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Cited by 134Social Media in Health EducationImpact of Technology on AdolescentsDigital Mental Health Interventions

Exploring opportunities to support mental health care using social media: A survey of social media users with mental illness

Open access
Naslund, John A., Aschbrenner, Kelly A., McHugo, Gregory J., Unützer, Jürgen, Marsch, Lisa A., Bartels, Stephen J.·2019·Early Intervention in Psychiatry
DOI 10.1111/eip.12496PMC PMC5910285
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Abstract

Aim: Social media holds promise for expanding the reach of mental health services, especially for young people who frequently use these popular platforms. We surveyed social media users who self‐identified as having a mental illness to learn about their use of social media for mental health and to identify opportunities to augment existing mental health services. Methods: We asked 240 Twitter users who self‐identified in their profile as having a mental illness to participate in an online survey. The survey was in English and inquired about participants’ mental health condition, use of social media for mental health and interest in accessing mental health programs delivered through social media. Results: Respondents from 10 countries completed 135 surveys. Most respondents were from the United States (54%), Canada (22%) and the United Kingdom (17%) and reported a psychiatric diagnosis of either schizophrenia spectrum disorder (27%), bipolar disorder (25%), major depressive disorder (16%) or depression (20%). Young adults age ≤35 (46%) were more likely to use Instagram (P = .002), Snapchat (P < .001) and their mobile phone for accessing social media (P < .001) compared to adults age 36 and older (53%). Most participants (85%) expressed interest in mental health programs delivered through social media, especially to promote overall health and wellbeing (72%) and for coping with mental health symptoms (90%). Conclusions: This exploratory study demonstrates the feasibility of reaching social media users with mental illness and can inform efforts to leverage social media to make evidence‐based mental health services more widely available to those in need.

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  • Individuals with serious mental illness have emphasized that any mental health intervention on social media would need to be moderated by someone with adequate training and credentials, would need to have ground rules and ways to promote safety and minimize risks, and would need to be free and easy to access.

    “Importantly, individuals with serious mental illness have also emphasized that any mental health intervention on social media would need to be moderated by someone with adequate training and credentials, would need to have ground rules and ways to promote safety and minimize risks, and importantly, would need to be free and easy to access.”

    From Social Media and Mental Health: Benefits, Risks, and Opportunities for Research and Practice (2020) · cites this paper as Naslund et al., 2017

    The Conclusions (page unavailable) say that privacy risks, harms, and overall safety are critical considerations for social-media mental health programs. But the paper does not report participants emphasizing trained and credentialed moderation, ground rules, or free and easy access as requirements; the Discussion reports their interest in such programs, not those conditions. (LLM, conf=0.83)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Many individuals living with mental disorders have expressed interest in accessing evidence-based mental health services delivered over social media specifically for coping with mental health symptoms or for promoting overall health and wellbeing.

    “accessing evidence-based mental health services delivered over social media specifically for coping with mental health symptoms or for promoting overall health and wellbeing (Naslund et al., 2017).”

    From Social Media and Mental Health: Benefits, Risks, and Opportunities for Research and Practice (2020) · cites this paper as Naslund et al., 2017

  • In a survey of social media users with mental illness, sharing personal experiences about living with mental illness and opportunities to learn coping strategies from others were important reasons for using social media.

    “In a survey of social media users with mental illness, respondents reported that sharing personal experiences about living with mental illness and opportunities to learn about strategies for coping with mental illness from others were important reasons for using social media (Naslund et al., 2017).”

    From Social Media and Mental Health: Benefits, Risks, and Opportunities for Research and Practice (2020) · cites this paper as Naslund et al., 2017

  • A survey of social media users with mental illness found that most respondents were interested in accessing programs for mental health on social media targeting symptom management, health promotion, and support for communicating with health care providers and interacting with the health system.

    “A survey of social media users with mental illness found that most respondents were interested in accessing programs for mental health on social media targeting symptom management, health promotion, and support for communicating with health care providers and interacting with the health system (Naslund et al., 2017).”

    From Social Media and Mental Health: Benefits, Risks, and Opportunities for Research and Practice (2020) · cites this paper as Naslund et al., 2017

  • Individuals living with mental illness have expressed interest in accessing mental health services through social media platforms.

    “Research has found that individuals living with mental illness have expressed interest in accessing mental health services through social media platforms.”

    From Social Media and Mental Health: Benefits, Risks, and Opportunities for Research and Practice (2020) · cites this paper as Naslund et al., 2017

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Authors
Naslund, J. A., Aschbrenner, K. A., McHugo, G. J., Unützer, J., Marsch, L. A., & Bartels, S. J.
Affiliations
  • Dartmouth College (US)
  • University of Washington (US)
Corresponding author
Naslund, John A.
ORCID
Venue
Early Intervention in Psychiatry
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2017-10-20
Volume
13
Issue
3
Pages
405-413
ISSN
  • 1751-7885 (ISSN-L)
  • 1751-7893
DOI
10.1111/eip.12496
PMC
PMC5910285
OpenAlex
W2766629935
Cited by
134
References
32
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 22 · 2022: 27 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 1
FWCI
10.95
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor)
Locations
  • Early Intervention in Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
National Institute on Drug Abuse (P30 DA029926)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Health › Social Media in Health Education
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Digital Mental Health Interventions
Keywords
social media, mental illness, mental health services, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, young adults, digital mental health interventions, access to mental health care, schizophrenia spectrum disorders, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, depression, mobile phone use
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Mental Disorders, Canada, Female, United Kingdom, Humans, Male, Mental Health Services, Patient Acceptance of Health Care, Surveys and Questionnaires, United States, Young Adult, Self Report, Social Media

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