Temporalities of peer support: the role of digital platforms in the ‘living presents’ of mental ill-health

Article

Tucker, I. 2024. Temporalities of peer support: the role of digital platforms in the ‘living presents’ of mental ill-health. Health Sociology Review. 33 (1), pp. 59-72. https://doi.org/10.1080/14461242.2024.2322531
AuthorsTucker, I.
Abstract

This paper considers matters of time in online mental health peer support. Significant evidence of the value of peer support exists, with new digital platforms emerging as part of the digitisation of mental health support. This paper draws from a project exploring the impact of digital platforms on peer support through interviews with users of a major UK-based online peer support platform. Drawing on Gilles Deleuze’s concept of the ‘living present’, the paper highlights how notions of past, present and future operate as co-existing dimensions of the present. The analysis highlights how the immediacy of digital platforms elicits expectations of peer support being ‘on tap’, which creates challenges when support is not received synchronously. Unlike in-person support, digital platforms facilitate the archiving of support, which can (re)enter the present at any moment through asynchronous communication. Anticipations of the future feature as dimensions of the present in terms of feelings regarding when support may no longer be needed. The paper offers potential implications for social scientific understanding of digital peer support, which include valuable insight for mental health services designing and delivering digital peer support.

JournalHealth Sociology Review
Journal citation33 (1), pp. 59-72
ISSN1446-1242
Year2024
PublisherTaylor & Francis
Publisher's version
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Anyone
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1080/14461242.2024.2322531
Publication dates
Online11 Apr 2024
Publication process dates
Deposited01 May 2024
FunderUKRI March Mental Health Network+
Copyright holder© 2024, The Author
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