‘Faking it’: Exploring adolescent perceptions of depression (in)authenticity and ‘attention seeking’
| العنوان: | ‘Faking it’: Exploring adolescent perceptions of depression (in)authenticity and ‘attention seeking’ |
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| المؤلفون: | Stella W Y Chan, Katharina C Dixon-Ward |
| المصدر: | British Journal of Clinical Psychology. 61:177-196 |
| بيانات النشر: | Wiley, 2021. |
| سنة النشر: | 2021 |
| مصطلحات موضوعية: | Adolescent, Depression, Aggression, Mental Disorders, Social Stigma, Attention seeking, Psychological intervention, Stigma (botany), Hostility, General Medicine, Patient Acceptance of Health Care, Clinical Psychology, Distress, medicine, Humans, Attention, Thematic analysis, medicine.symptom, Psychology, Social psychology, Qualitative research |
| الوصف: | Objectives Attitudes towards peers who are not perceived to be legitimately depressed, or whose depression 'authenticity' is questioned, represent a current gap in adolescent depression stigma research. This research study, therefore, investigated how perceptions of depression inauthenticity are framed in adolescent Reddit communities. Methods This observational study used an internet-mediated, qualitative methodology to analyse forum posts from April 2019 to January 2020 on three adolescent-based subreddits. Posts were extracted using the Baumgartner Reddit Corpus. Identifiable information was removed to protect anonymity. Results Inductive thematic analysis identified two overarching themes, namely, public stigma and self-stigma associated with depression inauthenticity. Public stigma could be further dissected into five subthemes: (i) dichotomy between 'real' and 'fake depression'; (ii) aggression towards 'fakers'; (iii) stereotypes; (iv) attention; and (v) diagnosis. On the other hand, the theme of self-stigma consisted of subthemes: (i) self-doubt and (ii) validation and invalidation. Conclusions Adolescents framed a dichotomy between so-called 'real' and 'fake depression', with hostility directed at peers perceived to be 'fake depressed'. Perceptions of depression inauthenticity were confused and inconsistent. Public and self-stigma towards depression inauthenticity enforced barriers to help-seeking. While future research should investigate to what extent these observations based on online forums mimic stigma in real-life settings, our findings have highlighted the needs for 'fake depression' stigma to be addressed by adolescent depression literacy and stigma interventions. Recent movements towards reconceptualizing depression as a dimensional construct may help to challenge these stigmatizing views of a dichotomy between 'real' and 'fake' depression. Practitioner points There is widespread stigma concerning perceived inauthenticity related to depression in these online adolescent communities, with vitriol targeted at peers perceived to be so-called 'fake depressed'. Adolescent depression literacy and stigma programmes should tackle stigma towards perceived inauthenticity and promote the message that all adolescent distress deserves attention and help. This involves challenging perceptions that only supposedly 'authentic', diagnosed, or diagnosable, depression is worthy of attention and support. Prevention Programmes should work to mitigate barriers to help-seeking posed by misunderstandings that distress which is kept secret is more 'authentic', and tackle gender and age stereotypes surrounding perceived inauthenticity. There is a need for clinically approved online resources targeted at adolescents who feel unsure about whether their symptoms could be indicators of depression, and to make professional advice and help more accessible for young people. |
| تدمد: | 2044-8260 0144-6657 |
| URL الوصول: | https://explore.openaire.eu/search/publication?articleId=doi_dedup___::fb353063a4214599dd9ec6c07a39e86e https://doi.org/10.1111/bjc.12339 |
| حقوق: | CLOSED |
| رقم الأكسشن: | edsair.doi.dedup.....fb353063a4214599dd9ec6c07a39e86e |
| قاعدة البيانات: | OpenAIRE |
| تدمد: | 20448260 01446657 |
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