Editorial: Machine learning approaches for monitoring mental health and substance abuse using social media data

The rapid growth of social media platforms has changed how individuals express and share personal habits and experiences, including those related to mental health and substance use (1). In parallel, advances in machine learning (ML) have provided powerful tools for analyzing this rich and abundant data source, creating new possibilities for public health research (2). This Research Topic brings together several studies that explore the intersection of these two domains, employing ML techniques to monitor, analyze, and predict mental health conditions and substance abuse patterns using social media data, illustrating how innovative approaches could impact public health monitoring through the lens of social media data.