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Talk about mental problems in social networks: beneficial for those who read it, not so much for those who tell it

2020-02-20T20:21:02.299Z


Conversations related to mental health are common among Twitter users, who even rely on them to make memes of their own symptoms


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The list of celebrities who has openly talked about their mental problems on social networks ranges from Brad Pitt to JK Rowling, through others such as Selena Gomez or Jim Carrey. One of the first was the Cara Delevingne model, who in April 2016 spoke for the first time on Twitter about the depression she was suffering. That same year, the hashtag #MentalIllnessTaughtMe (# LaEnfermedadMentalMeEnseñan, in Spanish) went viral. The publications told stories about personal experiences of users with anxiety, depression or obsessive compulsive disorders and encouraged them to take the step of asking for help. Since then, conversations related to mental health are common among Twitter users, who even rely on them to make memes of their own symptoms.

What makes more and more people take this step? Apparently, seeing others talk about their problems legitimizes ours, makes us feel more understood. "It is true that other users with the same disorder may feel identified and less alone when they see that others are going through something similar," says Manuel Oliva, clinical psychologist at the Center for Clinical Psychology. “When you comment on what happens to you, it has a positive effect on itself. But it doesn't happen just by saying it on the networks, it also happens when you go to a professional or a friend. Expressing it is always good, but choosing to share it on social networks is a very personal decision. ”

For this expert, reading about the experiences of others "sometimes has a therapeutic effect and can help normalize certain pathologies." It is an extended opinion. For young people with problems who find it difficult to find support in their environment, social networks “can act as a useful tool, providing the possibility to share their experiences with other people with whom they can empathize and interact,” explains the report of the Center for Mental Health association in London.

They are called intrusive thoughts and it happens to all of us. AND WE ALL THOUGHT THAT WE WERE PUTO DISTURBED.

- Γνῶθι σεαυτόν. 🜏 (@TemporaAeterna) January 30, 2020

But it also embodies some risks. "The problem is that it can lead them to worry or become obsessed with the same thing happening to them." Each disorder has different manifestations and characteristics depending on the person, something that has also motivated movements on Twitter such as #ThisIsWhatAnxietyFeelsLike (This is what it feels like to have anxiety, in Spanish), where users tell their particular way of living this disorder and the specific symptoms of each one, ranging from feeling of drowning or fainting to feeling of unreality or tunnel vision.

Oliva highlights another risk: the comments received on Twitter are beyond our control, which can cause anyone who tells their experience to receive harmful opinions. “Exposing yourself to a general opinion can have a detrimental effect and even encourage stigma. There are always people who pour opinions from ignorance. ” Making a general assessment, Oliva says: “If a patient asks me if I recommend that he talk about his mental illness in networks, he would say no. I would encourage you to express it in a safe context, with a psychologist or in your family environment. ”

Congratulations and thank you! I think we are many today who have somehow suffered. Talking and making it visible is key. And yes, it also stigmatizes.

- Àngels Masó (@angelsmaso) December 18, 2019

To date, research on whether to talk about mental health may or may not affect patients' symptoms has focused mainly on the news published in this regard and on official speeches, but conversations with mentions of mental and emotional problems generated In social networks they have been little studied.

However, recent research published in Nature has found that requests for urgent help from patients with disorders increased on the days when a higher number of tuirs were published on mental health issues. The study used data collected by two centers in London. Robert Stewart, responsible for the research, and his colleagues compared the amount of tweets containing keywords associated with depression and schizophrenia with the registered requests for help. In the days with a higher number of tweets that mentioned these diseases and showed support for any of them, the authors observed increases of between 5% and 15% in the number of requests for help.

The case of TikTok

In addition to making funny videos and new dance challenges, TikTok is also being used lately to discuss the systems of attention to mental problems for young people and adolescents, the app's main audience. Users are focusing on criticizing the care they receive when they go to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in the United Kingdom, the service that is responsible for diagnosing and treating various disorders in young people. According to Vice , clinical psychologist Nicola Green, who has worked with CAMHS for more than 15 years, warns of the dangers that the community can discourage other young people from asking for help, but believes that TikTok can be a good way to express themselves. "I think it's good for young people to have meeting points where they can connect with others who may be experiencing similar things," he explains.

Source: elparis

All news articles on 2020-02-20

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