The Impact of Social Media within Psychiatric Populations: A Systematic Review.

Aims: To review the current literature on: • What are the views and perspectives of individuals with existing psychiatric problems on the impact of social media, in relation to their mental health? • What are the perceived advantages and disadvantages of social media usage, in relation to mental health? • Are there any differences or similarities, in terms of views, amongst different psychiatric populations? Overview: Existing research highlights the potential relationship between social media use and certain psychiatric disorders. There is a wealth of research exploring the views of the general population in relation to social media use and mental health; however, fewer studies have looked specifically at the views of those with existing mental health diagnoses. As a result, the current review will focus on those studies which explore the views and perspectives of individuals with lived mental health experience. This review will look at studies which use a qualitative methodology. It is hoped that the review will aid the development of the empirical study topic guide for interviews, as well as identifying any important areas for future research, which may have clinical implications. Other Reviews: Prospero was used to conduct a search of existing reviews and to check whether any similar reviews had been completed or published. The following terms were used to complete this search: “psychiatric populations”, “mental health populations” and “social media”. This search yielded no similar results and so it is to the trainee’s best knowledge that the current review of the views and perspectives of psychiatric populations on the impact of social media on their mental health, is novel. Initial Scope: PsycInfo was used to conduct an initial search of the literature. In order to do this, the following key terms were used: “psychiatric populations”, OR “mental health populations” OR “mental health diagnoses”, AND “social media”, AND “experiences” AND “mental health”. Following this initial search, eight relevant papers were identified upon reviewing their abstracts. A list of these papers can be found in appendix A. This preliminary decision was made based on pre-determined inclusion criteria, which included: qualitative papers, written in English, with a focus on psychiatric populations views and experiences of social media and its impact on their mental health.