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(Dis)assembling mental health through apps: The sociomaterialities of young adults' experiences.

Authors :
Flore, Jacinthe
Source :
Media International Australia (8/1/07-current); Aug2024, Vol. 192 Issue 1, p3-20, 18p
Publication Year :
2024

Abstract

Typically free, accessible on-demand and easy to use, smartphone-based applications (apps) targeting mental health have expanded in recent years. This article discusses a qualitative research study with 14 young adults aged 18 to 25 years old who use apps to understand, track, and monitor their mental health. I present four vignettes drawn from a screenshot elicitation and a qualitative interview that sought to explore what is significant, socially and materially, for young adults in their usage of apps for their mental health. In this article, I examine how apps transform, interrupt, and mediate young adults' understandings and experiences of mental (ill) health. The analysis draws on sociomaterialism to demonstrate how, at a time when digital mental health is expanding, mental (ill) health is assembled and disassembled with and through apps, and users' experiences are enmeshed in affective intensities and entangled with technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
1329878X
Volume :
192
Issue :
1
Database :
Complementary Index
Journal :
Media International Australia (8/1/07-current)
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
178804886
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1177/1329878X221114486