Virtual Booth

ABSTRACT

In Malaysia, mental health remains a sensitive and often misunderstood topic, making it particularly vulnerable to misinformation on social media platforms. From misleading mental health advice to the spread of stigmatising mental health information on digital platforms such as Facebook and TikTok, this misinformation possesses significant risks to public wellbeing and hinders professional help-seeking behaviour. To address the growing concern, the current innovation, SaringMINDASihat, introduces a discourse-based digital intervention designed which aims at identifying and managing mental health misinformation in online spheres. This innovation is grounded in a qualitative study that involves netnography and discourse analysis of 200 posts on Facebook support groups and 200 TikTok videos focused on mental health. Thematic analysis revealed recurring patterns of misinformation such as pseudo-therapeutic claims, emotionally manipulative stories, and misleading representation of psychiatric treatment. These findings were further examined through discourse analytical lens, using interpretative repertoire to identify their discursive and linguistic strategies. SaringMINDASihat transforms this insight into a practical innovation namely a culturally contextualised guideline that helps Malaysians to critically evaluate mental health-related information on social media and serve as preventive measure to counter misinformation on mental health. It also supports public health campaigns, hence educating Malaysian public on the importance of verifying mental health information shared online. By integrating linguistics, social media discourse and public health communication, SaringMINDASihat offers a sustainable and research-informed solution to combat mental health misinformation. It contributes to Malaysia’s infodemic management and mental health literacy goals as outlined by the World Health Organisation and Ministry of Health Malaysia.

Keywords: mental health misinformation, discourse analysis, health literacy, and infodemic management