Social media, mental health and adolescents': an insight into the AWARE research project
- AWARE
- Mar 3
- 1 min read
Updated: Mar 4

Mental health, particularly depression and anxiety disorders, is a common topic on social media. While this can raise awareness and encourage help-seeking behavior, it can also lead to an overinterpretation of stress as a serious mental illness. Since teens are avid social media users and anxiety disorders and depression are common in this age group, adolescent social media users deserve special attention.
The research project "AWARE: Mental Health Portrayals on Social Media and Implications on Adolescents' Awareness and Well-being" aims to understand how these representations of depression and anxiety disorders on social media affect the perceptions, beliefs, and well-being of adolescent users. In order to comprehensively investigate this topic, a mixed-methods approach is used . This approach ensures a holistic understanding of this topic and provides empirical and theoretical insights about this important age group.
The topic is also gaining increasing importance among the general public. For those interested, here are some selected media contributions:
Laura Wiesböck: „Digitale Diagnosen“ In der Healing Hölle (Deutschlandfunk, Kultur, 6. Februar 2025)
Are we talking too much about mental health? (The New York Times, 6. Mai 2024)
Geteiltes Leid: Die Inszenierung psychischer Erkrankungen im Web (derstandard.at. 8. März 2021)