Depression is a serious mental illness affecting a large proportion of the global
population, especially the youth. Research has shown that people suffering from
depression are at a higher risk of suicide. Tumblr is an online microblogging social medi...
Depression is a serious mental illness affecting a large proportion of the global
population, especially the youth. Research has shown that people suffering from
depression are at a higher risk of suicide. Tumblr is an online microblogging social media
platform, which has been accused of romanticizing mental illnesses such as depression,
however, very little research has been done to investigate this issue. The Arab World is
the home of most ongoing armed conflicts today and with almost half of the population
under 30 and problems like poverty, lack of mental health institutions, stigmatization, war,
and refugees, the population is one of the most at risk of depression and its complications.
Furthermore, Suicide rates in the region have increased in age groups until 20- 24. Thus,
considering its large young population vulnerable to mental illness any research is an
important addition to the almost non-existing literature of depression in the Arab World.
Identifying the differences between depression manifestations of Western and other
cultures could lay the foundation for future research to examine social media as a
predictor of depression in other populations by understanding the role of individuals'
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linguistic expressions and cultural background, while acknowledging the Western
influence on non-Western users of a Western platform. We have content analyzed a
sample of 609 Tumblr posts (208 Arabic and 401 English language posts) regarding
depression symptoms and expressions and our results regarding depression symptoms
found depressed mood present in almost all of the posts regardless of their users. Feelings
of worthlessness and/or guilt were found in almost equal percentages in both groups,
whereas suicidal ideation was found more in Western posts. Finally, the study has also
found some differences between the Arab- and English-language posts in that Arabs
preferred quoting fictional novels and non-fiction real-life authors to express their
symptoms, while Western users preferred quoting and creating gifs of TV and Film scenes
and characters – however, both can be interpreted as a way of romanticizing depression.
In contrast to these differences, we have found only few gender differences in the posts.