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How mobile mental health applications promote entrepreneurial ways of life: a multimodal critical discourse analysis of interface design
Örebro University, School of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-1089-5819
Örebro University, School of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences. School of Languages and Applied Linguistics, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK.ORCID iD: 0000-0001-5554-4492
2026 (English)In: Social Semiotics, ISSN 1035-0330, E-ISSN 1470-1219, p. 1-21Article in journal (Refereed) Epub ahead of print
Abstract [en]

This study uses multimodal critical discourse analysis to explore the growing market of mental health applications (MHapps), particularly those using sound and music to promote wellbeing. Focusing on NuCalm, Endel and BrainTap, it examines the design and functionalities of their interfaces, revealing the underlying assumptions, values and ideologies embedded in their structures. It finds that these apps are structured around a script of self-management and self-improvement, deeply embedded in an entrepreneurial discourse of self-optimisation. What initially appears as a focus on wellbeing, in fact, subtly pushes users to maximise productivity and competitiveness. The study also reveals paradoxes in presenting both technology and users as the problem and solution to mental health challenges. Overall, it provides new insights into how MHapps shape contemporary understandings of wellbeing, reinforcing neoliberal ideologies of self-care as individual responsibility and raising broader questions about whether these technologies help users or simply redefine personal struggles as failures.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Routledge , 2026. p. 1-21
Keywords [en]
Mental health apps, wellbeing, entrepreneurial self, interface design, social semiotics, scientific discourse
National Category
Media and Communication Studies
Research subject
Media and Communication Studies
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-129089DOI: 10.1080/10350330.2026.2679494OAI: oai:DiVA.org:oru-129089DiVA, id: diva2:2063700
Available from: 2026-05-29 Created: 2026-05-29 Last updated: 2026-06-01Bibliographically approved

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Eriksson, GöranO’Hagan, Lauren Alex

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12345672 of 150
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