Quantifying the Effects of COVID-19 on Mental Health Support Forums

Laura Biester, Katie Matton, Janarthanan Rajendran, Emily Mower, Rada Mihalcea

Keywords: mental health, time series, COVID-19, topic modeling

TL;DR: We study how conservations and activity levels within online mental health communities have changed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic, like many of the disease outbreaks that have preceded it, is likely to have a profound effect on mental health. Understanding its impact can inform strategies for mitigating negative consequences. In this work, we seek to better understand the effects of COVID-19 on mental health by examining discussions within mental health support communities on Reddit. First, we quantify the rate at which COVID-19 is discussed in each community, or subreddit, in order to understand levels of preoccupation with the pandemic. Next, we examine the volume of activity in order to determine whether the quantity of people seeking online mental health support has risen. Finally, we analyze how COVID-19 has influenced language use and topics of discussion within each subreddit.