Mental-Health: An NLP-Based System for Detecting Depression Levels through User Comments on Twitter (X)

Rafael Salas-Zárate, Giner Alor-Hernández (), Mario Andrés Paredes-Valverde, María del Pilar Salas-Zárate, Maritza Bustos-López and José Luis Sánchez-Cervantes
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Rafael Salas-Zárate: Tecnológico Nacional de México/I. T. Zitácuaro, Av. Tecnológico No. 186, Zitácuaro 61534, Michoacán, Mexico
Giner Alor-Hernández: Tecnológico Nacional de México/I. T. Orizaba, Av. Oriente 9 No. 852, Col. E. Zapata, Orizaba 94320, Veracruz, Mexico
Mario Andrés Paredes-Valverde: Tecnológico Nacional de México/I.T.S. Teziutlán, Fracción I y II S/N, Aire Libre, Teziutlán 73960, Puebla, Mexico
María del Pilar Salas-Zárate: Tecnológico Nacional de México/I.T.S. Teziutlán, Fracción I y II S/N, Aire Libre, Teziutlán 73960, Puebla, Mexico
Maritza Bustos-López: Tecnológico Nacional de México/I. T. Orizaba, Av. Oriente 9 No. 852, Col. E. Zapata, Orizaba 94320, Veracruz, Mexico
José Luis Sánchez-Cervantes: Tecnológico Nacional de México/I. T. Orizaba, Av. Oriente 9 No. 852, Col. E. Zapata, Orizaba 94320, Veracruz, Mexico

Mathematics, 2024, vol. 12, issue 13, 1-30

Abstract: The early detection of depression in a person is of great help to medical specialists since it allows for better treatment of the condition. Social networks are a promising data source for identifying individuals who are at risk for this mental disease, facilitating timely intervention and thereby improving public health. In this frame of reference, we propose an NLP-based system called Mental-Health for detecting users’ depression levels through comments on X. Mental-Health is supported by a model comprising four stages: data extraction, preprocessing, emotion detection, and depression diagnosis. Using a natural language processing tool, the system correlates emotions detected in users’ posts on X with the symptoms of depression and provides specialists with the depression levels of the patients. By using Mental-Health, we described a case study involving real patients, and the evaluation process was carried out by comparing the results obtained using Mental-Health with those obtained through the application of the PHQ-9 questionnaire. The system identifies moderately severe and moderate depression levels with good precision and recall, allowing us to infer the model’s good performance and confirm that it is a promising option for mental health support.

Keywords: detection of depression levels; natural language processing; social networks (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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