Tweets about mental health could be predictor for ‘crisis episodes’

A new study in the U.K. provides further evidence to support how social media can influence mental health. Scientists retroactively looked at how frequently certain mental health topics were tweeted about and correlated them with two health facilities' instances of “crisis episodes” — defined as in-hospital or at-home incidents requiring the attention of hospital mental health professionals or referrals to crisis centers. There was a small uptick in episodes on days with a more-than-average number of tweets on depression and schizophrenia. The effect was higher when counting supportive or de-stigmatizing tweets: There was a 10% increase in crisis episodes at one facility on days with an above-average number of tweets supporting those with schizophrenia, for example. The findings only show an association, but could help health professionals better prepare for a possible increase in the need for mental health services.