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Published

2022-03-05

Issue

Vol. 7 No. 1 (2022)

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Research Articles

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How to Cite

Soo, S. H. J., Tan, S. Y., & Yang, K. (2022). Types of Social Support Associated with Depression in the UK Adult Population. Environment and Social Psychology, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.18063/esp.v7.i1.810

Types of Social Support Associated with Depression in the UK Adult Population

Shi Hui Joy Soo

Office of Teacher Education, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Soo Yin Tan

Office of Teacher Education, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Keming Yang

Department of Sociology, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom.


DOI: https://doi.org/10.18063/esp.v7.i1.810


Keywords: Depression, Social relations, Blogs, Content analysis

Abstract

Many well-established sociological studies pertaining to the salubrious link between social relations and mental health have been published. In particular, numerous researchers address the issue of how social isolation and lack of family support and social ties can adversely affect one’s mental well-being. In this paper, we seek to identify and explore the relationships between people who were clinically diagnosed with depression and the aspects of their social environment, namely their social and family circumstances in the UK adult population. One hundred and ten blogs mentioning depression as their main condition were selected from a mental health support website, Time to Change, for analysis. As not many studies have analyzed such narratives, we expected the analysis to provide a fresher and deeper understanding of the experiences of those afflicted with depression. We observed that there is a consistent discourse emphasizing the importance of social support from close loved ones, in particular friends and family members. There is evidence that social circumstances can be mediating factors in depression.

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