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'It's more than sadness': The Discursive Construction of Depression on Australian Depression Websites.

Depression has been the subject of increased awareness and concern in Australia, but there has been little research into how depression is constructed on mental health websites, which have become a major resource for mental health information among the general public. In this study, critical discurs...

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Published in:Qualitative Health Research Vol. 32; no. 7; pp. 1185 - 1197
Main Authors: Horwood, Grace, Augoustinos, Martha
Format: research tables/charts Journal Article
Published: Sage Publications Inc. Jun2022
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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      dt: Jun2022
      vid: 32
      iid: 7
      pid: 344
      pub: Sage Publications Inc.
      place: Thousand Oaks, California
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        10.1177/10497323221102240
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      tig:
        atl: 'It's more than sadness': The Discursive Construction of Depression on Australian Depression Websites.
      aug:
        au:
          Horwood, Grace
          Augoustinos, Martha
        affil: School of Psychology, 1066 University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
      sug:
        subj:
          Depression Epidemiology
          World Wide Web
          Website Development Australia
          Health Information
          Human
          Australia
          Female
          Male
          Qualitative Studies
          Discourse Analysis
          Communications Media
          Depression Symptoms
          Psychology
          Health Information Management
          Models, Theoretical
          Mental Health
          Mental Disorders
          Descriptive Statistics
          Female
          Male
      ab: Depression has been the subject of increased awareness and concern in Australia, but there has been little research into how depression is constructed on mental health websites, which have become a major resource for mental health information among the general public. In this study, critical discursive psychology was employed to analyse the informational content of eight major Australian mental health websites concerning depression. Four interpretative repertoires were identified – a biomedical, a self-optimization, a normal-natural and a societal-structural repertoire. The biomedical and self-optimization repertoires were the most prevalent, constructing depression as an illness within an individual occurring as a result of a biological or psychological deficit. Whilst previous studies have identified the predominance of a biomedical repertoire of depression on official websites, this study highlights the growing prominence of a self-optimization repertoire alongside the biomedical. Whilst it appeared that the aim of the websites was to challenge stigma and encourage help-seeking, it is argued that this way of understanding depression may have counter-productive effects in that the problem is located within the individual rather than with society, and individuals may be positioned as responsible for managing their own mental health, under the guidance of experts. The implications of understanding depression in this way, and not in alternative ways, are discussed.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        research
        tables/charts
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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