An analysis of accounts of depression on Reddit Singapore

• Main Author: Koh, Joey Xin Le
• Other Authors: Luke Lu
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2020
• Subjects: Humanities::Linguistics
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/138404
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Studies in depression have stressed that constructions of depression are contextually and culturally specific. With depression becoming a rising cause for concern in Singapore, it is vital to uncover the constructions of depression from the perspective of sufferers. Through a social constructivist lens, this study aims to use a thematic analysis and moral stance approach to analyse how the discourses produced among Singaporeans on an online platform, Reddit, align with popular frames of depression in wider discourse. Findings suggest that the dominant frame of depression is a biomedical one, and posters who adopt biomedical discourse tend to undermine non-medicalised frames of depression. There are also a significant portion of posters who construct depression under the social or bio-social frame. However, even among these posters, some still acknowledge and sustain the legitimacy of biomedicine to some extent.