I’m here to say it….
TikTok mental health has fucked with society
Everybody you dislike is not a Narcissist
Every unpleasant experience isn’t trauma
Everytime somebody disagrees with you, they are not gaslighting
Being sad sometimes and happy sometimes does not make you bipolar
Having a particular habit is not OCD
Feeling all your feelings all the time is not realistic
Being hyper doesnt make you manic
Mental health is not cute, quirky, fun or relatable!
You couldn’t have said it any better.
Tiktok hasn’t ruined just mental health. That website is an absolute hellhole of fast-paced content, questionable ethics and clout chasing (not to mention the fact that the algorithm is literally programmed to push out certain types of content and drown out any ‘controversial’ content, i.e the Palestine situation.)
And it’s frankly depressing to see our society fall into shambles more violently than a train crash.
The internet was supposed to be just a place to connect with others from far distances. And now it’s gotten to the point that AI can replace us and take our jobs (there’s been a lot of drama surrounding AI art and how it can threaten us artists.)
Plus, combine this with the anti-intellectualism rise in the US, and you’ve got the end of humanity.
Of course, everything I said here is just hyperbole, but this massive problem needs to be dealt with.
From aliceisblue: Impressionable and young minds do seem take on factitious disorder roles and to a point can start to believe themselves that they have disorders. That’s not to discredit those who do struggle and experience mental health disorders or even other types of disorders, but it is no surprise that those who are struggling heavily have a hard time connecting and finding the help they deserve.
Sometimes the power of suggestion plays heavily in malleable minds. Something they would otherwise not endorse becomes something that can be hyper focused on. I think when someone has a stint of feeling lost and lonely and they find others who also have felt lost and lonely, it can at times feed the feelings if the conversations revolves around “how sad and lonely we are”.
I would love to think that gentle guidance will allow people who fall into the self tik tok diagnosis route to be comfortable to talk with mental health professionals and be okay with sitting in the uncomfortable without it having to relate to “me being uncomfortable = depression/mania/trauma etc”. But also if they do have depression/mania/trauma etc, that they go to the right place for help and not to the depths of the online rabbit hole.
I think I would agree for about 95% People should not selfdiagnose or see things that are normal in life as a psychiatric problem.
However, having been officially diagnosed with ADHD 3 years ago I do find some support/strength/relatable things on social media. I don’t use Tiktok but I do use Instagram. Some of the ADHD accounts are very good at letting me understand myself better and giving some relief by handling it with humour. So I guess that is the 5% that I find good about social media in general when it comes to mental health.
I agree with you. Tik Tok is banned in my house for those very reasons, plus some.
Totally agree. Also what bugs me, is people using what they’ve been fed on social media to diagnose ME with the trendy disorders. Like I know I have some traits common in those with ADHD…that’s because l have PTSD and guess what, my THERAPIST (who is licensed to diagnose me) says they can overlap. Glad they help you be more productive, but no I don’t feel related to🙃