Spark53:59Being human now 9 – Well-being
It’s “scroller beware” on #mentalhealth TikTok, where the content ranges from informed to misleading, and has the potential to be both helpful and harmful, mental health providers say.
Jonathan Shedler, a psychologist and clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, says he’s concerned about the quality of mental health information on social platforms.
“Unfortunately, we now have a lot of people representing psychology … who are influencers or digital marketers, who are not serious psychotherapists,” says Shedler, who has a doctorate in psychology from the University of Michigan.
“And no matter how flashy and attractive the messages are… it’s really not a good source of information.”
Social media has been called the psychiatrist’s bank of Generation Z. There is a seemingly bottomless well of self-proclaimed experts on platforms like TikTok and Instagram sharing content on how to set boundaries, deal with being triggered, identify toxic behavior, and cut ties with a narcissist. .
Many mental health professionals have praised TikTok for destigmatizing mental illness and helping those who don’t have access to therapy. But the platform has also been criticized for encouraging self-diagnosis, overusing labels and legitimizing misinformation.
More than half misleading
a study published by UBC found in early 2022 that of the 100 most popular TikTok videos about ADHD, more than half – 52 percent – were misleading. A further 27 percent were found to be based purely on personal experience – as opposed to clinical expertise or research – and 21 percent were classified as useful.
The report also found that the majority of ‘useful’ videos were created by healthcare professionals.
Shedler admits that some may find value in such content – people who may not realize, for example, that they are on the autism spectrum or that they are struggling with the symptoms of ADHD.
“If that’s a gateway to looking at it in a serious way, you know, with a professional, then it’s a good, useful thing,” he said.
“I think we’re going to have a problem when people engage in self-diagnosis, or let some strange social media influencer who’s never met them diagnose them. It doesn’t help anyone.”
Courtney Tracy, a licensed clinical social worker in California who posts online as “The Truth Doctor,” said she sees it a little differently.
Tracy, who has a doctorate in psychology from California Southern University, said she shares concerns about pathologizing normal things and arbitrarily labeling people.
“At the same time, it is clear that we have searched around the world for language to describe our pain, and for so long that language has only been pathologized and classified and codified in a book,” she said.
When they learn some of that language on TikTok or Instagram, they wonder: what’s the harm?
“You know, they don’t take their own diagnosis and use it for claims for their insurance company or to get medications.”
Jeff Guenther, a licensed professional counselor in Portland, Oregon, said he isn’t too concerned about unqualified people sharing mental health content online. He creates content for TikTok and Instagram as @therapyjeff.
It may be a bit of a smart call, he says, but he believes that “a lot of people on TikTok are really good critical thinkers, where they can watch a video and understand whether this is a professional or not.”
Aesthne Hinchliffe of Chester, NS, said they hope that is the case.
But as someone whose therapist has helped them cope with grief and anxiety, Hinchliffe said they worry about some of the information they see on social media – especially if it isn’t subjected to any scrutiny.
“I guess my hesitation might be maybe people don’t dig further, maybe don’t see where the information is coming from, who is the source?”
Hinchliffe said they prefer a more targeted approach to consuming mental health content, such as listening to a reputable podcast or following specific practitioners on social media rather than scrolling through everything under hashtags like #mentalhealth or # therapytok.
But overall, it’s positive that there is so much discussion about mental health on social media, as it has contributed to more openness about mental wellbeing in recent years.
“Fifteen years ago I would have been a lot less open about, ‘Oh, I have a therapy appointment today.’ Now I’m not ashamed to say I have a therapist.”
Hinchliffe said the social media discourse is helping to make looking after one’s own mental health as important as exercising or eating well.
Ignores broader contributing social issues
But PE Moskowitz says they are concerned about the emerging ‘diagnosis culture’. Moskowitz, a New York-based writer, runs a Substack publication called Mental Hellth, which challenges mainstream narratives about mental illness.
They say this discourse focuses on individual efforts, as opposed to collective responsibility. That leaves out the broader public policy and social issues that are so intertwined with our mental well-being – or lack thereof, they said.
Some people may be having a hard time in life because their wages are too low and the rent is too high, Moskowitz said, “but they internalize that by saying, ‘Oh, it’s just because I have XYZ disorder,’ and then leave that kind of everything else hook.”
“And I think that’s really sad, because it ignores how society is eliminating us. It’s ignoring how society is the cause of our struggle.”
Another problem is the so-called weaponization of “therapy language”—whether that means calling a disagreement “gaslighting” or, as Moskowitz has noted, when someone’s diagnosis is used as “a kind of currency through which people can make money.” dig their heels in and can’t understand what anyone else is saying.”
Gaslighting describes a type of psychological abuse in which a victim questions the validity of their thoughts or their perception of reality.
Guenther said he agrees that it is “crude” and unhelpful to overuse these terms.
But even if the words are sometimes used clumsily or aggressively, Guenther said it’s a learning curve.
“I like to see people trying to use more therapeutic language,” he said. “I’m also old enough to remember that in the ’80s and ’90s it wasn’t called ‘therapy talk.’ It was called ‘psychobabble.’
“And if you ever talked about your feelings, you were immediately told that you were engaging in some form of psychobabble, and you were immediately dismissed.”