ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Mental Health
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1558197
Exploring self-presentation posts of people with depression: Themes, stigma, and identity construction
Provisionally accepted
Lei Gu1*
Xia Gao2- 1Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
- 2The Engineering & Technical College of Cheng University of Technology, Leshan, China
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Social media plays an increasingly influential role in shaping mental health communication, yet individual expressions, especially those involving self-presentation, remain relatively understudied. This study examines how individuals with depression construct and present their identities on Xiaohongshu (RED), a prominent Chinese social media platform. By employing semantic network analysis and content analysis, we identified three primary themes driving self-presentation narratives: Mental Health & Treatment, Life Stress & Emotion Management, and Self-awareness & Emotional Experience. These themes are interwoven with elements of stigma and personal challenges, which collectively foster a narrative shift toward optimism and resilience. Notably, this shift underpins the formation of three distinct identity types-the Depressed Self, the Optimistic Self, and the Resilient Self-each influenced by cognitive biases such as negative filtering, overgeneralization, and catastrophizing. Overall, the study elucidates the complex interplay between these elements and highlights the pivotal role of social media in redefining mental health narratives and online identity construction.
Keywords: Social Media, mental health communication, identity construction, stigma, cognitive biases
Received: 10 Jan 2025; Accepted: 24 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Gu and Gao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Lei Gu, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
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