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. 2025 Mar 5;68(1):e51.
doi: 10.1192/j.eurpsy.2025.10.

Understanding social media discourse on antidepressants: unsupervised and sentiment analysis using X

Juan Pablo Chart-Pascual  1   2   3   4 , Javier Goena  5   6 , Francisco Lara  7 , María Montero Torres  8 , Julen Marin Napal  1   2 , Rodrigo Muñoz  9 , Cielo García Montero  10   11 , Oscar Fraile Martínez  10   11 , Miguel Ángel Ortega  8   10   11 , Gonzalo Salazar de Pablo  12   13   14 , Ana González Pinto  1   2   3   4 , Javier Quintero  9   15 , Melchor Alvarez-Mon  8   10   11 , Miguel Ángel Álvarez-Mon  4   8   9   10
Affiliations

Understanding social media discourse on antidepressants: unsupervised and sentiment analysis using X

Juan Pablo Chart-Pascual et al. Eur Psychiatry. .

Abstract

Background: Antidepressants are essential in managing depression, including treatment-resistant cases. Public perceptions of these medications, shaped by social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter), can influence treatment adherence and outcomes. This study explores public attitudes toward antidepressants through sentiment and topic modeling analysis of tweets in English and Spanish from 2007 to 2022.

Methods: Tweets mentioning antidepressants approved for depression were collected. The analysis focused on selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and glutamatergic drugs. Sentiment analysis and topic modeling were conducted to identify trends, concerns, and emotions in discussions across both languages.

Results: A total of 1,448,674 tweets were analyzed (1,013,128 in English and 435,546 in Spanish). SSRIs were the most mentioned antidepressants (27.9% in English, 58.91% in Spanish). Pricing and availability were key concerns in English tweets, while Spanish tweets highlighted availability, efficacy, and sexual side effects. Glutamatergic drugs, especially esketamine, gained attention (15.61% in English, 25.23% in Spanish), evoking emotions such as fear, sadness, and anger. Temporal analysis showed significant increases in discussions, with peaks in 2012 and 2021 for SSRIs in Spanish, and exponential growth from 2018 to 2021 for glutamatergic drugs. Emotional tones varied across languages, reflecting cultural differences.

Conclusions: Social media platforms like X provide valuable insights into public perceptions of antidepressants, highlighting cultural variations in attitudes. Understanding these perceptions can help clinicians address concerns and misconceptions, fostering informed treatment decisions. The limitations of social media data call for careful interpretation, emphasizing the need for continued research to improve pharmacovigilance and public health strategies.

Keywords: antidepressants; esketamine; selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors; sentiment analysis; twitter (X).

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Conflict of interest statement

Dr Salazar-de-Pablo has received honoraria from Janssen Cilag, Lundbeck, Angelini, and Menarini. Dr. Gonzalez-Pinto has received grants and served as consultant, advisor, or CME speaker for the following entities: Janssen-Cilag, Lundbeck, Otsuka, Alter, Angelini, Novartis, Rovi, Takeda, the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (CIBERSAM), the Ministry of Science (Carlos III Institute), the Basque Government, and the European Framework Program of Research. The remaining authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Number of tweets in English per year per drug. Each antidepressant group has its own color represented in left superior corner of the panel.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Number of tweets in Spanish per year per drug. Each antidepressant group has its own color represented in left superior corner of the panel.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Number of tweets per topic in SSRI in English. Each topic has its own color represented in left superior corner of the panel.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Number of tweets per topic in SSRI in Spanish. Each topic has its own color represented in left superior corner of the panel.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Number of tweets per topic in glutamatergic drugs in English. Each topic has its own color represented in left superior corner of the panel.
Figure 6.
Figure 6.
Number of tweets per topic in glutamatergic drugs in Spanish. Each topic has its own color represented in right superior corner of the panel.
Figure 7.
Figure 7.
Temporal evolution of the number of tweets related to SSRIs, per year and topic, in English (superior panel) and Spanish (bottom panel).
Figure 8.
Figure 8.
Temporal evolution of the number of tweets related to glutamatergic drugs, per year and topic, in English (superior panel) and Spanish (bottom panel).
Figure 9.
Figure 9.
Sentiment analysis of the number of tweets per year and topic in English (A) and Spanish (B) tweets from SSRIs.
Figure 10.
Figure 10.
Sentiment analysis of the number of tweets per year and topic in English (A) and Spanish (B) tweets from glutamatergic drugs.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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