High school counselors can track trends on TikTok By asking students what undiagnosed mental health or neurological conditions they think they have.
An elementary school counselor hears that a third-grader is suffering from depression. I’m sure she found this word on her social media.
And more than half of the teens surveyed by Edweek Research Center earlier this year said they had used social media to diagnose their mental health.
The 24/7 conversation about mental health on sites like TikTok is making its way into the classroom. Certainly, there are some positive effects. Educators and experts say social media has destigmatized many mental health conditions and encouraged students to be more open about their emotions. However, students are also exposed to a lot of misinformation that can have the opposite effect.
Educators and experts say one way to address this problem is to encourage students to apply the same media literacy skills to the mental health information they see online as they do to news opinion articles. He says it’s about teaching.
Educators can “really gain” [students] It’s a form of critical thinking,” said Dan Florel, a professor of school psychology at Eastern Kentucky University. Ask students to consider whether the video cites valid research to support its claims and whether the creator is licensed in mental health.
Florel suggested teachers and counselors turn this into a classroom activity. “Okay, let’s go online and find a TikTok video of him claiming certain things. And let’s analyze it to see if this is true. If it’s not. ‘Then why not?’ he said.
As a reporter for Education Week covering mental health, technology, and the intersection of the two, I asked Florel to put his advice into practice. Earlier this month, I searched TikTok for popular videos offering various mental health advice and showed them to Florel over Zoom. I asked, “Are the sources reliable?” how do you know? Is that advice appropriate? How do I know?
My goal was to help teachers understand the mental health content their students see on social media and create resources for teachers to use in their classrooms. The task was to read the video description, ask students for their opinions, and share Florel’s perspective. (This can also be used for professional development.)
Below is a sample of what I found on TikTok and how Florell responded. The video described below has not been embedded to avoid spreading misinformation.
Hawking supplements to relieve symptoms of ADHD
video: A woman in a pajama tank top stands in her kitchen and takes viewers through an “unboxing” of the supplements she takes every night, including magnesium and vitamin D, which she says help her with hyperactive attention deficit disorder. The brand name is obvious.
sauce: The video creator, who has more than 150,000 followers, reveals on her profile that she suffers from ADHD, and most of her videos are about the subject.
Florel’s thoughts: He said the video was likely created by an influencer who is paid to promote a particular product.
“Every time I hear the word ‘unpacking,’ I think there’s a sponsor involved,” he said. “I’m putting it in. [the video] Enter the advertising category. Whenever you see an ad, you have to know that it doesn’t necessarily represent what’s best for you, the viewer. They are selling specific products. ”
It is unlikely that there is any evidence to support her claims. “Supplements are not regulated by the FDA,” Florel says. “So even though there is some truth to the fact that some of these may be helpful for certain mental health conditions, there probably hasn’t been much research done on that.”
this song relieves anxiety
video: A cheerful man wearing scrubs and a stethoscope cites research that shows that listening to certain songs for just three months can reduce anxiety by as much as 65%. This is as effective as a class of anti-anxiety drugs known as benzodiazepines.
sauce: The author, who has over 600,000 followers, calls himself an anesthesiologist.
Florel’s thoughts: As ridiculous as this video feels, in this case TikTok may be offering helpful, or at least not particularly harmful, mental health advice.
Florel said the man’s claims to be an anesthesiologist are relatively easy to verify with a quick Google search. (In fact, a person with the same name and appearance as this man works at a hospital affiliated with a major university.)
While some TikTok creators with genuine medical qualifications may offer advice outside of their field, anesthesiologists have to see a lot of patients who are anxious about surgery, so here’s a solid guide. building a position. Additionally, it’s not difficult to find the actual research mentioned in the video. This study was conducted by another major university and shows that certain songs have a significant calming effect on listeners.
“The more people say it, the more we have the opportunity to see it. [them]is more legal [their advice] Probably so,” Florel said. But he warned: “People misinterpret findings all the time. And you may need to find the article to confirm that the claim is true.
Unlike taking supplements that aren’t prescribed by a doctor, there aren’t many potential downsides to listening to songs, Florel added.
“The risks are minimal, but the rewards are potentially large,” Florel said.
Do not stop taking your medicine without consulting your doctor
video: A young woman (playing herself) told her doctor that her mental health medication was working so well that she felt better and stopped taking it. The same woman then plays the doctor and airs her complaint.
sauce: The creator, who has nearly 20,000 followers on TikTok, is said to be a pharmacy student. The websites linked in her bio highlight her unrelated hobbies rather than her medical expertise.
Florel’s thoughts: The author’s message is “really great advice,” he says. However, it would be difficult for an amateur to know this.
A perennial problem in the mental health field is when patients stop taking their medication without telling their doctor because they feel better.
While this woman may have a point, it’s hard to tell from the additional context in the video and her bio whether she understands what she’s saying. Florel said the video was clearly intended to be humorous, so it was “not presented in a very professional manner.”
“I think this sends the right message, but if I wasn’t a psychologist or worked in the mental health field, I would have no way of knowing that it was the right message,” Florel said. Told.
People with ADHD don’t feel lonely even if they don’t have friends
video: A man talks straight to the camera about ADHD. He argues that people with this disorder don’t feel lonely even when they don’t have friends because they forget about them even when they’re not around.
he says: “People with ADHD have the ability to not miss anyone. And the permanence of objects in a sense and the permanence of time, but we are almost blind to this in a sense. ” he says. “That’s how our brains work. … They don’t text us. … We forget about them.”
sauce: The creator has over 1 million followers. A link to his website shows that he is a mental health advocate, but no other professional qualifications are listed.
Florel’s thoughts: The advice in the video is simply “not true,” Florel said. First, most people establish object permanence in early childhood, the understanding that something doesn’t disappear just because it’s not in front of you. It’s very unusual not to understand that concept, Florel said. “So he takes some psychological buzzwords and takes them to the extreme,” Florel explained.
Moreover, “if I was watching” [this video] Take him at his word, I have a friend with ADHD and I never feel obligated to touch base. Because they’re not going to miss me,” Florel said. “You can’t hurt their feelings, can you?”
But as a school psychologist who has worked with patients with the disorder, Florel says, “I know a lot of people with ADHD, and I know a lot of people who feel excluded and very hurt.” Told.
Florel added that it was unlikely that the man in the video was intentionally misleading. Rather, he may be “conveying his own experience,” Florel said. The man’s description “may be true for himself, but he is not representative of the millions of people with this diagnosis,” Florel explained.
Is “function freeze” real?
video: A woman is sitting on a sofa with a lifeless expression. The screen says: “Signs of being in functional freeze: Procrastinating, scrolling, or concentrating on watching TV when you have free time instead of doing what you actually want to do.” Other than “inner overwhelm.” Emotions are numb. We live our lives disconnected from our bodies and just going through the motions. …See the tips below on how to get out of this situation. ”
sauce: The author calls herself a “burnout nutritionist” and links to supplements and other health information, as well as hiking camps she hosts. She has over 140,000 followers.
Florel’s thoughts: “Functional freezing” is not a medical diagnosis, Florel said. And you can easily check that by going to a reputable health site like Mayo Clinic. You can type “feature freeze” [on that site], no results are obtained. ” That means that whatever the woman suggests to improve the situation “is probably not legitimate.”
Florel added that the symptoms described in the video are similar to depression. Many people with depression sleep a lot in their free time and are still able to carry out daily activities, although their motivation is low, he said.
The dubious claim that alcohol cures autism
video: This video is a “stitch” or reaction to a previous video. In the first video, a young woman says, “The treatment for autism is an intravenous drip that administers alcohol.” In a second video, another woman says, “I’m autistic, but the second time alcohol hits my bloodstream I turn into a neurotypical person, so I’m pretty sure this is true.” states.
sauce: The creator of the first video has over 40,000 followers. She gives no professional qualifications. Second, although she has more than 2,000 followers, she has no professional qualifications.
Florel’s thoughts: This is clearly false and easily fact-checked. “I think it’s something you can just Google,” he said. “and [you’d] Perhaps that idea is not true. ”
