Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Information Processing and Management journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/infoproman Semantic network analysis for understanding user experiences of bipolar and depressive disorders on Reddit Minjoo Yoo, Sangwon Lee, Taehyun Ha ⁎ Department of Interaction Science, Sungkyunkwan University, B307 International Hall, 25-2, Sungkyunkwan-Ro, Jongno-Gu, Seoul 03063, Republic of Korea ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Mental disorder Bipolar disorder Depressive disorder Medical information Semantic network analysis ABSTRACT People who are suspected to sufer mental disorders often explore online communities to gather medical information. Such medical information benefts these people by facilitating self-diag- nosis and social support for the mental disorders. At the same time, however, misinformation can aggravate mental disorders and worsen psychological status. Focusing on two representative mental illnesses, bipolar and depressive disorders, this study analyzed how users shared their experiences with illness and provided advice. Postings for bipolar and depressive disorders were gathered from subreddit communities and used for semantic network analysis. Results showed that users in both communities described sleep disorder episodes and fnancial problems with negative emotional expressions. Users in the bipolar disorder community showed more interest in the topic of medication, whereas users in the depressive disorder community were more inter- ested in suicide issues. We discuss how these properties in the subreddit communities can be applied to understand user experiences of bipolar and depressive disorders. 1. Introduction Internet technology enables sharing of various types of information and knowledge. In particular, online medical information has facilitated pre-diagnosis for users with limited access to medical services. With increasing needs for healthcare services and advanced technology, more users are expected to use the Internet to gather medical information. A survey by the Pew research center in 2009 showed that 61% of adult Internet users searched for online medical information, and this fgure had increased to 72% in 2014 (Fox, 2014; Fox & Jones, 2009). Users usually begin searching for medical information when they believe they may have a bad condition and they become actively involved in searching by fltering and comparing various sources to obtain meaningful information (Fiksdal et al., 2014; Lawhon, 2016). Some of the topics that users search online include medication, side efects, symptoms, and healthcare professionals (Lawhon, 2016). Several studies have suggested that medical information searching behaviors can be focused on mental health topics. For example, Leung (2008) showed that many users have used online websites to obtain medical and health information on issues that are hard to talk about. Bansal and Gefen (2010) reported that users who are interested in online health information have signifcant concerns about privacy issues and information sensitivity. Giles and Newbold (2011) showed that shared information in online communities appears in diferent forms and can lead users to self-diagnose their mental health. These authors also reported that online com- munities can have diferent characteristics depending on the mental illness discussed in the communities (Giles & Newbold, 2013). Thus, users may use online medical information to diagnose disorders that are hard to talk about, including mental disorders. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ipm.2018.10.001 Received 30 June 2018; Received in revised form 17 September 2018; Accepted 1 October 2018 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: ontophilla@gmail.com (T. Ha). Information Processing and Management xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx 0306-4573/ © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Please cite this article as: Yoo, M., Information Processing and Management, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ipm.2018.10.001