Encouragement of self-diagnosis through tiktok - why it may be more damaging than you'd think
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Encouragement of self-diagnosis through tiktok - why it may be more damaging than you'd think
Is the content we are constantly engaging with accurate?
Note to readers: This guest post is the third in a series of guest posts written by students who are engaging in my research program in several ways. The aim of this series is to allow my mentees to pursue their research interests while also sharing their own personal journeys in the Academy while sharpening their scholarship, scientific writing, and engaging with the public. I have lightly edited each piece as part of my mentorship, but each piece reflects the students current writing and capacity to cover and discuss a research topic with scholarly rigor and precision. As readers are likely well aware, a current focus of my research program is examining the evidence for social contagion of mental illness self-diagnoses driven largely by algorithmic social media. Here, my mentee Gayathiri Rajkumar, herself an avid user of TikTok, offers an ‘on the ground dispatch’ offering insight into this troubling phenomenon.
Above are just a few of many videos I have come across regarding mental disorders on TikTok, those of which have a substantial amount of views and are now causing a notable increase in self-diagnoses among adolescents. The platform, originally known for comedy and dance videos, has seen a sudden surge in mental health content, with TikTok now becoming a first line of information regarding mental health for many individuals. It comes into question whether these TikTok videos are a valid basis for diagnosis; should we blatantly trust information spread on the internet by those who may or may not even be knowledgeable on the topic at hand?
My name is Gayathiri and I am currently a fourth-year university student pursuing a double major in Biology and Psychology. I am Sri Lankan, but born in Canada and have lived here my entire life. As an avid TikTok user myself, it can get overwhelming being exposed to an endless stream of content, let alone content regarding symptomatology that causes us to re-evaluate our own traits and habits. Having dealt with anxiety for most of my life, it’s frustrating seeing inaccurate mental health content on the platform, not to mention the comment sections of these videos where people blatantly believe whatever is stated and claim to have something they may not actually have. I personally do not relate to any of the “signs of anxiety” in the TikTok above, as anxiety from my own personal experience is a feeling of worry that is nearly impossible to control and manage, arising unexpectedly without any specific reason. I understand that experiences with anxiety aren’t necessarily universal, but there is definitely a fine line between normal anxiety and an anxiety disorder, that of which isn’t exactly displayed through TikTok. Not only is the majority of this content on the app very misleading, but extremely influential to those with no prior exposure to mental health topics.
With the hashtags #adhd, #DID and #bipolar accumulating billions of views on the social media platform, it is no question that viral videos pertaining to mental health on the app have a vast influence on impressionable users. The sudden increase of teens and adults self-diagnosing themselves with conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), dissociative identity disorder (DID) and Tourette syndrome could potentially be a cause for concern considering the sources they allow themselves to constantly be exposed to. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a significant increase in social media use, in turn causing increased feelings of psychological distress; something that mental health content on TikTok may only make worse.
TikTok videos regarding mental health may be created with the intention of encouraging others to evaluate/understand themselves better, but they may be causing more harm than good. For one, content regarding extremely generalizable symptoms can easily mislead others into thinking that they have a disorder that may not even be present in the first place. Signs of anxiety mentioned in the TikTok below like dry mouth and restlessness can easily be attributed to many other causes and aren’t necessarily exclusive to anxiety. Aside from content not being entirely accurate, there are also high comorbidities across psychiatric disorders, so one may believe they have a particular disorder while missing important indicators of other disorders. Many individuals on TikTok are self-diagnosing based on stereotypes and superficial characteristics while failing to realize that mental health disorders are serious and may require professional help. There is no regulation of what people say on the app, which is why I feel a lot of inaccurate information gets spread by non-professionals with a tone of authority.
The presence of mass social media-induced illness is also becoming an issue in the TikTok community, as there has been a spontaneous spread of behaviours and conditions due to witnessing the behaviour of those impacted by a particular disorder. A good example would be the sudden increase in teens diagnosing themselves with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) as well as the increase in mysterious tics in teenage girls. DID, formerly known as multiple personality disorder, is a condition where two or more distinct identities, also known as “alters”, exist within a single individual. Since a DID diagnosis has usually been synonymous with a history of abuse and trauma, there is concern that TikTok is spreading misinformation regarding the disorder and is in turn having a heavy influence on impressionable teens, who now claim to have it after seeing individuals share their DID experiences on the app. The increasing amount of patients presenting with unusual, involuntary movements and vocalizations resembling Tourette syndrome has also been alarming, and is seemingly a result of hours spent on TikTok watching users that reportedly have the disorder. Many teenagers presented with identical “Tourette-like” behaviour, which can easily be differentiated from tics in Tourette syndrome. As the presence of symptoms is definitely valid, it is still questionable whether said symptoms would still be present without the influence of social media.
Nonetheless, mental health content on TikTok can have its benefits; this type of content generates awareness and encourages conversation around complex topics, while building a sense of community and providing validation to those that may be feeling alone in their struggles. It can help individuals to recognize their own struggles and encourage them to open up to others and seek help from a professional. It only becomes a personal issue for me when social media becomes one’s primary/sole source of medical information, as TikTok videos themselves do not create a basis for self-diagnosis. It is best to think of self-diagnosis as a starting point; from here, one can start to develop a basic understanding of the symptoms and signs they may be experiencing and consult a mental health professional if necessary.
As long as these videos are taken lightly and each point isn’t taken as an accurate picture of your health, TikTok has the potential to cultivate a safe place for mental health discussion and help to reduce stigma. Ultimately, it is important to ask yourself whether a platform originally built for dance videos can also serve as a credible source of health information; a viewpoint that I personally disagree with.
Encouragement of self-diagnosis through tiktok - why it may be more damaging than you'd think
Terrific work. I share your frustration with these self-diagnoses. I worked at a psych hospital for years and would often hear patients say "oh, that's just my ADD." I would ask them what they were doing to reduce their symptoms or build resiliency and they always said nothing. They just wanted the excuse.
Also this trend of advertising your mental illnesses in your Twitter bio is completely ridiculous. Publicly telling everyone you have depression is a great sign you don't.
How dare you, only a bigot would ever suggest that the Tide Pods generation is (checks notes) highly prone to suggestion through social media