Pavia Observatory for Romens

Distress: the word ‘anxiety’ is rife on social media, but be wary of influencers’ diagnoses

Millions of appeals, questions and status updates ‘posted’ on Facebook and Instagram leave open the question of the quality of the responses and the information provided

by Barbara Gobbi

22 September 2026

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5' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

5' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Mental health – or rather, the distress that is the other (dark) side of the moon – is increasingly taking centre stage on social media. In particular, it is the word ‘anxiety’ – even more so than ‘stress’ and ‘depression’ – that is dominating the platform with millions of Facebook and Instagram posts. These posts speak of a sense of inadequacy in the face of an increasingly complex reality, as well as the difficulty of keeping up with unattainable aesthetic and social standards. But whilst, on the one hand, the need to ‘open up’ should be welcomed, on the other, there is a risk that the responses or advice received by social media users may be vague, misleading or even harmful. What is certain is that traditional media, such as the major TV channels, pay little or no attention to mental health in the broadest sense; indeed, they tend to shine a spotlight on more or less heinous cases only to turn it off shortly afterwards. So much so that seven out of ten news reports reduce coverage of mental health to criminal incidents and news stories. Prevention, active listening and combating stigma are largely absent.

“The success of content creators,” notes Paola Barretta, coordinator of the research group at the Pavia Observatory, “shows that there is a huge demand for content that is accessible and relevant to people’s lived experiences. The challenge is to combine this communicative effectiveness with the authority of the sources and scientific rigour, preventing the word ‘mad’ from being used as an immediate interpretation of a violent act, without any clinical or expert reference, with the dual effect of serving as both an explanatory shortcut and an emotional intensifier for the public.”

The survey

These are the key findings from the exploratory study “Media, language and mental health: how mental distress is portrayed”, carried out by the Osservatorio di Pavia, in collaboration with Associazione Civita, for the RO.MENS for social inclusion against prejudice, organised by the Department of Mental Health of ASL Roma 2, in collaboration with the Department of Social and Health Policies of Roma Capitale and under the patronage of RAI. The full results of the study will be presented on the morning of 1 October at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, during the international conference ‘Communication and Mental Health: The Power of Words’, to mark the opening of the fifth edition of Ro.Mens, which is due to take place in Rome from 1 to 10 October 2026, World Mental Health Day.

The data

On social media, the keyword ‘anxiety’ appears 37,000 times, thirteen times more than ‘depression’. Over 138,000 posts on mental health were published in the first six months of 2026, ranging from personal accounts to general information. During the same period, on the main Italian news programmes – Rai, Mediaset and La7 – only 389 out of 21,442 reports addressed the issue, accounting for 1.8 per cent of the news coverage, with 70 per cent of these reports framed within the context of crime and security.

Anxiety: the ‘queen’ of social media posts

For the social media analysis, 138,301 public posts relating to mental health that appeared on Facebook and Instagram between 1 January and 30 June 2026 were examined; after removing duplicates, these were reduced to 103,397 unique posts: 74,472 on Facebook and 28,925 on Instagram. The word ‘anxiety’ was mentioned 37,012 times, almost four times more than ‘stress’ and thirteen times more than ‘depression’. It is a term that features in discussions on ‘how to cope with it’, ranging from advice on managing physical symptoms to personal reflections. Over the six-month period under consideration, the volume of relevant posts remained relatively stable at between 21,000 and 26,000 per month. The most visible content – as the authors of the study explain – consists of direct accounts, whether by professionals or not, capable of translating complex topics into accessible and relatable language. A single post by a psychologist-turned-content creator managed to rack up nearly a million likes on Instagram.

“The surge in the use of the word ‘anxiety’ on Facebook and Instagram,” comments Massimo Cozza, Director of the Mental Health Department at ASL Roma 2 and founder of Ro.Mens, “appears to be linked to the social pressure to constantly perform better in various areas of life – at home, at school and at work – and especially on social media. Starting with one’s image – both physical and, above all, virtual – to become famous and successful, for better or for worse.”

Mental health absent from TV

During the same period, an analysis of prime-time news programmes on the general-interest channels RAI, Mediaset and La7 examined 21,442 news items: only 389 concerned mental health – a mere 1.8 per cent of the total – with an average of nine reports per month per news programme. But what is particularly striking is how the subject is covered. Seven out of ten reports link mental health to criminal incidents and news stories: crime alone accounts for 65 per cent of the reports and, together with public order and security, accounts for 70 per cent. Social issues account for 15 per cent, science and health for a mere 8 per cent, and culture and society for 7 per cent. Coverage tends to peak in response to individual incidents: in May, coinciding with the Modena case, the number of news items rose to 138. The choice of topics also confirms the dominance of crime news. Interviews feature in 271 reports – 69 per cent of the 389 relevant reports – involving a total of 462 individuals: ‘ordinary people’ account for 34.2 per cent of the interviews, whilst those at the centre of news stories make up 13.4 per cent. Together, they account for 47.6 per cent – almost one in two voices – whilst healthcare professionals make up just 12.6 per cent. The result is a narrative that focuses primarily on exceptional events, but much less on prevention, treatment and the possibility of seeking help.

The role of influencers and creators

Influencers and content creators – as the authors of the report point out – are filling the space left vacant by traditional media on social media. Posts about anxiety, ADHD, neurodiversity and eating disorders reach millions of people. However, this extraordinary ability to make complex topics accessible on social media raises an urgent question: who guarantees the quality of the news that reaches us? “When reliable information takes a back seat, the space is filled by those who communicate best, not necessarily most accurately,” the report warns. Alongside professionals, we see the emergence of remote diagnoses, oversimplifications and practices lacking any scientific basis, often presented in the reassuring tone of a cure.

The survey also highlights another divide: 25.7 per cent of the content uses the language of institutions and services, whilst 22.4 per cent uses that of families – centred on children, loneliness and the burden of care – and 38.7 per cent is of a personal nature, covering fears, relationships, suffering and values. Two narratives: on the one hand, the institutions; on the other, families and individuals who still seem unable to find common ground.

“We cannot rely solely on algorithms and individual initiative to tell the story of mental health,” conclude Barretta and Cozza, who argue that “services, institutions and the media must learn to speak a language capable of reaching young people and families, using respectful and informed terminology, whilst combating stigma, misinformation and pseudoscience”.