Google search activity in early psychosis: A qualitative analysis of internet search query content in first episode psychosis
Abstract
Aim Manually explore the Google search queries of individuals with first episode psychosis prior to their first hospitalization, in effort to identify common themes and search interests during the period of emerging illness. Methods Individuals hospitalized for psychosis between December 2016 and September 2017 provided access to their Google archive data for manual qualitative evaluation of search content. Searches conducted during the 6-month time period prior to the participant's first hospitalization for psychosis were extracted and evaluated for search activity associated with mental health. Results Of 20 archives reviewed, 15 individuals (75%) searched for information classified by reviewers as related to mental health. Searches with content associated with delusions were found in 15 participant archives (75%). Searches related to negative symptoms including social withdrawal and decline in function were identified in 6 participant's search archives (30%). Four participants (20%) had searches that were associated with thought processes, and 2 participants (10%) searched for information on suicide. Four participants (20%) searched for information related to anxiety, whereas 3 participants (15%) had searches related to depressive symptoms. Conclusions Individuals with early psychosis appear to be using the Internet for obtaining information about their early symptoms and experiences prior to their first contact with psychiatric care. Improving our understanding of the way…
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Individuals experiencing their first episode of psychosis often consult search engines with queries related to delusional perceptions in early stages.
“Individuals experiencing their first episode of psychosis often consult search engines with queries related to delusional perceptions in early stages136”
From A scoping review on the mental health harms of LLM-based chatbots (2026) · cites this paper as [136]
Cites
Internet information-seeking in mental health: Population survey
Powell, J., & Clarke, A. (2006) · British Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1192/bjp.bp.105.017319 · Cited by 253 · cited 1× · see citing works
“…with prior work suggesting that the Internet is often one of the first places people turn to search for information about their experiences with mental illness (Ayers, Althouse, Allem, Rosenquist, & Ford, 2013; Birnbaum, Garrett, et al., 2017; Birnbaum, Rizvi, et al., 2018; Powell & Clarke, 2006).”
BackgroundRutigliano, G., Valmaggia, L., Landi, P., Frascarelli, M., Cappucciati, M., Sear, V., Rocchetti, M., De Micheli, A., Jones, C., Palombini, E., et al. (2016) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2016.05.053 · Cited by 138 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
A scoping review on the mental health harms of LLM-based chatbots
Diel, A., Torous, J., Cuijpers, P., Kleesiek, J., Nensa, F., Weber, N., Faust, F., Lalgi, T. J., Mellis, F. S., Teufel, M., et al. (2026) · npj Digital Medicine · doi:10.1038/s41746-026-03054-x · Cited by 4 · see citing works
- Authors
- Kirschenbaum, M. A., Birnbaum, M. L., Rizvi, A., Muscat, W., Patel, L., & Kane, J. M.
- Affiliations
- Northwell Health (US)
- Corresponding author
- Kirschenbaum, Michael A.
- Venue
- Early Intervention in Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2019-10-21
- Volume
- 14
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 606-612
- ISSN
- 1751-7885 (ISSN-L)
- 1751-7893
- OpenAlex
- W2982035000
- Cited by
- 14
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2024: 5 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 1
- FWCI
- 1.59
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Early Intervention in Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Schizophrenia research and treatment
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health Literacy and Information Accessibility
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
- Keywords
- first-episode psychosis, emerging psychosis, Google search queries, online search behavior, delusions, negative symptoms, social withdrawal, suicide, anxiety, depressive symptoms, online information seeking, duration of untreated psychosis, pathways to care, online mental health resources
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Female, Hospitalization, Humans, Male, Mental Health, Patient Acceptance of Health Care, Psychotic Disorders, Internet
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
