Mapping mental health and suicide-related discourse on TikTok: An AI-based social media listening study

AI Summary

Negative or neutral posts, and content expressing sadness or fear, attracted higher engagement than positive posts, topical hashtag focus remained the dominant engagement driver.
Higher engagement occurred for nano and micro creators, unverified accounts, and posts without geotags, reflecting perceived authenticity and proximity.
Problem-focused hashtags about depression, loneliness, and suicide had the highest engagement, recovery and prevention tags like #mentalhealth and #youarenotalone also attracted substantial interaction.

AI Summary

Problem-focused hashtags related to depression, loneliness, and suicide showed the highest engagement; several recovery-, support-, and prevention-oriented hashtags, particularly #mentalhealth, #youarenotalone, #selflove, and #suicideprevention, also attracted substantial engagement.

Basic summary

J Affect Disord. 2026 Jun 15:122134. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2026.122134. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To examine engagement patterns around mental health and suicide-related discourse on TikTok, a platform widely used by youth and Generation Z, by comparing problem-focused (e.g., depression, loneliness, suicide) with recovery-, support-, and prevention-oriented hashtags (e.g., #mentalhealth, #youarenotalone, #selflove). We further assess whether engagement differs by sentiment, discrete emotions, creator type, geotagging, verification status, and publication year.

METHODOLOGY: We collected 12,587 TikTok posts published between 2020 and 2025 from 27 Spanish, English, and recovery-, support-, and prevention-oriented hashtags and analyzed them using an automated low-code pipeline integrating AI-based sentiment and emotion models. Preprocessing was conducted in Python under privacy-by-design principles; identifiers were anonymised, and engagement differences tested with t-tests and ANOVA.

FINDINGS: Posts classified as neutral or negative, and those expressing sadness and fear, were associated with higher engagement than positive content. Engagement was higher for nano- and micro-creators, unverified accounts, and posts without geotags, consistent with the prominence of perceived authenticity and proximity on the platform. Engagement peaked in 2020-2021, declined during 2022-2024, and increased again in 2025. Problem-focused hashtags related to depression, loneliness, and suicide showed the highest engagement; several recovery-, support-, and prevention-oriented hashtags, particularly #mentalhealth, #youarenotalone, #selflove, and #suicideprevention, also attracted substantial engagement.

ORIGINALITY: TikTok simultaneously hosts visible well-being-oriented discourse, while highly negative emotional content is associated with higher levels of engagement. Interpreted through the Werther/Papageno dual framework, these patterns indicate that while negative emotional tone attracts interaction, the specific topical focus (hashtag) is a far stronger driver of engagement. Mapping how engagement varies across emotional tone, creator attributes, and hashtag communities can inform youth-centered communication strategies and improve understanding of content visibility and interaction patterns on the platform.

PMID:42297148 | DOI:10.1016/j.jad.2026.122134

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