Masculinity, Identity and Mental Health in the Digital Age. The Construction of Male Mental Health on Reddit

Social media platforms have emerged as prominent spaces for individuals with mental health issues to share personal experiences, seek information and peer support (Naslund et al. 2020; Bucci, Schwannauer and Berry 2019; Berry et al. 2017). These digital environments facilitate open discussions among users facing mental health challenges and help reduce stigma (Cheng 2024). The present study investigates digital discourses on mental health and well-being, with a particular focus on the representation of male mental health on social media. By analysing a corpus of Reddit posts, it explores the influence of hegemonic masculinity (Connell and Messerschmidt 2005) on users’ perceptions and discursive practices. Grounded in Critical Discourse Studies (Wodak and Meyer 2016; Fairclough 2003) and corpus-based approaches (Baker 2023; Hunt and Brookes 2020), the study aims to advance understanding of the intersection between masculinity and mental health in online environments, while also investigating how social media discourses contribute to shaping representations of male mental health and evolving gender conceptualisations (Balirano and Borba 2020).