The Toxicity of Online Mental Health Videos

Having grown up with new technology and hyperconnectivity, Generation Z is more tech-savvy than any other generation. We are efficient searchers of information, and we have taught ourselves how to use technology—perhaps a tad bit too well. Generation Z has a tendency to depend on the Internet to solve real-life issues, and mental health is no different. 

Since the advent of the popular video-sharing app TikTok, many young people have shared their own experiences with mental health online, giving bite-sized tips on coping strategies and lists of symptoms they themselves believe to be linked with a particular mental disorder. However, this uncensored nature of the Internet has also led to huge bouts of misinformation. In fact, research shows that 52% of TikTok videos about Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) were indeed misleading [1]. 

The problem with these videos is that TikTok’s uncensored nature leads to the widespread dissemination of misinformation. Anyone can post anything, and the information being spread is rarely fact-checked. Viewers come across similar content due to the search and recommendation algorithms, so they are more likely to be caught up in their own “echo chamber,” which leads to the reinforcement of the initial misinformation. The fact that they are seeing certain content repeatedly makes them believe the information to be true, and they themselves become new propagators of the same misinformation. Moreover, the sense of validation they get from like-minded—but misinformed—peers makes the platform all too alluring for young minds.

In regards to the content itself, oftentimes the content centers on an overview of the “symptoms” of a certain mental disorder that the creator of the video believes to have. The most prevalent trend in mental health on social media being ADHD, most videos that promise to list symptoms of ADHD note that the disorder is characterized by inattention to detail, hasty mistakes, and difficulty concentrating. However, the problem with this generic description is its ubiquitousness as well as its blindness to context. The emphasis on the few select predominant symptoms negates the disorder’s many layers that might be easily identified in a clinical context instead of a hasty self-diagnosis.

The widespread information about trauma has led to the prevalence of the lay use of the term “trauma” as well. A movement to validate self-diagnosis is on the rise, leading to the aggravation of detrimental symptoms and worsening mental health in the population. This occurs due to the general lack of expertise of those who self-diagnose. To professionally diagnose a patient, clinicians familiarize themselves with the specific criteria of each mental disorder in accordance with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-5-TR). On top of this, they receive years of rigorous training in the field while being in contact with variations of the same disorder. Hence, the absurdity of self-diagnosis emerges when unqualified laypeople online attempt to emulate this intricate process only based on their own experience.  

The ongoing mental health crisis of our generation seems to have taken a sharp turn with the ever-changing and developing technology. With the incessant flood of information and parasocial relationships that Generation Z enjoys, we are often too reluctant to verify what we see online. We regard firsthand accounts and lay diagnoses as objective facts instead of opinions from people just like us. However, we must always remember that there are high costs of this willful ignorance and indulgence.

[1] CBS News