OBJECTIVE: Our objectives were to identify and describe individual needs related to mental hospitals through peer-to-peer interactions on Polish web-based forums among individuals with depression and anxiety disorders and to assess whether these needs were addressed by peers.
METHODS: We conducted a search of web-based forums focused on depression and anxiety and selected samples of 160 and 176 posts, respectively, until we reached saturation. A mixed methods analysis that included an in-depth content analysis, the Pearson χ2 test, and φ coefficient was used to evaluate the posts.
RESULTS: The most frequently identified needs were the same for depression and anxiety forums and involved informational (105/160, 65.6% and 169/393, 43%, respectively), social life (17/160, 10.6% and 90/393, 22.9%, respectively), and emotional (9/160, 5.6% and 66/393, 16.8%, respectively) needs. The results show that there is no difference in the expression of needs between the analyzed forums. The needs were directly (42/47, 89% vs 98/110, 89.1% of times for depression and anxiety, respectively) and not fully (27/47, 57% vs 86/110, 78.2% of times for depression and anxiety, respectively) addressed by forum users. In quantitative analysis, we found that depression-related forums had more posts about the need for informational support and rectification, the expression of anger, and seeking professional support. By contrast, anxiety-related forums had more posts about the need for emotional support; social life; and information concerning medications, hope, and motivation. The most common co-occurrence of expressed needs was between sharing own experience and the need for professional support, with a strong positive association. The qualitative analysis showed that users join web-based communities to discuss their fears and questions about psychiatric hospitals. The posts revealed 4 mental and emotional representations of psychiatric hospitals: the hospital as an unknown place, the ambivalence of presumptions and needs, the negative representation of psychiatric hospitals, and the people associated with psychiatric hospitals. The tone of the posts was mostly negative, with discussions revolving around negative stereotypes; traumatic experiences; and beliefs that increased anxiety, shock, and fright and deterred users from hospitalization.
CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates that web-based forums can provide a platform for individuals with depression and anxiety disorders to express a wide range of needs. Most needs were addressed by peers but not sufficiently. Mental health professionals can benefit from these findings by gaining insights into the unique needs and concerns of their patients, thus allowing for more effective treatment and support.
目的:我们的目标是通过波兰网络论坛上抑郁和焦虑症患者之间的同伴互动来识别和描述与精神病院相关的个人需求,并评估这些需求是否由同龄人解决。
方法:我们搜索了以抑郁和焦虑为重点的网络论坛,并选择了160和176个帖子的样本,分别,直到我们达到饱和.混合方法分析,包括深入的内容分析,皮尔森χ2检验,并采用φ系数对岗位进行评价。
结果:抑郁症和焦虑症论坛最常见的需求是相同的,涉及信息(105/160,65.6%和169/393,43%,分别),社会生活(17/160,10.6%和90/393,22.9%,分别),和情感(9/160,5.6%和66/393,16.8%,分别)需求。结果表明,所分析的论坛之间的需求表达没有差异。需求是直接的(42/47,89%vs98/110,89.1%的时间为抑郁和焦虑,分别)和不完全(抑郁和焦虑的次数为27/47,57%vs86/110,78.2%,分别)由论坛用户解决。在定量分析中,我们发现与抑郁症相关的论坛有更多关于信息支持和纠正需求的帖子,愤怒的表达,寻求专业支持。相比之下,与焦虑相关的论坛有更多关于情感支持需求的帖子;社交生活;以及关于药物的信息,希望,和动机。最常见的共同表达需求是分享自己的经验和需要专业支持,具有很强的积极关联。定性分析表明,用户加入基于网络的社区,讨论他们对精神病医院的恐惧和问题。这些帖子揭示了精神病医院的4种心理和情感表现:医院是一个未知的地方,假设和需求的矛盾,精神病医院的负面表现,以及与精神病医院有关的人。帖子的语气大多是负面的,讨论围绕负面刻板印象;创伤经历;和增加焦虑的信念,震惊,和恐惧,并阻止用户住院治疗。
结论:我们的研究表明,基于网络的论坛可以为抑郁症和焦虑症患者提供一个表达广泛需求的平台。大多数需求由同行解决,但还不够。心理健康专业人员可以通过深入了解患者的独特需求和关注点,从这些发现中受益。从而允许更有效的治疗和支持。