Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Aug 2, 2023
Date Accepted: May 6, 2024
Needs expressed in peer-to-peer online interactions among people with depression and anxiety disorders hospitalized in a mental health facility: a mixed-method study
ABSTRACT
Background:
Many individuals with severe mental health problems require hospitalization in psychiatric wards.
Objective:
Our objective was to identify and describe these needs, and to assess whether they were addressed by peers.
Methods:
We conducted a search of web-based forums focused on depression and anxiety, and selected a purposeful sample of 160 and 176 posts, respectively.
Results:
There was no difference between forums in the way the needs were expressed. The needs were directly and incompletely addressed by forum users. In a quantitative analysis, there were more posts about the need for informational support, expression of anger, and seeking professional support in depression-related forums than in those related to anxiety. The qualitative analysis shows that users join online communities to discuss their fears and questions about psychiatric hospitals. The posts reveal four mental and emotional representations of psychiatric hospitals: the hospital as an unknown place, the ambivalence of presumptions and needs, the negative perception of psychiatric hospitals, and the people associated with psychiatric hospitals.
Conclusions:
Our study demonstrated that online forums can serve as a platform for individuals with depression and anxiety disorders to express their needs and engage with other people who seek information about psychiatric hospitals.
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