“Anxiety” is the term most searched for on the internet by Argentines among the disorders associated with the Covid-19 pandemic, with an increase of 46% compared to previous years, which confirms mental health as one of the main topics of concern. public interest in the post-pandemic, according to a study carried out by the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (Flacso).
This is shown by a study on the information consumption related to mental health in networks and digital media, which was prepared in Argentina between June 2021 and June 2022 by Flacso in collaboration with the Medifé Foundation.
One of the central findings of the study is that the Covid-19 pandemic became the most relevant issue that drew public attention to mental health problems, leading the ranking of issues with 20.1%.
“The largest amount of news that circulated about mental health was linked to the remnants of what the pandemic left us,” Esteban Zunino, the Conicet researcher in charge of the study, told Télam.
The second type of mental health-related illnesses that generated the highest level of interest among consumers were eating disorders (11%), followed by phobias (10.4%), with agoraphobia (fear of places where it’s hard to escape) at the top of the mentions.
“The relationship between mental health and the pandemic was very visible”continued Zunino, PhD in Social and Human Sciences, who explained that to analyze the content that most attracted the attention of users on Facebook and Twitter, they used software that cut out a universe of 230 news items.
“The largest amount of news that circulated about mental health was linked to the remnants of what the pandemic left us”Esteban Zunino, Conicet researcher
The study also analyzed Google searches, where “terms like anxiety have skyrocketed since the pandemic,” the researcher said.
Taking the last five years, the period from March 15, 2020 to July 2022 presents an average search interest 46% higher than the period from July 2017 to March 14, 2020.
Anxiety was the most searched word with an average value of 87 on a scale of 0 to 100 indicating the maximum popularity of a term in the Google Trends measurement tool.
Compared with other terms, the average for “anxiety” more than doubles that of “stress” (without accent marks), more than four times that of “fatigue” and six times that of “anguish” and “insomnia”.
Another of the findings was a paradoxical citizen interaction with the news content: While cases centered on famous people’s stories captured public attention, they served as triggers for broader news coverage that included expert voices.
“In general, mental health disorders have always been covered in relation to illnesses or problems of famous people; news strongly traversed by a personalization bias and with dramatic components,” Zunino explained.
However, a paradoxical situation arose because “after the light news, there are others that deepen the subject and do it quite well,” he explained.
“They are very clicky notes that are not based on any scientific evidence and that does raise an alarm”Stephen Zunino
One of the problematic results of the study is that “there is a large amount of news that is highly attractive to audiences that has to do with ways to quickly resolve conflicts, such as coaching, managing emotions or drugizing problems.” “warned the specialist.
And he pointed out: “They are very clicker notes that are not based on any scientific evidence and that does raise an alarm.”
The most searched drugs
Among the trade names of the best-known remedies and drugs to treat ailments, Clonazepam is the most sought after since in recent years its average is more than twice that of the Alplax brand (which corresponds to the generic Alprazolam), and more than two and a half times greater than Rivotril, the brand with the highest consumption of the drug Clonazepam. Both products are benzodiazepines that produce hypnosedative effects.
The most viewed media are produced in the AMBA
Among the conclusions it is also highlighted that, although public attention was fragmented into a list of more than 70 media outlets, “it is interesting to note that the first ten, which account for 56.95% of the relevance, are mainly portals with headlines in the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires (AMBA) that coincide, either with the most widely read digital newspapers in Argentina, or with the media groups with the largest number of platforms and business units”.
In this sense, Zunino added that “the news that generated the greatest ‘engagement’ or involvement is produced in the AMBA and from ailments that are urban, so there is an overrepresentation of mental health problems in the AMBA.”
The report proposes some lines of action that can contribute positively, such as preparing a Decalogue for the responsible treatment of Mental Health in the media and social networks.
It also highlights the need to train journalists and disseminators in good uses and practices, and proposes to contribute to the implementation of public policy projects capable of addressing different types of ailments.
