Understanding the Impact of COVID-19 on Online Mental Health Forums

Abstract

Like many of the disasters that have preceded it, the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to have a profound impact on people’s mental health. Understanding its impact can inform strategies for mitigating negative consequences. This work seeks to better understand the impacts of COVID-19 on mental health by examining how discussions on mental health subreddits have changed in the three months following the WHO’s declaration of a global pandemic. First, the rate at which the pandemic is discussed in each community is quantified. Then, volume of activity is measured to determine whether the number of people with mental health concerns has risen, and user interactions are analyzed to determine how they have changed during the pandemic. Finally, the content of the discussions is analyzed. Each of these metrics is considered with respect to a set of control subreddits to better understand if the changes present are specific to mental health subreddits or are representative of Reddit as a whole. There are numerous changes in the three mental health subreddits that we consider, r/Anxiety, r/depression, r/SuicideWatch; there is reduced posting activity in most cases, and there are significant changes in discussion of some topics such as work and anxiety. The results suggest that there is not an overwhelming increase in online mental health support-seeking on Reddit during the pandemic, but that discussion content related to mental health has changed.

Mental health-related communication in a virtual community: text mining analysis of a digital exchange platform during the Covid-19 pandemic

“…The findings show that the users’ communication behaviour was well meaning and supportive. The positive and supportive interaction seems to go in line with other mental health-related communication in VC [ 8 , 9 ]. Thus, the way in which users interact with each other does not differ between user-led VC and VC managed by organizations or professionals.…”

“…The identified topics of ‘anxiety’ and ‘ loneliness’ in connection with the virus and isolation go hand in hand with the current literature: that the degree of anxiety has increased among the population [ 25 , 26 ]. However, current literature on the effect of VC on users’ health status [ 27 ] or mental health during the Covid-19 pandemic [ 8 ] is sparse. Further research is needed to understand and describe the effect of such VC on the users’ health status as well as their well-being, but this is a challenge because, from the perspective of the users, the advantage of a VC and the support it provides is anonymity [ 28 ].…”

“…To answer the research question, we conducted a descriptive study with the natural language processing method, text mining (e.g. frequencies of words used or sentiment analysis) [ 8 , 9 ].…”

“…Lack of accessible mental health services might have led to people affected by the Covid-19 pandemic seeking alternative solutions for social inclusion. Especially during the first wave of the pandemic and the associated lockdown, individuals used digital solutions to maintain their connections with others by gathering in virtual communities (VC) [ 8 , 9 ].…”

“…These VC differed regarding their aims, such as a VC for passive readers of daily Covid-19 infection reports or a VC with more active contributors through reciprocal emotional support and posting humorous content [ 9 ]. However, all VC had one common theme: they were initiated and moderated by the users [ 8 , 9 ].…”