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Therapy Culture Goes Online: Exploring the Use of Illness Identities on Social Media / CHLOE WAKEHAM

Swansea University Author: CHLOE WAKEHAM

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DOI (Published version): 10.23889/SUthesis.70843

Abstract

There is growing concern across social institutions, professional contexts, and society at large regarding the impact of social media on mental health. Previous studies have predominantly explored how social media exacerbates mental health issues and utilises machine learning to identify affected in...

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Published: Swansea 2025
Institution: Swansea University
Degree level: Doctoral
Degree name: Ph.D
Supervisor: Calder, Gideon ; Terry, Julia
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa70843
Abstract: There is growing concern across social institutions, professional contexts, and society at large regarding the impact of social media on mental health. Previous studies have predominantly explored how social media exacerbates mental health issues and utilises machine learning to identify affected individuals, underscoring the intrusion of therapy culture into online environments. By contrast, this study examines mental health discourse on Twitter, Tumblr, and TikTok, drawing from Goffman’s self-presentations, Foucault’s social surveillance, Delsol’s loss of meaning, and critiques of therapy culture by Furedi and Lasch, adapting these concepts to the digital realm. The study seeks to comprehend the language, meanings, and cultural values embedded in online identity formation and how identity interacts with mental health discourse. It explores the role of algorithms and other factors in shaping self-presentation and identity. Through extensive online observation, the analysis identifies patterns and meaning-making processes evident in mental health discourse and identity construction. This study contributes methodologically by blending netnographic content analysis (NCA) and semiotic analysis, offering insights into online mental health communities across multiple platforms where multimedia serves as modern forms of folkloric expression. This study identifies three intertwined themes including: humour, individualisation, and self-expression, found within mental health narratives on social media. On the basis of this study’s findings, it is suggested that users delicately navigate these discussions to avoid stigma, despite ongoing efforts to reduce it. In addition, algorithms not only influence content curation but also reinforce users’ self-perceptions by validating their experiences through exposure to similar narratives. This engagement fosters a ‘looping effect’ that perpetuates illness identities, imbuing them with personal significance amid shifting societal values. Thus, continual exposure to these narratives on social media sustains users’ illness identities, reinforcing the meaning derived from these identities. This study, underscores how digital platforms serve as arenas for both constructing and negotiating identities in the context of mental health discourse.
Keywords: therapy culture, mental health, social media, identity, algorithms
College: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

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