Posts, Comments, and Stigma: Exploring Online Mental Health Discourse Among Ethnic Minorities

Mental health stigma is defined by the negative attitudes, stereotyping beliefs, and discrimination affecting the social experiences of individuals facing mental health conditions. Ethnic minority communities in the United States face a disproportionately greater stigma than the majority White group. Stigma can manifest in discourse concerning mental health on social media platforms. While previous studies have used social media to explore mental health, little qualitative social media research has been conducted to gain an understanding of stigma in ethnic minorities. This study used a qualitative content analysis design to explore mental health discussion forums on Reddit. By analyzing 150 posts from three different subreddits representing three communities with varying ethnic compositions, eight themes surrounding stigma were identified. From the Asian-American subreddit, family-based prejudice, culture-based self-stigma, and stigmatization of therapy were found. Posts from the Black mental health subreddit demonstrated culture-based prejudice affecting Black males, stigma influenced by systemic biases, and religion as an influence on culture-based prejudice. Supportive community norms and depressive self-stigma were found in the last subreddit, a group without ethnic specifications. The deep understanding of ethnic mental health stigma achieved in this study can equip the development of interventions addressing this phenomenon. Future research should concern a broader array of online communities, mental illnesses, and ethnic groups.