Is TikTok Fueling Anxiety With Mental Health Advice?

“I was dating someone last year and forgot about him while we were dating,” @saranne_wrap proclaimed on TikTok. The influencer explained that she was surprised to hear about her love when they texted her after a few days of silence and felt that because she suffered from ADHD, she lacked “permanence of l 'object”. So, she couldn't remember the people she had been around.

Perhaps she was referring to object constancy, or the ability to maintain a connection with another person despite feelings of hurt or anger, which can be more difficult for people with the disorder. attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Or maybe she meant emotional permanence, which refers to the trust that loved ones still feel affection and care even when they're not present.

The lack of permanence of the object would, however, be an incorrect explanation. The term refers to the ability to recognize that an object exists, even if it is not directly in your field of vision. Babies don't develop object permanence until they're about a year old, which is why they find hide-and-seek games exciting. There is no evidence that it is linked to ADHD.

This video is just one example of misnomers and misconceptions about common mental health issues found on TikTok. Many young people on the platform use hashtags like #adhd and #mentalhealth to discuss conditions like borderline personality disorder, autism or obsessive-compulsive disorder. Sometimes these TikTok users self-diagnose with these conditions, and there is no guarantee that the information presented is accurate.

While social media can raise awareness about mental health issues and reduce the stigma sometimes associated with them, it can also perpetuate misinformation and create more anxiety for some teens. Sandstone Care examined news reports and academic studies to find out how teens receive health advice from TikTok and what impact it has on their mental health.

How reliable is mental health advice on TikTok?

Academic research suggests that the health advice given by TikTokers is poor at best. A study published in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry looked at the top 100 videos tagged #adhd. Of those, only 11 were posted by people identifying themselves as healthcare providers. Researchers found that 27 videos were based on personal experiences, while 52 were labeled “misleading” and only 21 were “helpful.” These videos have received 280 million views combined.

The problem is not limited to mental health. Another study by researchers at the University of Chicago found that sinusitis videos were not much better in terms of scientific accuracy. They found that about half of TikTok videos on the topic were uploaded by influencers without medical training. Only about 47% of the videos posted by these content creators were deemed “factual.” TikTokers with medical training, as well as laypeople, posted more accurate videos about sinusitis, with about 80% of their videos rated as factual.

TikTok has become one of the largest social media platforms in the world and is particularly popular with teenagers. According to the Pew Research Center, about two-thirds of U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 use the app, while one in six say they use TikTok “almost constantly.” For comparison, only a third of teenagers use Facebook. TikTok is the second most used platform among teenagers, surpassed only by YouTube.

Most TikTok videos are intended to entertain, not to inform. But the broad reach of the platform means it has an impact on behavior. According to a survey conducted by Education Week in March, 28% of high school students reported using social media to “sometimes” diagnose their own mental health issues, while 10% used social media to diagnose their own issues “all the time.” . Students were also likely to use what they learned from social media to diagnose their peers.

Although a diagnosis by a clinician is necessary to prescribe medications for the treatment of a psychological disorder, self-diagnosis can still be harmful. Misdiagnosis can increase anxiety and stress, or lead to assumptions that feelings or behaviors consistent with typical functioning are bigger problems than they actually are.

It will be difficult to fight against misinformation

Mental health disorders are often underdiagnosed, in part because not everyone has equal exposure to psychological terms or access to healthcare professionals. Providing more information to people through social media can be a good starting point to help people understand their mental state.

But it also exposes them to misinterpretations of medical information and self-diagnosis. For years, doctors have complained about patients presenting them with diagnoses from sites like WebMD. But given TikTok's popularity among young people and the tendency of the app's content to go viral, the platform's reach is potentially much broader than that of other online medical resources.

A 2023 study by researchers at Indiana University Bloomington compared self-reported mental health symptoms among two groups of people: people who had been diagnosed with mental disorders and those who had not ( but thought they should be). Researchers found that when it came to certain disorders such as depression, generalized anxiety, and insomnia, people who had not yet been diagnosed reported symptoms almost as severe as people who had already been diagnosed. This means that many people who believe they should be diagnosed with certain disorders are on the right track, even if they haven't yet spoken to a mental health professional.

Some academics leverage social media to disseminate accurate information through people who already have a platform. Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health recently worked with 42 TikTok influencers, coaching them to create medical videos rooted in fact. The academics found that influencers who received their advice were 3% more likely to post videos about their talking points, generating an additional 800,000 views. Merging experts with accurate information and influencers with large platforms could be one way to combat misinformation.

But educators can also help disseminate accurate medical information. They may just need to log into TikTok.

Story editing by Alizah Salario. Copy editing by Tim Bruns.

This story originally appeared on Sandstone Care and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.