engleski

Reasons for using depression Internet forums in Croatia

The majority of people uses Internet every day to acquire needed information. A wide range of information regarding mental health can be found on the Internet and there are various ways of communication, one of them are Internet forums. Internet forums have become the source of information for any health or psycho- social problem. Participation and communication in the forums are anonymous, which greatly contributes to honest and immediate communication, especially on sensitive topics such as mental illness. The aim of this study was to examine the motives for using depression Internet forums in Croatia. The study sample consists of 297 user-generated posts on the largest Croatian depression Internet sub-forum over a period of one year, analysed using qualitative methodology-grounded theory. The results showed that the majority of depression Internet forums user in Croatia use Internet forums to receive emotional support from others with the same illness. Other important reasons were to exchange information about medications, symptoms and prognosis of the illness. Users of depression Internet forums in Croatia, mostly use those forums to receive emotional support from others with the same ill-ness. For some of the users, Internet forums are the first place where they seek help to cope with symptoms of depression. Because of this reason, Internet forums could be used to detect untreated individuals who could then be provided earlier with psychiatric treatment.

depression ; internet forums ; Croatia

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