  The explosion of data on the internet is a direct corollary of the social
media platform. With petabytes of data being generated by end users, the
researchers have access to unprecedented amount of data (Big Data). Such data
provides an insight into user mental state and hence can be utilized to produce
clinical evidence. This lofty goal requires a thorough understanding of not
only the mental health issues but also the technology trends underlying the Big
Data and how they can be leveraged effectively. The paper looks at various such
concepts, provides an overview and enumerates the work that has been done in
this realm. Furthermore, we provide guidelines for future work that will help
in streamlining the Big Data use in social/medical sciences.

Computers and Society