A new study has found that more than half of the top trending mental health videos on TikTok contain misinformation, prompting a response from the video platform itself.
The investigation, undertaken by The Guardian and based out the UK, took the top 100 videos uploaded under the #mentalhealthtips hashtag on TikTok and put them to an array of psychologists, psychiatrists and academic experts to assess their usefulness in providing accurate mental health advice.
The experts reached a consensus that of the 100 trending videos — which offered advice on mental health issues like anxiety, depression and dealing with trauma — 52 were found to contain misinformation, while many others were deemed vague or unhelpful.
Of particular concern was the promotion of quick fix solutions to mental health issues and the misuse of therapeutic language by some mental health TikTokers, including the interchangeable use of the terms ‘wellbeing’, ‘anxiety’ and ‘mental disorder.’
The investigation cited specific examples of TikTok’s misinformed or dubious advice for dealing with mental health, including videos which advised eating an orange in the shower to reduce anxiety, and others promoting supposed treatment supplements like saffron, magnesium glycinate and holy basil — which have a limited evidence base for actually alleviating anxiety.
Other videos deemed dubious by the study included those which offered methods to heal from trauma within an hour, and clips presenting normal emotional experiences as a sign of borderline personality disorder.
On the whole, the study found that many of the top mental health TikToks offered general advice that was based on narrow personal experience and anecdotal evidence, which David Okai — a researcher in psychological medicine at King’s College London who took part in the study — said “may not be universally applicable” for users consulting the #mentalhealthtips hashtag.
Responding to the investigation, a spokesperson for TikTok told The Guardian that there “are clear limitations to the methodology of this study” and advocated for the platform as a place of expression.
“TikTok is a place where millions of people express themselves, come to share their authentic mental health journeys, and find a supportive community,” the spokesperson said.
“[The study] opposes this free expression and suggests that people should not be allowed to share their own stories.”
The spokesperson cited TikTok’s efforts to “proactively work with health experts” to “promote reliable information on our platform and remove 98% of harmful misinformation before it’s reported to us”.
It comes just a few months after a separate study looking specifically at ADHD TikToks found that more than half of the top videos about the disorder contained misinformation about symptoms.
More recently, a report from The Movember Institute of Men’s Health found in April that 68 per cent of young Aussie men engage with masculinity content on platforms like TikTok on a regular basis, incurring worse mental health outcomes as a result.
Lead image: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images and Sergey Mironov/Getty Images
The post New Study Finds More Than Half Of Trending Mental Health TikToks Contain Misinformation appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
