Attention and Awareness – Women's Digital Storytelling within Instagram to Reduce ADHD Stigma

This bachelor thesis analyses how women’s digital storytelling (DST) within Instagram actively reduces the stigma associated with ADHD. A reflexive thematic analysis following the six-step guidelines provided by Braun and Clarke (2019) was used to identify themes possibly correlated with stigma reduction. After the analysis, one overarching theme, empowerment, was identified. In addition, seven main themes, namely emotional experiences, consequences of inadequate executive functioning, understanding the complexity of symptoms, misconceptions about ADHD, community and peer support, pride, and personal experiences, were identified. All themes, subthemes, and corresponding codes were presented in the results section and validated after a member check interview was conducted. Even though there is support from research that some themes identified might contribute to stigma reduction, further investigation for sustained empirical validation is needed. Keywords: social media, Instagram, mental health, ADHD, ADHD stigma, women, digital storytelling, reduce stigma, raising awareness, empowerment