Findings relating to Social Media

Almost 85% of Our Turn to Speak participants reported experiencing some level of stigma or discrimination in their engagement with social media during the last 12 months. 

Of the 483 participants who selected social media as one of their top three most affected life domains, 58.5% reported ‘frequent’ or ‘very frequent’ rates of stigma and discrimination in this area. 
 

"I follow a lot of closed facebook groups for the reason that others will not discriminate. I’ve seen a lot of hate on open facebook pages about certain illnesses, and I do not comment on most things. Online arguments stress me out."

– Our Turn to Speak participant, ACT
 

94.2% of participants said they had seen, read or heard social media content that they found hurtful or offensive during the last 12 months because of the way mental health issues were portrayed. 

89.7% of participants said they expected to see, read or hear social media content that they would find hurtful or offensive because of the way mental health issues were portrayed.

87.0% of participants said they had stopped themselves from commenting on posts or sharing their opinions on social media platforms because of stigma about mental health issues.

Only 17.5% of participants said they had seen, read or heard social media content that portrayed people who live with mental health issues in a positive way. 
 

Explore the findings in more detail