What Can 12 Million Conversations Tell Us About Mental Health?

BRIGHTON, England, Oct. 26, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- A major new report examining 12.9 million online conversations surrounding mental health has been published today by national anti-bullying charity Ditch the Label, in partnership with leading social intelligence company Brandwatch.

The largest study of its kind, the UK Mental Health Study 2017 explores the link between bullying and mental health by analysing public online conversations over the course of a five-year time period, across sites including Twitter, Instagram, blogs, forums and online news sources.

Using social listening to surface unsolicited insights, the report attains an authentic picture of how the UK discusses mental health online everyday.

Edward Crook, Research Manager at Brandwatch says, "There's a lot of existing research on mental health, but no one has ever conducted a digital study at this scale. Social media provides the biggest ever pool of human thought, and we used Brandwatch to understand 12.9 million of these conversations in the UK. This gives an unprecedented view of how we relate to mental health and how we experience symptoms. This is research with purpose; our findings are geared toward challenging the stigma surrounding mental health, improving awareness and tackling barriers to care."

Research from Ditch the Label has continually drawn links between bullying and mental health issues, with their Annual Bullying Survey 2017 finding that of those who have been bullied online:

• 2 in 5 have gone on to develop social anxiety
• 2 in 5 went on to develop depression
• 1 in 4 have had suicidal thoughts

Liam Hackett, Founder and CEO of Ditch the Label says, "The link between bullying and mental health is indisputable. Young people tell us all the time that living with the stigma of mental health is often harder than living with the symptoms. This research clearly shows that the UK has a stoic culture with negative attitudes towards emotional openness and crying. In order to rectify the epidemic of mental illness, we must challenge the harmful cultural norms and encourage emotional openness and challenge stigma at all levels. One young person previously told us that at the age of 14, he is navigating through depression, anxiety and panic attacks whilst trying to balance the stress of being bullied and exams. No young person should ever have to go through that experience."

Full details of the UK Mental Health Study 2017 can be found at: www.brandwatch.com/reports/uk-mental-health-study/ 

About Ditch the Label

• Ditch the Label is an international anti-bullying charity and one of the leading anti-bullying charities in the UK.
• Each month, the charity support thousands of young people through the Ditch the Label online community on their website. They also work with social networks and online games to help those who are being bullied and those bullying others.
• Experts on bullying within the digital space, Ditch the Label were one of the first anti-bullying charities in the UK to research and understand cyberbullying.
• Ditch the Label work closely with schools and colleges, producing some of the largest research papers on the topic of bullying and associated behaviours in the world.
• Ditch the Label founder and CEO Liam Hackett sits on the government's Growing Up Digital taskforce and has represented the anti-bullying sector in The White House, the UN and across other international Governments.
• The charity take an innovative approach to research and interventions, focussing attention on prevention of bullying in addition to offering support to those who have been bullied.
• Ditch the Label helps over 200,000 young people each year in the UK alone. They have recently extended their support service to the US and Mexico.
• Ditch the Label have recently launched a new digital support platform that provides instant advice and help for young people who are experiencing bullying or associated problems relating to a wide range of issues including mental health, body image, sexuality and hate crimes.
• Young people, parents or guardians impacted by bullying can get support directly from Ditch the Label at www.DitchtheLabel.org.

Ditch the Label. Your World. Prejudice Free.

About Brandwatch

Brandwatch is the world's leading social intelligence group offering marketers a portfolio of social and content marketing technologies. The company's flagship products, Brandwatch Analytics and the Vizia platform, fuel smarter decision making around the world. With the addition of BuzzSumo's content marketing and influencer identification platform in October 2017, the company is positioned as a leading provider of insight-surfacing technologies across the enterprise as well as for SMB customers.

The Brandwatch Analytics platform gathers millions of online conversations every day and provides users with the tools to analyze them, empowering the world's most admired brands and agencies to make insightful, data-driven business decisions. The Vizia platform distributes visually-engaging insights to the physical places where the action happens.

The Brandwatch platform is used by over 1,300 brands and agencies, including Unilever, American Airlines, Whirlpool, Asos, Walmart, British Airways, and Dell. Brandwatch continues on its impressive business trajectory, recently named a global leader in enterprise social listening platforms by the latest reports from several independent research firms. Increasing its worldwide presence, the company has offices around the world including Brighton, New York, San Francisco, Berlin, Stuttgart, Paris and Singapore.

Brandwatch. Now You Know.

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Lydia Barrett
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SOURCE Brandwatch

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