Perceptions and Attitudes Regarding Postpartum Depression on Reddit: Inductive Content Analysis

Background

Over the past decade, postpartum depression (PPD) diagnoses have significantly risen across all ethnic and racial groups. However, PPD remains underdiagnosed due in part to stigmatization and misunderstanding by the public. This can result in a reluctance among women to openly discuss their symptoms with clinicians. However, social media offers supportive communities and unique platforms for individuals to openly share the experiences and opinions that they may be less likely to disclose in person. Despite the availability of new Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved medical therapies for PPD over the past 7 years, research investigating comments about perceptions of recommendations for and barriers to treatment has been sparse.