At first, guidance counselor Melissa Millington was baffled when more than one student at her Missouri high school claimed to have or showed symptoms of , an exceedingly rare condition previously called multiple personality disorder, dramatized in movies like 鈥溾�� and 鈥�.鈥�
Not long after that development, it was . Students who had never showed signs of the neurological disorder before mimicked its signature involuntary movements or tics and barked or yelled in class.
These days, students who have never exhibited autism spectrum disorder are adamant that they have it鈥攄espite the lack of a professional diagnosis. One even brought notecards with instructions in case she suddenly became nonverbal at school鈥攏ever a problem for her before, Millington said.
It didn鈥檛 take much detective work for Millington to figure out where her students were learning about these mental health and neurological conditions: TikTok, the same social media video platform where influencers hawk or show off
Tiktok is 鈥渢heir WebMD,鈥� said Millington.
鈥楢ll they鈥檙e doing is adopting this label鈥�
Teenagers鈥� interest in using social platforms to research mental health conditions and learning and thinking differences likely stems from the big questions that define adolescence, educators said.
鈥淭hese students, they鈥檙e trying to find out who they are,鈥� Millington said. 鈥淏ecause that鈥檚 what you do in the teen years, you鈥檙e trying to figure out: Where do I fit in society? Who am I going to be?鈥�
But through TikTok and other social sites, some have made the leap from a developmentally appropriate search for identity to another signature teenage move: 鈥溾�橭h, well, this sounds like fun. I think I鈥檓 gonna say that I鈥檓 dissociating in class, because I don鈥檛 want to do this algebra assignment,鈥欌�� Millington said.
Classroom disruptions can be a big problem created by this self-diagnosis trend: Millington had to clear a room for two hours for the student who claimed to have multiple personalities, until she dropped the charade.
But students may also miss out on needed services for real conditions when they jump to the wrong diagnosis or decide to act out a syndrome they don鈥檛 have, educators and experts say.
Students may search for mental health information on social media sites if 鈥渢hey鈥檙e recognizing something in themselves that either they don鈥檛 like or that might be, like, wrong,鈥� Millington said. 鈥淏ut if there is something [real] going on, they鈥檙e not getting the proper help. All they鈥檙e doing is adopting this label.鈥�
Nearly two-thirds鈥�65 percent鈥攐f district and school leaders and teachers surveyed by the EdWeek Research Center said their students 鈥渟ometimes鈥� or 鈥渇requently鈥� use social media to diagnose their own mental health conditions.
An even higher percentage鈥�68 percent鈥攕aid students use social media to diagnose others鈥� mental health conditions. The nationally representative survey of 595 educators was conducted from Dec. 21, 2023, to Jan. 2.
Meanwhile, 55 percent of high school students who responded to a separate survey said they have used social media to diagnose their own mental health conditions at least once, including more than a quarter鈥�28 percent鈥攚ho said they do it 鈥渟ometimes鈥� and 10 percent who said they do it 鈥渁ll the time.鈥�
Fifty-two percent of teens said they use social media to diagnose others鈥� mental health conditions, including 11 percent who say they do so 鈥渁ll the time.鈥� The survey of 1,056 high schoolers was conducted from Feb. 9 to March 4.
The phenomenon is happening as early as elementary school, said Kristen Nye, a counselor at Anna P. Mote Elementary School in Wilmington, Del.
Recently, for the first time in her nearly two-decade career, she鈥檚 hearing 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders 鈥渟ay things like 鈥業 have anxiety鈥� or 鈥業 have depression,鈥欌�� Nye said. 鈥淭he amount of stuff that they鈥檙e aware of because of TikTok is insane.鈥�
TikTok did not respond to questions from 澳门跑狗论坛 about the platform鈥檚 impact on children鈥檚 mental health.
The company told CNN last year that users can put safeguards in place limiting the amount of time they spend on the platform. TikTok has also removed numerous videos on suicide and self-harm.
鈥淥ne of our most important commitments is supporting the safety and well-being of teens, and we recognize this work is never finished,鈥�
The U.S. House of Representatives recently voted overwhelmingly to force TikTok鈥檚 parent company, ByteDance, to sell the platform or face a ban, with some It is unclear if the Senate will follow suit.
鈥業t feels so good to be seen鈥�
On the positive side, social media has helped take much of the shame out of discussing mental health topics, which were considered taboo or at least TMI鈥攖oo much information鈥攏ot long ago.
In fact, 72 percent of educators say social media has made it easier for students to acknowledge mental health challenges, according to the EdWeek Research Center survey.
Many high school students agree. 鈥淚 think a lot of the recent shifts that it鈥檚 OK to discuss mental health鈥攄iscussing anxiety and depression鈥攈ave been because of social media,鈥� said Shreeya Gogia, a high school senior in Texas and a facilitator for the National Association of Secondary School Principals鈥� Student Leadership Network on Mental Health.
One social trend of the moment: posting five things that you struggle with that are related to mental health, Gogia said.
鈥淎 lot of the comments of the viral posts are people connecting, like, 鈥極h, yeah, I struggle with the same issue, too,鈥欌�� she said. 鈥溾�楢nd it feels so good to be seen.鈥欌��
Even with much of the stigma on mental health lifted, 鈥渁 lot of people aren鈥檛 willing to have those conversations with their friends. So, seeing it on social media is an anonymous way to feel validated,鈥� Gogia added.
But while a minute-long TikTok video may provide students with a brief introduction to what anxiety or depression looks like, it can鈥檛 paint a nuanced picture of those conditions.
鈥淲e鈥檝e normalized coming to the counselor, that everybody needs help sometimes. And it鈥檚 OK to not be OK. I think social media has helped in that regard,鈥� Nye said. But she added that content on anxiety, depression, autism, and other conditions without 鈥減roper education has kind of skewed their thoughts about鈥� mental health and neurodiversity.
Finding 鈥榓 buzzword that fits鈥�
Adopting鈥攁nd especially, internalizing鈥攖he wrong diagnosis could confuse students or lead them to seek inappropriate treatment, educators caution.
Recently, one of Nye鈥檚 students kept trying to find 鈥渁 buzzword that fit鈥� the serious mental health challenges they were experiencing, she said. The student 鈥渨ould say 鈥極h, maybe I need to talk to my doctor about being bipolar or about depression.鈥欌�� Nye, however, thought the student鈥檚 symptoms were trauma-based.
Social media can make the situation worse: TikTok鈥檚 algorithm bases what users see next on the content they鈥檝e already engaged with. That means that if a student thinks they might have, for instance, bipolar disorder, they can quickly wind up in a 鈥渂ipolar wormhole,鈥� where the platform constantly showcases videos about the condition, said Christine Elgersma, the senior editor of learning content strategy at Common Sense Media, which examines the impact of technology on children.
That could serve to confirm their hunch鈥攅ven if it鈥檚 incorrect.
Autism self diagnoses may have caught on, in part, Millington believes, because students鈥攑articularly after the isolation of the pandemic鈥攁re finding that they have 鈥渢rouble socially communicating with other people because everything they do is behind a screen,鈥� she said.
She wonders if anxiety might be a more accurate diagnosis for some of those students. Or if it could 鈥渏ust boil down to teen years suck.鈥�
While some of the people posting about mental health on TikTok are basing their advice on their own experiences or are citing research, others have an ulterior motive: personal profit, Elgersma said. That can be true even for influencers with real professional credentials.
鈥淭hese people might be pushing a particular supplement, not because it has specific efficacy but because they鈥檙e making money, and they don鈥檛 have anybody鈥檚 best interests at heart necessarily,鈥� Elgersma said.
That is the case even though certain supplements or medications showcased in popular TikTok videos might not interact well with a student鈥檚 underlying health condition or other medications.
And some of Millington鈥檚 students have even gone off their doctor-prescribed psychiatric drugs because a TikTok influencer told them a specific supplement would be as, or more, effective.
鈥榊ou have to check your source鈥�
Millington has done some on-the-spot mental health media literacy. She鈥檒l tell students, 鈥淛ust like if you were going to do an English research paper, you have to check your source,鈥� she said. 鈥淚s this reputable? Is it an actual doctor, hospital, [], things like that? Or is this just some person that鈥檚 got 7 million followers because they make a lot of content?鈥�
Nye tells her students to check if the people they are getting their information from post bios with links to respected sites and whether their posts are sponsored.
She also asks them to examine whether an influencer posts about a variety of subjects鈥攄ance videos, funny trips to the dentist鈥攁longside the occasional mental health testimonial.
Someone sharing on a broad range of topics 鈥渟eems like a real person,鈥� Nye said. And one who is 鈥渞eally focused [on a single topic] seems 鈥榮us,鈥� as the kids would say,鈥� she explained, using Gen Z slang for 鈥渟uspect.鈥�
Educators shouldn鈥檛 flat out dismiss TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram Reels, or any social platform where students are getting their mental health advice.
That鈥檚 likely to make students 鈥渧ery defensive,鈥� Nye said. In fact, she suggests educators鈥攅ven those who are not fans of social media鈥�"stay up to date with what app students are using to find out information,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檒l help you make connections with kids.鈥�
Educators also should be curious, Elgersma said. Why did the student connect with that content? What resonated?
And educators鈥攚ith help from students鈥攃an also create the kind of content that they want teens to see on social media: videos with clear and accurate messaging about how to handle difficult moments.
Nye has already made an Instagram Reel showcasing her office and highlighting the kinds of mental health supports she provides to students.
Now, she鈥檚 working on 鈥渁 dance one but, like, with cool mental health鈥� information, she said. 鈥淢aybe we could be the voice of reason in all of this.鈥�
Data analysis for this article was provided by the EdWeek Research Center. Learn more about the center鈥檚 work.
