Psychologists Raise Alarm About Impact of TikTok’s Unchecked Mental Health Influencers

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Psychologists are raising the alarm over the mental health impact TikTok is having on its users, particularly adolescents, as they notice a rise in people self-diagnosing with rare mental disorders and waves of teens presenting with identical “tics” seen on popular TikTok accounts. 

The social media platform, where users can share short videos, has become a welcome place for teens and others to share information about their mental health struggles and destigmatize mental disorders.

However, the popularity of the platform has also seen the rise of a new social media celebrity: mental health influencers. 

And now, some psychologists fear that TikTok users are not always getting information that helps, not harms, their mental health.

“My biggest concern centers around young people or even adults who are vulnerable because when we feel vulnerable we’re desperately hungry for information, we’re not quite as selective as perhaps we should be in terms of what information we deem valid,” New York Licensed Psychologist Dr. Amy Beth Taublieb tells Top Class Actions.  

Dr. Taublieb has been working as a psychologist for more than 25 years and said while there were a lot of potential positive benefits to the rise of the self-help movement on technology platforms, the problem was around unchecked information.

“I do not think in and of itself TikTok is good or bad, but I think like most things in our world, if it’s misused, it can become very, very damaging,” she says.

TikTok Mental Health Content Leads to Rise in Teen Self-Diagnosis

The popularity of mental health content on TikTok has led to a recent rise in teens self-diagnosing with mental disorders, the Wall Street Journal reports.  

One doctor at a Montana child psychiatric facility said she began seeing several patients a week last summer who were self-diagnosing with relatively rare disorders like Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and Tourette Syndrome.

TikTok videos containing the hashtag #bpd have been viewed 4.2 billion times. However, in the United States, recent research has shown that only about 1.6% of the population has BPD.

Despite this, board-certified mental health clinician and TikTok mental health influencer Dr. Kojo Sarfo says the popularity of #BPD content was a good thing. He says he uses the hashtag himself to get evidence-based information out to people about the disorder.

“I am aware that borderline personality disorder is one of the most misunderstood conditions out there. It is important for us to educate the youth about this condition and to remove the stigma,” he says.

However he adds that, because of the nature of the internet, there is “a high chance of misinformation.” He says he hopes people are curious enough to keep educating themselves on mental health topics they find on TikTok.

Social Media Users Have Little Protection From Misinformation

However, not all content creators are medical professionals. Anyone can post mental health content on TikTok without any sort of training or qualification, and videos are not fact-checked in any way. 

“There’s not a heck of a lot of legislation or a lot of control over who goes on TikTok and talks about Tourettes or BPD or depression,” Dr. Taublieb says.

She added that people might feel like TikTok was a safe place to try and work out why they weren’t feeling good. However the risk was misdiagnosis.

“I really believe quite strongly that no emotional, psychological, psychiatric diagnosis can be made with a questionnaire,” Dr. Taublieb says. 

Her advice to parents worried about their teens?: “Talk, talk, talk.”

TikTok Tics Mirrored Across Platform

Meanwhile, doctors are also reporting a sharp increase in teen girls seeking medical help for involuntary tics with neurologists blaming TikTok for the medical phenomenon.

Videos containing the hashtag #tourettes have been viewed a massive 5.6 billion times on TikTok. This is despite the Centers for Disease Control estimating about 0.3% of children aged 6–17 have the syndrome in the United States.

In a recent study assessing videos with the keywords “tic,” “Tourette” or “tourettes” published to TikTok Mar. 11, 2020 through Mar. 30, 2021, researchers found certain tics, like saying “beans” in a British accent, were being mirrored by young people across the platform. 

“We believe this to be an example of mass sociogenic illness, which involves behaviors, emotions or conditions spreading spontaneously through a group,” the study concluded. 

It warned that modern clinicians need to remain aware of social media content to properly assess patients in today’s world. 

Social Media Companies Under Fire

Users are now questioning whether TikTok is putting profits ahead of its users’ mental health and well-being. 

On TikTok, teens may be served content they don’t ask for on their “for you” page. If they spend time watching some sort of mental health content, the app’s algorithm will then work to serve the user similar content over and over.

The government has noted its concerns about the effect of these platforms on young users. 

“Business models are often built around maximizing user engagement as opposed to safeguarding users’ health and ensuring that users engage with one another in safe and healthy ways,” states a 2021 report by the U.S. Surgeon General on Youth Mental Health.

“This translates to technology companies focusing on maximizing time spent, not time well spent,” the report states.

TikTok Responds to Claims

A TikTok spokesperson tells Top Class Actions that, in regards to the study on TikTok tics and social media, the company is consulting closely with experts, “who caution that correlation does not mean causation and more research is necessary to better understand this specific experience.” 

The company says it is proud that people living with Tourette Syndrome have found a home on TikTok where they can fight stigma and express themselves authentically. 

In regards to teens self-diagnosing themselves with mental disorders after viewing mental health content on TikTok, a spokesperson tells Top Class Action that it was investing in digital literacy education aimed at helping people evaluate and understand content they engage with online.

“We strongly encourage individuals to seek professional medical advice if they are in need of support,” the spokesperson says.

Take Action

If you or your child is a heavy social media user and suffers from depression, eating disorders, cutting, body dysmorphia or other mental health conditions, you may be able to join legal action against these companies. 

Additionally, if you or your teen has diagnosed themselves with a rare mental health disorder after viewing content by mental health influencers on social media, you may be able to take part in the social media mental health class action lawsuit investigation. Click here for more information.

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