What to do when your friend pushes depression on social media
A new study suggests that people should advise friends to ask for help when they will post on depression.
With discussions onMental Health andself-administered care Becoming much more frequent and frank nowadays, you have probably seen some of your friends or family members Write messages on Facebook on their struggles withmental health problems. Of course, it can be difficult to know how to react in order toHelp a friend with depression and show that you support them. And according to a new study published in the newspaperJMIR Research ProtocolsUnfortunately, it turns out that we do not tend to do the right thing.
In the research of the University of Ohio State, 33 students reported having "sanctioned on Facebook for help whendepressed. "Half of them reported symptoms compatible withModerate to severe depression And around a recently reported third party with suicidal thoughts. Only one of the students in the study directlyask for helpand only three actually mentionedThe word "depression". The others referred to their depression using citations on sadness (5%), a negative emotion (5%), song lyrics sad (15%) or by sentences like "things could not be worse "(45%) (45%).
"They did not use words like"depressedIn their Facebook positions. It can be because of theStigma around mental illness, "ScotTye CashAssociate Professor of Social Work at the University of Ohio State and the Copyright of the Study, "saiddeclaration. "Or maybe they did not know that their symptoms indicated that they were depressed."
In any case, these students said that none of their friends responded to how mental health experts say you should have, what recommends you to look forprofessional help. The most common answer was to say something of support (35%), to ask what was wrong (19%), send a private message or contact the friend apart from Facebook (11%) or simply " as "the post (11%).
It can be difficult to tell a friend that they should look for professional help, especially in an online forum, because you do not want them to offer you or think you forget that something is wrong with them. But theExperts say In doing so, it's the best move you can do for them in the long run. "It makes me fear that none of theFacebook Friends Students in this study were proactive to helping their friend get help, "said Cash." We need to increase literacy and reduce mental health.Stigmatization of mental health. "
