#rp25 speaker Laura Wiesböck: One click to diagnosis? Mental health as a social media trend

On social media, the next diagnoses are not far away - be it ADHD, depression or all kinds of personality disorders. The taboo surrounding mental health is being gradually lifted in society - and that's a good thing. However, the problem is that the topic is too often discussed without sufficient expertise and can lead to self-pathologisation.

Where does the willingness for psychiatric interpretations come from? What influence does the digital attention economy have? And are there actually still spaces for suffering in modern societies beyond medical categories? Laura Wiesböck deals with these questions. At re:publica 25, the sociologist talks about possible answers.

When we look at how mental health is being discussed on social media, we see a conflation of clinical pictures with the unnecessary pathologisation of human suffering, such as life crises or emotional injuries and the need for constant optimisation. How can we find a form of society in which personal hardships are part of being human? This is necessary insofar as ‘mental health does not mean being constantly efficient and balanced, but being able to perceive and endure the entire range of human emotions and conflicts,’ says Laura Wiesböck.

In her new book ‘Digitale Diagnosen' (Digital Diagnoses), the sociologist analyses why mental health has become a trend on social media and what effects this has. Instead of focusing on the optimisation of individuals, she argues for the need to push for political and structural framework conditions that have a demonstrable impact on health and life satisfaction.

Sociologist Laura Wiesböck currently leads the Junior Research Group ‘Digitalization and Social Transformation’ at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Vienna. The focus of the group lies in social inequality with a particular interest in work, poverty, gender and digitalisation. For her work she has received several awards.