About the Book
Mental health technology companies are some of social media’s biggest advertisers, as well as a prime source of endorsement deals for influencers—many of whom are also professional therapists. In Mood Disorder, Holly Avella explores how digital therapeutic technologies, including popular mood-tracking apps and algorithmic social media, work to construct psychiatric identities and calibrate mental health discourse including moods toward branded disorders. Through more than five years of mixed-method, qualitative research, Avella investigates what happens when media platforms are given diagnostic authority. Moving beyond critiques of the effects of mental health media and misinformation, she honors the coping functions of therapy tech while probing the histories of diagnostic mental health, from hysteria photos to aestheticized meds delivered to your door. This book asks readers to consider whether more equitable and just forms of care are possible.