The Hazards of Social Media Mental Health Diagnoses

Written by Julie Radlauer-Doerfler and Spencer Abel

I remember when I was in graduate school for psychology, and every time I heard of a new diagnosis, I would look at the symptoms and declare that I was diagnosable. These days, they say the scariest thing you can do is Google your symptoms, but I disagree. At least when you Google your symptoms, chances are you’ll click on a WebMD or CDC article written by a doctor and full of information you know you can trust.

Want to know what’s really scary? TikToking your symptoms. Plug in any symptoms you have to social media, and you’ll be presented with limitless bingeable content from everyone from legit doctors to mental health influencers to people purposefully spreading disinformation.

The issue with using social media apps when searching for medical information is that you won’t necessarily see the best information at the top of the results page; instead, you’ll see the most viral information. So instead of a seasoned professional talking about mental health conditions, you’ll watch a 15-second video of a pseudo doctor dancing to the latest viral song. As the goal of social media is to feed the viewer addictive content, it will show whatever videos it thinks will keep you staring at the screen the longest. Typically, an in-depth video diving into the nuances of mental health diagnoses isn’t going to fit into that category.

Becoming misinformed about mental health conditions when actively searching for information is one thing, but having that misinformation chase you around the application is another. These days, mental health content tends to go light on the education and heavy on the emotions. Even though you initially only queried signs of depression, chances are you watched far more videos than you had intended. As a result, the algorithm will then feed you more and more mental health-related content. This means even when you’re mindlessly scrolling through reels and videos for entertainment purposes, the app will now bombard you with mental health videos.

This creates an echo chamber that is difficult to escape from. Initially, you may not think you’re suffering from depression or ADHD, but if you watch enough videos from a wide range of creators, eventually you’ll start to say, oh, wow, that sounds like me. You will hear the same few symptoms said over and over again until you’re convinced that you have whatever mental illness TikTok is peddling that day. Because, hey, you’ve done the research! If everyone is repeating the same few symptoms over and over, and you have them, this is enough evidence to self-diagnose, right?

The harm with self-diagnosis is that by doing so, we often forgo professional help. We self-diagnose, and then we self-medicate, often embracing trendy treatments rather than science-based solutions. It’s not only that self-diagnosing leads people to not get the treatment they need, but that individuals who don’t have a mental health condition may adopt one.

Being sad for a couple of days isn’t depression, but if you’ve watched dozens of videos over the past few days that say otherwise, you’ll start to believe it. This diagnosis will then form part of your identity and impact your behavior long after the underlying symptoms are gone.

But it’s not like viral online videos are all bad. The reason so many of our youth are gobbling them up is that they may not feel like they can talk to family and friends about mental health. Online, they can find a community that destigmatizes mental health conditions. This online refuge gives them a place where they can feel seen, heard, and understood.

We are currently experiencing a mental health crisis, with 1 in 5 young people between the ages of 3 and 17 being diagnosed with a mental health condition. The former U.S. surgeon general himself, Dr. Vivek H. Murthy, said that “mental health is the defining public health crisis of our time.” One of the many problems in addressing this crisis is that too many of our youth aren’t finding the professional support they need.

To effectively treat your mental health challenges, seeking professional help is an important step in recovery. If you're a parent of a child you think may be struggling, the first step is to have a conversation and openly talk about your concerns.

• Start by letting them know what you have noticed.
• Ask them if they have noticed it too.
• Do your best to be a non-judgmental listening ear.
• Together, decide the next steps.

When we do this, our children will feel seen, heard, and understood by us rather than an online community of strangers.

Gobbling up online content about mental illness is good only insofar as it shows a willingness to understand mental illness. Channel that desire for self-understanding and improve your or your child’s life by seeking out bona fide solutions from trained professionals.