Experts call out TikTok mental health videos for being irrational and inaccurate

Mostly, teenagers with no proper qualifications or knowledge about mental health are making videos on TikTok portraying themselves as experts in the subject. These videos are causing more harm than good according to experts.

The Washington Post brings attention to the topic of teenage girls on TikTok between the age range of 14-18 making videos regarding mental health. One of the girls mentioned in the post is Issey Molony, a 17-year-old girl who makes videos about self-diagnosis and relationships between mentally ill people. The best part is that she has no training whatsoever and still holds an enormous number of followers.

This is one of the countless examples of TikTok creators monetizing issues regarding mental health by advertising courses and books. However, there are still genuine experts who make videos correcting such misinformed individuals. Such is the case of Inna Kanevsky who makes shorts calling out and correcting irresponsible claims made by other TikTokers.

The creators argue their videos are simply sharing their own experiences with mental illnesses and how they deal with them. However, there’s no evidence of them even having the illnesses they talk about and how right their advice is. Most of the time, it’s just personal opinions of the creators over factual or helpful information.

Social media culture itself can be quite taxing on the mind as some may find their lives lacking when comparing themselves to Instagram creators. Studies show that social media apps such as Instagram and Facebook cause anxiety in teenagers because they may feel inferior to others about matters of money, attractiveness, or social image. While this problem isn’t found that much on TikTok, there exists a whole new problem of excess depressive content and videos that aren’t based on reality at all.

Patients struggling with mental health issues should consult their doctors instead of social media influencers who are more likely to escalate the problem rather than help fix it. There’re several resources available to you regarding depression and mental illness which is why you shouldn’t take advice from TikTokers of all people.

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World