Understanding social media discourse on antidepressants: unsupervised and sentiment analysis using X

Area of Science:

• Pharmacovigilance
• Social Media Analysis
• Mental Health Research

Background:

• Antidepressants are crucial for depression management, including treatment-resistant forms.
• Public perception, influenced by social media, impacts patient adherence and treatment outcomes.
• Understanding these perceptions is key to improving mental healthcare.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze public attitudes toward antidepressants using social media data.
• To explore language-based differences in discussions about antidepressant medications.
• To identify trends, concerns, and emotions related to antidepressant use.

Main Methods:

• Collected and analyzed 1.4 million tweets in English and Spanish (2007-2022).
• Utilized sentiment and topic modeling for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and glutamatergic drugs.
• Examined temporal trends and emotional tones in online discussions.

Main Results:

• SSRIs were most discussed; English tweets focused on pricing, Spanish on side effects and availability.
• Glutamatergic drugs, like esketamine, generated significant attention and strong emotions.
• Discussions increased over time, with notable peaks and exponential growth for certain drug classes.

Conclusions:

• Social media offers insights into culturally diverse public perceptions of antidepressants.
• Addressing patient concerns and misconceptions identified on social media is vital for informed treatment.
• Continued research is needed to refine pharmacovigilance and public health strategies.