Online attitudes toward mental illness anti-stigma efforts: A content analysis
- 1Western University
Abstract
Reddit has emerged as an accessible, anonymous platform for public discourse surrounding mental illness, yet little research has examined how users perceive and evaluate existing anti-stigma initiatives. This study addresses this gap by analyzing public discourse around destigmatization efforts, including both corporate-led campaigns (i.e., Bell Lets Talk) and broader community-based discussions. We conducted an interpretive content analysis of Reddit posts and comments identified through an a priori search protocol registered on the Only Science Framework. We drew a criterion-based purposive sample from r/mentalhealth and general Reddit using keywords related to anti-stigma discourse (e.g., "anti-stigma," "destigmatizing," and #BellLetsTalk). Fifty posts met inclusion criteria, yielding 581 coded references. Posts predominantly addressed mental health in general terms rather than specific diagnoses, with public stigma (n=28 posts) and structural stigma (n=16 posts) most discussed; internalized stigma was rarely a primary focus. #BellLetsTalk posts located outside the mental health community generated substantially greater engagement than posts within r/mentalhealth, with several threads exceeding 300 comments. Four themes emerged during the qualitative analysis: (1) anti-stigma efforts are unhelpful (n=381), (2) hopeful sentiments about anti-stigma efforts, (3) the mixed role of media, and (4) future directions for anti-stigma efforts.
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BibTeX
@misc{colonello2026online,
title = {{Online attitudes toward mental illness anti-stigma efforts: A content analysis}},
author = {A. L. Colonello and R. E. Mete},
howpublished = {medRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.64898/2026.09.11.26362889},
url = {https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.11.26362889v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Online attitudes toward mental illness anti-stigma efforts: A content analysis
AU - A. L. Colonello
AU - R. E. Mete
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/11
PB - medRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.09.11.26362889
UR - https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.11.26362889v1
AB - Reddit has emerged as an accessible, anonymous platform for public discourse surrounding mental illness, yet little research has examined how users perceive and evaluate existing anti-stigma initiatives. This study addresses this gap by analyzing public discourse around destigmatization efforts, including both corporate-led campaigns (i.e., Bell Lets Talk) and broader community-based discussions. We conducted an interpretive content analysis of Reddit posts and comments identified through an a priori search protocol registered on the Only Science Framework. We drew a criterion-based purposive sample from r/mentalhealth and general Reddit using keywords related to anti-stigma discourse (e.g., "anti-stigma," "destigmatizing," and #BellLetsTalk). Fifty posts met inclusion criteria, yielding 581 coded references. Posts predominantly addressed mental health in general terms rather than specific diagnoses, with public stigma (n=28 posts) and structural stigma (n=16 posts) most discussed; internalized stigma was rarely a primary focus. #BellLetsTalk posts located outside the mental health community generated substantially greater engagement than posts within r/mentalhealth, with several threads exceeding 300 comments. Four themes emerged during the qualitative analysis: (1) anti-stigma efforts are unhelpful (n=381), (2) hopeful sentiments about anti-stigma efforts, (3) the mixed role of media, and (4) future directions for anti-stigma efforts.
ER -