Tik Tok & Youth Mental Health
Social media has been known to make waves in our culture. While there can be some positive aspects to social media, the negatives often outweigh any benefits. TikTok, a platform for sharing short videos (often accompanied by music), has been in the spotlight for several emerging trends that are of concern to school administrators, parents, and health care professionals. The latest TikTok trend which has us shaking our heads is the self-diagnosing of mental health disorders.
No doubt, TikTok has been responsible for a very positive trend in reducing stigma around mental health. As little as five years ago, we were still doing a lot of psychoeducation with our families and kids by normalizing symptoms and teaching about different diagnoses and coping strategies. Today, because of what they may have seen in their social media feed, many kids come in already armed with the psychoeducation, having some level of knowledge around diagnoses, symptoms, and treatments. Truly, we have a very different way of approaching kids now than we did just five years ago.
With education comes better awareness, understanding, and acceptance of differences. This is something to celebrate, considering the pervasive stigma around mental health challenges that many adults grew up with. I’m hopeful for the future of mental health as this current generation continues to chip away at that stigma and build awareness.
What’s concerning, however, is that awareness and acceptance are leading to an increase in over-analyzing and over-diagnosing. Many kids are spending time on TikTok exploring various symptoms and jumping to conclusions based on what’s appearing in their feed. While some of the information can be useful, it’s best to take it with a grain of salt. Especially considering the fact that TikTok’s algorithm isn’t necessarily individualized, according to Taylor Lorenz, a technology and culture reporter for NPR.
“When things go viral on TikTok, suddenly they're sort of just shoved into the feeds of millions of people that might not have ever followed that stuff before,” says Lorenz. “...the mechanisms of it allow certain things to spread and allow certain videos to really take hold in a way that they couldn't.”
At Anesis, we have seen a lot of kids come into our clinic saying they have generalized anxiety disorder or depression before receiving a proper diagnosis from a licensed professional. Our partners that work with youth are reporting this as well. In this video segment, a college student shares how her peers have self-diagnosed themselves with everything from ADHD to schizophrenia.
We definitely don’t want to minimize symptoms or feelings that kids are experiencing, but we do want to promote them staying open and curious about what might actually be going on with them. Many young people are spending hours and hours taking in everything that’s out there but not pausing to talk about their own experiences with real people, like their parents or a professional.
Meeting with a therapist to talk about your individual situation is going to really help you in the long run. Going down the mental health “rabbit hole” of TikTok is not.
Parents need to be aware of how much time their kids are spending on social media, and provide opportunities for open dialogue about what’s on their kids’ minds. Don’t brush off their concerns, but also guide them away from jumping to conclusions about their own situations. A lot of people are experiencing anxiety right now, considering all of the major events that have occured over the last several years. Fears around COVID, strong emotions surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement, and continued exposure to heated political battles around the world are all extreme stressors on their own, and we are experiencing them ALL at once. Every human being on the planet is feeling the effects!
Anxiety is a very normal feeling, and can serve us well when appropriate. For instance, if you have a big project deadline coming up or you are walking alone in an unfamiliar place at night, anxiety will keep you alert in those situations to do what you need to do to “survive.” But when anxiety interrupts your day-to-day life regularly, affecting your productivity and ability to function, it’s time to talk to a mental health professional who can offer healthy coping mechanisms.
If your kid is going down the road of self-diagnosing mental health problems, Lorenz suggests some thought-provoking questions that can help open the discussion to a deeper conversation:
Why do you feel like that stuff is resonating so much?
How can I help you solve some of these problems?
If you and your kid agree that seeking help from a mental health professional is the next best step, it’s also important not to get caught up in unrealistic expectations for what therapy will look like. Each person is treated individually, and just because you saw something done differently on TikTok or some other social media platform does not mean it is the right practice for you.
Parents, it’s a fine line we walk between managing expectations, letting our kids blossom into the individuals they’re meant to be, and letting them know they are supported and loved. Knowing when to let them take matters into their own hands versus when we need to step in and provide some guidance can be tricky. But we can do this. Your family at Anesis is here to help, and we’re just a phone call away.
Myra R. McNair, LMFT
