This is the log for my EPA2022 poster presentation
"“Might Relapse Today” - The Categorization of discussions in the r/benzorecovery subreddit". Here I will post explanations of the research
presented in the poster.
INTRO
The social media platform Reddit is a contemporary context where we have an
opportunity to identify problems experienced by people regarding different aspects of life. The platform is virtually anonymous which might make users
discuss their problems more freely. Reddit is divided in subreddits where different subjects are discussed and the discussions are controlled by
creators and moderators. I have identified a quite active subreddit targeted towards recovering addicts of benzodiazepines; r/benzorecovery.
Using a method of categorization and metadata mark-up, which I will describe below, we could gain a good understanding of the problems among
recovering benzodiazepine addicts. We will also have the possibility to identify concepts that addicts themselves discuss and relate these to
social and medical professional concepts thus creating better possibilities of communication between professionals and clients.
OBJECTIVES
* To analyze strategies of recovery in user narrative
* To identify techniques commonly used and the how they are described
* To construct metadata in order to assess how frequent the discussion of a different techniques are
Change of date - Because of the COVID-pandemic and the new Omikron variant of the
virus, the conference will be postponed until 4-7 june.
Here is the abstract that describes the poster as I thought it would look when I first
contacted the conference. It gives a little more thickness to the description you will find here.
abstract
METHOD
Categorization of discussions is a way of identifying the lay of the land within a certain subject. Technically, what is done in this study,
is adding mark-up metadata to different discussion. A rudimentary form of analysis suitable with a larger digital corpus The words added is
what commonly is known as content metadata (Gilliland Swetland 2000). The metadata is constructed through a hermeneutical method in which the
researcher analyses the subreddit in two phases - first by identifying categories and then by sorting posts into one or more category.
TECHNIQUE
(this part is not included in the final poster):
In the beginning of the work I tried different Reddit-scrapers to do the same job that I finally did manually. Unfortunately most of them are constructed
to be used in technical implementations and are not really adapted for constructing files that must be analyzed by humans. Here are som examples of files
constructed by scrapers.
* data.csv
* raw.txt
TECHNIQUE
The technique I used instead is a manual technique. I copied the text from the first 100 posts into a text file. This file became my main source for
the research. Reading through the posts I created categories for each subject I found. Reading through the posts again I attached one or more of the
categories to each posts. Below are links to the text file and the text file including my metadata.
* The copied posts
* The copied posts including my metadata
RESULTS
The first results are the categories. These are the categories created through the analysis with some explanation.
- DRUGS - References to drugs and drug use. Focus on other drugs than bensodiazepines.
- OTHER - Videos, rants, pictures without text, undefined posts, references to celebrites withdrawal stories (Eminem).
- PSYCHIATRIST - Contact with psychiatrist, discussions regarding choosing psychiatrist et cetera
- RELAPSE - Stories about relapsing, failing to taper, or starting again after quiting.
- TAPERING - References to tapering, using a decrease in dosage to stop use of bensodiazepines
- WITHDRAWAL - Descriptions of withdrawal symptoms.
In coming posts I will dig a little bit into some of these categories and present further description of the actual content.
DRUGS
The redditors mentioned other drugs than bensodiazepines in a couple of different contexts. As something to use while tapering. As another drug they use. As medicine
they are prescribed to counter their withdrawal symptoms.
| Alcohol | Many users seem to combine Bensodiazepines and Alcohol. |
|---|---|
| Ambien | Zolipdem - used to treat sleeping problems. |
| Baclofen | Used to treat muscle spasticity. |
| Benadryl | Diphenhydramine, an antihistamine. |
| Black Seed Oil | Herbal remedy, oil of Nigella sativa. |
| Blue Skullcap Tea | Herbal remedy, tea made of Scutellaria lateriflora. |
| Cannabis | Many users seem to combine Bensodiazepines and Cannabis. |
| Clonidine | Used to treat drug withdrawal. |
| Fentanyl | A synthetical opiod. |
| Gabapentine | An anticonvulsant used to treat a variety of problems. |
| Kava Kava | Infusion of Piper methysticum. |
| Kratom | Plant (Mitragyna speciosa) used for its psychoactive properties. |
| Lactium | A milk protein hydrolysate used to counter stress. |
| Lexapro | Escitalopram - an antidepressant. |
| Loperamid | Used to counter Diarrhea. |
| Methadone | Used to treat Opiod addiction. |
| Opiods | Different pain medicines produced from the Poppy flower. |
| Phenibut | Food supplement used against insomnia and anxiety. |
| Pregabalin | Antiepileptica - sold under the brand name Lyrica. |
| SSRI | A family of antidepressants. |
| Sublocade | A brand name for Buprenorphine - an opiod. |
| Tinaeptine | An atypical antidepressant. |
| Tramadol | An opiod. |
WITHDRAWAL
These are the symptoms described by users, when they describe their withdrawal from bensodiazepines.
- alone
- agoraphobia
- anhedonia
- anxiety
- body aches
- brain fog
- depersonalization
- derealization
- depression
- discomfort
- dizziness
- drdp (depersonalization, derealization)
- extreme burning in limbs
- extreme fatigue
- feel like a broken monster
- flashbacks to bad memories
- flu feeling
- heart palpitations
- hot flashes
- hppd (hallucinogen persisting perception disorder)
- inner tremors
- irritability
- lack of happiness
- lightheadedness
- memory issues
- mood swings
- neurological problems
- no joy no desire and no motivation
- pain
- panic attacks
- psychotic
- seizures
- slight fear
- stiffness
- sweat
- thought loops
- tinnitus
- tremors
- vivid nightmares of corpses
- weakness
- weightloss
As of today I am waiting for the conference in June to present my
poster. Until then you can view the poster in a preliminary version.
Conference is over and the poster is registred in the Diva-Portal (click the
picture). Really big online conference with 1399 e-posters.