Narratives of Anxiety and Depression on YouTube: A Corpus-Based Thematic Analysis

Abstract

Anxiety and depression (A&D) are among the most common mental health disorders faced globally and are often linked. Despite their high prevalence and association with suicidal thoughts and actions, many individuals affected by A&D refrain from seeking mental health support due to feelings of fear and shame. Online narrative communication, thus, emerges as a valuable avenue for addressing this gap, offering firsthand accounts and insights from individuals with lived experiences of A&D. Such public sharing also serves as a source of information and support for individuals experiencing A&D. This study set out to provide a comprehensive description of content in personal A&D stories posted on YouTube channels, to fulfil two objectives: to identify recurring lexical patterns and collocations in A&D stories, and to explore predominant thematic elements within the storytelling medium. We applied corpus-based thematic analysis, incorporating statistical analysis of linguistic patterns via AntConc and qualitative thematic analysis of 23 narrative YouTube videos identified using search terms ‘anxiety story’ and ‘depression story’. A top frequency wordlist was compiled, and the concordance lines of these words were examined to uncover key thematic elements of authentic A&D narratives to yield a better understanding of these stories. Five main thematic groups were identified across the A&D videos, where users’ reported A&D experiences included pivotal moments during the illness, enduring emotional strain, proactive help-seeking, support from loved ones, and uplifting messages to the audience. The findings shed light on the salient linguistic patterns and common themes in authentic A&D narrative videos shared online. These insights can be valuable for developing a deeper understanding of A&D narrative construction, shedding light on the experiences during illness and potential audience interpretations on YouTube.