How TikTok is changing the evolution of mental health


Many people struggle with mental health issues and illnesses each day, and people have found that the app TikTok can both help and bring awareness to the rising issue. 

TikTok is an app where people can come together and show their emotions through 15-60 second videos. Some of these videos can show signs of depression, anxiety and OCD. People feel comfortable showing people what they are struggling with, they feel that this is when most people will pay attention and listen to their problems.  

Eating disorders have been discovered on TikTok as well, many of them are when people will sit down in front of their cameras and eat with people who are struggling. But this isn’t the main topic on the app, mostly mental health illnesses pop up. 

Not many see influencers posting about eating disorders or even follow them. But, some know of a girl named Sienna May who creates videos of herself sitting in front of a camera and eating with people who struggle to. 

“I don’t see many influencers talking about eating disorders, but I have heard of Sienna May,” sophomore Caris Lantz said. 

Jennifer Tzeses from Remedy Health Media Organization wrote an article called TikTok Therapy: What Happens When Mental Health Struggles Go Viral? This article gives examples and explanations with what people share and post. Many of these ideas help with OCD, anxiety and depression. 

“Life hacks for depression rooms, helpful anxiety tutorials, and a realistic look at the sheer torture of living with OCD rituals are all on view-giving support and reassurance to those suffering along in silence,” Jennifer Tzeses said. 

When someone scrolls through TikTok you would expect to see something funny or try to learn a new dance, but people have been frequently seeing clips of people having depression and anxiety. 

“I have been seeing way more videos about mental health on my for you page lately, I also have seen bigger creators opening up and posting about their problems, which is cool to see because usually people think celebrities have no issues in life,” sophomore/TikTok addict Paige Lucas said. 

Students have a tendency to feel the different emotions through the TikTok they watch. Many of them show more depression than anxiety, but only feel the same way most of the time.

“When I scroll through and see people going through depression I tend to feel it too, but not all the time,” Lucas said. 

Even though Lucas may see more depression videos, Lantz tends to see a mix of depression and anxiety, but she doesn’t see them as often. 

“The majority of the ones I see are about anxiety and depression,” Lantz said, “But, I don’t see them too often.”

Many teens said their most used app is TikTok. Teens after looking at their screen time, realized they spend  an average of an hour to an hour and a half, and some even more each day on TikTok. 

“I spend at least 3 hours on TikTok each day, when I looked at my screen time and noticed this, it shocked me, I didn’t realize TikTok took up that much of my time every day,” Lucas said. 

Although, some TikToks may affect your mental health, a lot of it affects students’ productivity. 

“I honestly think that they affect my productivity rather than my mental health,” Lantz said, “If I scroll on TikTok for a couple hours instead of doing my homework I get flustered about how much I have to do.” 

Lantz doesn’t seem to feel anything when she watches some of these TikToks, she tends to experience most of them when doing something other than watching these videos. 

“No not really, I find that if I do have any symptoms of poor mental health, it comes from things other than TikTok,” Lantz said. 

Tiktok has a way to express many different emotions, influencers like to show them the emotions they feel because it is a way to give advice and show how they handle what they are going through. 

“Yes, I feel that TikTok has a way of showing what people feel and what they are going through,” Lucas said. 

Many people who suffer with OCD will post on tiktok to show what it really is and how they deal with it, same with depression they will show the way they get through it.

“People with OCD bravely film the painstakingly repetitive routines they put themselves through every day,” Tzeses said, “Others with debilitating depression generously give tours of their hoard-like “depression rooms,” which give thanks to their condition, haven’t been tidied in months.”

Lucas gives some great advice to people when they are struggling with these types of emotions. Many people try to show it through TikTok and try to get people they don’t know to help them instead of going to their friends or family. 

“Stay off of social media and go to your friends and family for the support you need to get through it,” Lucas said. 

The content with depression, OCD and anxiety are actually beneficial because influencers want to show awareness to other people. 

“While the awareness and de-stigmatization of mental health issues TikTok users are creating can be incredibly beneficial, Dr. Gallagher points out that taking advice from armchair experts (aka real people) can sometimes pose problems,” Tzeses said. 

TikTok may show all the different types of emotions through mental health, but it can also create a world where it can help people or show what they can do in order to get better or get off of social media.