Struggles for recognition: a content analysis of messages posted on the Internet

Abstract

Background

The Internet has enlarged the possibilities of human communication and opened new ways of exploring perceptions of mental health. This study is part of a research project aiming to explore, describe, and analyze different discourses of mental health in Norway and Sweden, using material from Internet-based services.

Aim

To examine messages posed by users of publicly available question-and-answer services and to describe their content.

Methods

A Web search was used to identify Norwegian and Swedish Websites offering mental health services by email or posted messages. A total of 601 messages from 20 services, 10 Norwegian and 10 Swedish, were analyzed by means of qualitative content analysis and further interpreted in light of the social theory of recognition by Honneth.

Results

Eight categories emerged from the analysis: family life, couples, others, violence, the ungovernable, self-image, negotiating normality, and life struggles. These categories were then grouped into three themes: (1) relationship to significant others, (2) relationship to self, and (3) relationship to the social community. The themes promoted an understanding of mental health as closely connected to political and social factors.

Conclusions

The results showed a variety of concerns from various parts of life and empowered the view that mental health should be understood broadly, at a conceptual level. Mental health emerged as a deeply relational concept that emphasized the equal distribution of chances in life. It strengthened the moral grammar of social inclusion and the acceptance of plurality in social life.

Keywords:

• Internet-based services
• mental health
• public health
• social theory

Acknowledgments

The project was supported by The Nordic Research Academy in Mental Health at The Nordic School of Public Health. We wish to thank the University of Agder for funding this project. Malvern Lumsden and Karen Williams have been our consultants in questions regarding the English language, and we wish to express our gratitude for their contribution. Moreover, Professor Olle Söderhamn at the University of Agder read drafts of the final manuscript, and we appreciate his comments.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.