From Tweets to Tears: Unravelling the Rhetoric-Depression Nexus among Malaysian Youth through Discourse Analysis Method

The current study explores the relatively underexamined domain of Malaysian Twitter users aged 18 to 35 by investigating the relationship between rhetorical structures and depressive symptoms as expressed through everyday digital health communication practices. Employing a discourse analysis approach, the study analyses a selected dataset of tweets published between March 2022 and June 2022, taking into account Malaysia’s cultural and linguistic specificities. The findings reveal that users experiencing depressive moods frequently employ rhetorical strategies such as repetition, metaphor, imagery, hyperbole, personification, parallelism, and simile to articulate emotional distress and negotiate meaning in online spaces. These rhetorical patterns function as communicative resources through which individuals express despair, seek validation, and cope with personal struggles within an informal health communication environment. The study demonstrates how social media serves not merely as a platform for emotional expression but as a space where mental health experiences are linguistically constructed and shared. Beyond contributing to knowledge on social media language as an indicator of mental health, the findings offer practical implications for policymakers, mental health practitioners, and campaign designers by highlighting the importance of aligning youth-centred mental health messaging with naturally occurring rhetorical practices. Overall, the study contributes to a deeper understanding of Malaysian youths’ emotional well-being in the digital era by bridging rhetoric and mental health through a health communication lens, and underscores the potential of social media platforms as sites for early identification, communicative engagement, and support for individuals experiencing depression.