Social Media Is Influencing Teens To Adopt Mental Illness Identities, Researchers Say

Researchers found troubling trends in teens diagnosing their mental illnesses through social media. 

A new paper Published in Comprehensive Psychiatry earlier this month, it suggested that “social contagion” Teens can self-diagnose their personality disorders and rare mental illnesses online by using social media. 

“We believe there is an urgent need for focused empirical research investigation into this concerning phenomenon that is related to the broader research and discourse examining social media influences on mental health,” said the study’s lead author, John D. Haltigan, and co-author, Gayathiri Rajkumar, in a recent article for Reality’s Last Stand.

The paper examined the rise in teens with tics without a known cause and the resurgence the very rare. multiple personality disorderDissociative Identity Disorder (DID) is a condition in which one person claims to have multiple personalities. Other disorders include autism, depression and eating disorders. gender identity-related Social media conditions 

“That rates of teen and adolescent depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation have risen precipitously since the advent of social media and smartphones is likely no coincidence,” According to the authors.

The paper suggests that social media platforms like TikTok could be used to promote a more open and inclusive society. core user base Teen girls are at risk, and online communities that glorify mental illness may be a way to encourage them. “spread vector” Adoption of disorders by adolescents as part their online personas is possible.

“While posting about personal struggles with mental illness online may be emotionally genuine to some, it is more accurately understood as a behavioral display to fit in and appear unique to others online,” According to the authors.

Neurologists have begun seeing patients since 2020’s pandemic. While many were forced to go indoors and heavily rely on social media, others began seeing them. droves Many teenage girls have reported experiencing sudden physical and verbal tics. Experts believe that teen girls around the world have started reenacting tics after watching popular influencers with Tourette’s syndrome on TikTok. 

These behaviors are often called functional tics or functional tic-like behavior by neurologists. They appear to come out of nowhere and can be described as neurologists call functional tics. “functional” In medicine, it refers to “no known physical cause.” Tourettes are a type of neurological disorder with a physical cause. Functional tics is different than Tourettes. It’s characterized by unwanted, repetitive movements and sounds that often begin in childhood. You can mimic tics by looking at others who have them, which is similar to what doctors call “ticking”. describe Witnessing the development of seizures in siblings is something I am proud to be a part of “functional seizures.” 

On TikTok, the hashtag #tourettes has 7.6 billion views, #DID has 2.4 billion views, #borderlinepersonalitydisorder has 1.5 billion views, and both #transgender and #autism have 16.9 billion views. 

“Unfortunately, many content creators posting these videos are not medical professionals, but are instead self-identified patients or mental health advocates who often speak on mental disorders with little to no expertise on the matter,” According to the authors. 

Popular content creators can now upload their own images to the Dissociative Identity Disorder portal (DID). “switching alters,” In a video format, they summon their individual personalities. In the past, less than 200 cases (Dissociative Identity Disorder) were recorded until the 1976 TV movie. “Sybil” This story was about a woman who had suffered from this affliction. One had died by the 1980s. estimate It was found that over 40,000 people, mostly women, believed they had DID after receiving therapy. 

Recent developments in mental health have led to another set of professionals working in the field. boom They believe that self-diagnosed DID is socially influenced. The authors claim that these new mental illnesses have been used as identity markers and to build a following on social media. 

“They may incorporate mental illness symptom presentations they are exposed to in online communities to socially assimilate and build social capital within these communities,” According to the authors.

The paper sources the onset “mental health content” Tumblr was a popular social media platform in 2000. It “provided users who typically were seen as outcasts” With “a sense of community and belonging,” According to the authors.

Tumblr established a policy to ban blogs that promote eating disorders, self-mutilation or suicide in 2012. This was due largely to their popularity among young adults and teens. The authors point out the effort to “de-stigmatize” And “normalize” It is possible that mental illness has been glorified.

“The continued evolution of this trend underscores an urgent need for increased understanding of the influence of social media on mental health, including its phenotypic clinical presentations and the possibility that increasingly algorithmic social media platforms may serve as a vehicle of transmission for social contagion of self-diagnosed mental illness conditions,” The paper was closed.

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