Overview
- Team of 15 faculty from Psychiatry, Computer Science, and Business
- Twitter scrapes to detect increased incidences of suicide risk using a validated phrase dictionary from mental health and suicide experts. The data is structured using natural language processing, and then analyzed by econometric experts from business.
- Project funded by direct grant from Vice Provost for Research, Johns Hopkins University
- Other projects being planned in a general survey of the population on depression, anxiety, and other milder forms of mental conditions, in collaboration with a team from Chile and Spain.
- Collaboration with Center for the Business of Health on the economic consequences of the mental health impact of COVID-19. Individuals that develop or have worsened mental health conditions as a result of COVID-19 confinement and job loss may enter the chronic unemployment rolls, increasing the long-term deadweight loss to economic welfare.
Hypotheses
- Suicide risk will increase among individuals subject to stay at home orders.
- The longer the stay at home orders, the higher the suicide risk.
- Job loss will mediate the relationship.
- Prior mental health conditions will positively moderate the relationship.
Investigators
Computer Science
Mathias Unberath, Chien-Ming Huang, Mark Dredze, Anand Malpani
Business
Phillip Phan, Erik Helzer
Psychiatry
Paul Nestadt, Bernadette Cullen, Patrick Finan, Timothy Moran, Tracy Vannorsdall, Robert Roca