental health.
Purpose of the Study:
- Quantify the increase in mental health discussions on Twitter.
- Measure changes in public awareness and stigma surrounding mental health.
- Analyze the dynamics of mental health conversations on social media.
Main Methods:
- Analyzed 1-, 2-, and 3-grams from English tweets (2010-2021).
- Examined temporal trends, message positivity, and social amplification (retweet ratios).
- Quantified changes in language related to mental health over time.
Main Results:
- The phrase "mental health" increased by nearly 100x between 2012-2018.
- Mentions spiked due to awareness campaigns, mass shootings, celebrity suicides, and TV portrayals.
- Message positivity declined recently, but increased retweets since 2015 suggest reduced stigma.
Conclusions:
- Twitter conversations about mental health have grown significantly.
- Increased awareness and acceptance of mental health topics are evident.
- Social media platforms play a role in destigmatizing mental health discussions.
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