The researchers downloaded data from the Russian-language segment of the social network and found the answer to this question. Every psychotherapist and every fortune teller counted!
Ilya Martyn, co-founder of the platform for psychologists Cabinet.fm, wondered whether there are more representatives of evidence-based psychology or alternative “therapists” on social networks. He analyzed data from the Russian-language Instagram (an extremist organization banned in Russia).
Using one service to assess the target audience, he parsed [1] the keywords in the description of the profiles of all Instagram accounts (an extremist organization banned in Russia) in Russian and calculated how many profiles contain such indications of the profession as “psychologist”, “ psychotherapist”, “astrologer”, “numerologist”, “fortune teller” and “tarologist”.
According to received , on February 11, 2022 in the Russian-language Instagram: (an extremist organization banned in Russia)
452 psychotherapists,
5 928 psychologists,
13 astrologers and numerologists,
13 tarologists and fortune tellers.
The algorithm processed only those accounts that have at least 500 followers. In addition to less popular accounts, the sample also did not include those users whose profession was not indicated or it was indicated in some other way (for example, “Gestalt therapists” are not taken into account in such parsing).
As commentators noted on the blog where this data was published, “it’s not clear, is this more an indicator of supply or demand?” The analyst is convinced that the demand for psychologists and psychotherapists will grow.
“I think the trend has already changed, and in 4-5 years we will still see that there are more psychologists. Soviet people were taught that feelings should be kept in themselves, and psychos go to psychologists. But generations are changing, and people are becoming more responsible for their mental health,” commented Ilya Martyn.
According to Kommersant, a year ago, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of requests to psychologists, psychiatrists and psychotherapists in Russia increased by 10–30%, depending on the region. In 2019 VTsIOM 31% of Russians believe in “the ability of individuals to predict the future, fate”, and Rosstat believes that more than 2% of citizens of our country who need medical care turn to healers and psychics.
1. Parsing is an automated process of collecting data for processing and analysis. Special parser programs are used to process a large amount of information.