DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17844266
title: Algorithmic Scripts and Textual Corpus for the Topological Modelling of Depressive Discourse via Discrete Network Analysis 2

description: Dataset Overview

This repository contains the unstructured textual corpus harvested from the social news aggregation and discussion platform, Reddit. The data comprises user-generated content specifically pertaining to depressive disorders, intended for use in discrete mathematical analysis and network topology modelling.

Data Acquisition and Processing





Source: Publicly accessible threads from health-related sub-communities (subreddits).




Content: The file includes raw posts and comments reflecting patient discourse on symptoms, cognition, and daily behaviours.




Anonymisation: To protect user privacy, all direct identifiers (usernames, specific timestamps, and location tags) have been rigorously removed or hashed prior to upload.



Technical Format

The dataset is provided in a plain text format (UTF-8 encoding), optimised for natural language processing (NLP) pipelines. It serves as the primary input for the accompanying Python scripts that perform:





Tokenisation: Segmentation of text into linguistic units.




Co-occurrence Analysis: Construction of semantic networks based on word proximity.




Triad Extraction: Identification of "Emotion–Cognition–Behaviour" (ECB) and "Body–Organ–Symptom" (BOS) motifs.



Usage Instructions

This corpus is designed to be loaded directly into the associated analysis environment. Researchers should ensure the filename corresponds to the input variable defined in the main_script.py (Depression 287 7494 667849.docx).

Clinical Depression Lexicon

This repository includes, in addition to the Reddit corpus, the full clinical wording of the depression questionnaires used as the source of standardized symptom terminology in the associated analysis. These item wordings were used exclusively to construct a symptom lexicon; no questionnaire response data were collected or analysed.



Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9)

(Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by any of the following problems?)





Little interest or pleasure in doing things (0–3)




Feeling down, depressed or hopeless (0–3)




Trouble falling or staying asleep, or sleeping too much (0–3)




Feeling tired or having little energy (0–3)




Poor appetite or overeating (0–3)




Feeling bad about yourself or that you are a failure or have let yourself or your family down (0–3)




Trouble concentrating on things, such as reading the newspaper or watching television (0–3)




Moving or speaking so slowly that other people could have noticed, or the opposite—being so fidgety or restless that you have been moving around a lot more than usual (0–3)




Thoughts that you would be better off dead, or of hurting yourself (0–3)




Functional impairment: If you checked off any problems, how difficult have these problems made it for you to do your work, take care of things at home, or get along with other people? (Not difficult at all – Extremely difficult)



Items reproduced from the original PHQ-9 as cited in Kroenke et al., J Gen Intern Med (2001).



Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)

Anxiety items





I feel tense or wound up




I get a sort of frightened feeling as if something awful is about to happen




Worrying thoughts go through my mind




I can sit at ease and feel relaxed




I get a sort of frightened feeling like “butterflies” in the stomach




I feel restless as I have to be on the move




I get sudden feelings of panic



Depression items





I still enjoy the things I used to enjoy




I can laugh and see the funny side of things




I feel cheerful




I feel as if I am slowed down




I have lost interest in my appearance




I look forward with enjoyment to things




I can enjoy a good book or radio or TV program



Items reproduced from the original HADS as cited in Zigmond & Snaith, Acta Psychiatr Scand (1983).



Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS)





I feel down hearted and blue.




Morning is when I feel the best.




I have crying spells or feel like it.




I have trouble sleeping at night.




I eat as much as I used to.




I still enjoy sex.




I notice that I am losing weight.




I have trouble with constipation.




My heart beats faster than usual.




I get tired for no reason.




My mind is as clear as it used to be.




I find it easy to do the things I used to.




I am restless and can’t keep still.




I feel hopeful about the future.




I am more irritable than usual.




I find it easy to make decisions.




I feel that I am useful and needed.




My life is pretty full.




I feel that others would be better off if I were dead.




I still enjoy the things I used to do.



Items reproduced from the original SDS as cited in Zung, Arch Gen Psychiatry (1965).



Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) — Example Item

Sadness0 — I do not feel sad1 — I feel sad2 — I am sad all the time and I can’t snap out of it

Item wording reproduced from the original BDI-II as cited in Beck et al., Manual for the Beck Depression Inventory-II (1996).