According to the World Health Organisation, around 280-330 million people worldwide live with depression, affecting roughly 4-5 per cent of the global population, and it remains one of the leading causes of disability globally.

 As per the American Psychiatric Association (APA), major depressive disorder (MDD) is a condition characterised by episodes of pervasive low mood accompanied by low self-esteem and a loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities. Nowadays most people use social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook to share their thoughts and opinions with their contacts. As such, social media provides a means of capturing behavioural attributes that are relevant to an individual’s thinking, mood, communication, activities and socialisation. The emotions and language used in social media postings may indicate feelings of worthlessness, guilt, helplessness and self-hatred that characterise major depression.........

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