Mental Health Self Diagnosis and Social Media
Is TikTok the new webMD for mental health?
Self-diagnosing mental disorders has become increasingly common, especially in children and teens, after seeing content creators sharing their experiences on TikTok and other social media platforms.1
Gaining awareness and validation for behaviors and symptoms is in fact a net benefit: reading about symptoms online sometimes prompt individuals to recognize potential health issues earlier than they might have otherwise. However, inaccurate self diagnosis has its complications.
How much of mental health awareness is healthy, and to what extent is the exposure actually harmful?
Studies show that only over half of Tiktok’s “ADHD Advice” is clinically accurate, and 20% of advice is actually considered damaging.2
Content viewers don’t have an objective way to discern just how accurately their own behaviors map uniquely to these symptoms, and whether these behaviors cluster to a clinical diagnosis. While awareness is certainly helpful, behavioral health practitioners have been seeing more patients reference their behaviors as “OCD” or “ADHD”, without any proper clinical diagnosis to back up their claims.
This is harmful because of how mental healthcare works. In order to treat the root cause of a disorder or to manage the symptoms of conditions, a proper diagnosis is the foundation for the right interventions. When inaccurate labels are used, the proper interventions are often delayed, or worse, not used at all.
So what’s the right course of action? Of the 44% of Americans who admitted to diagnosing either themselves or others with a mental health condition, 28% revealed they had self-diagnosed a mental health condition, but only 53% of those self-diagnosers shared that they had received a provider's confirmation of their condition.3
For those suspecting that they may have a condition - that is just the beginning of a long but essential process. More clinically validated resources and education should be provided for individuals to do their own research, and a clinical confirmation from a good provider is key.
Without a medical professional’s help, the “For You” page on Tiktok can cause a lot of unnecessary anxiety and distress, without a ton of helpful solutions. Algorithms on social media platforms are designed to show users content that mostly align with their interests and worldviews, which can form echo chambers that amplify certain symptoms for the viewers. Anyone who has Googled their stomach ache symptoms to WebMD’s 25 types of cancers will tell you that the process is not all fun.
What are some upsides to self-diagnosis? When content creators share personal behaviors or traits that resonate with others, their vulnerability can provide real support and validation for individuals who are experiencing similar health issues. This is particularly helpful or even healing when these traits were largely undiscovered, or misunderstood and even ignored by previous medical professionals, and their surrounding community.
The more resonating some behaviors are, the more viral this content becomes. Especially when the content creator speaks on a common trait or symptom that many people assigned little significance to. When these experiences are shared, they create a sense of belonging and reduce feelings of isolation in others. This is especially true when the individuals felt that their concerns were previously ignored or invalidated by the medical community. We need to provide individuals useful tools to navigate their own health: better access to clinically validated screening tools, and access to quality psychologists who can administer comprehensive psychiatric evaluation and assessments.
Social media is net beneficial for open discussions about health conditions: it helps reduce stigma and normalize conversations about mental and physical health. As digital content encourages more people to seek help without feeling ashamed, we can do better to arm viewers with real resources, and practitioners that can provide real answers.
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/articles/2023/08/social-media-and-self-diagnosis
https://plushcare.com/blog/tiktok-mental-health/
https://thriveworks.com/help-with/research/thriveworks-research-americans-diagnose-selves-others/