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Do #MentalHealth TikToks Help or Hurt? A Therapist Breaks It Down
23
Feb
Feb
By Jay Lankau
Healthy breakfast recipes, falling off milk crates, magnificence hacks, and 10 methods to know in case your husband is dishonest on you: TikTookay has all of it.
There are thousands and thousands of movies on TikTookay, and a whole lot of hundreds utilizing the hashtag #mentalhealth. Some movies have greater than 9 million views. And some are from licensed therapists promoting their providers or attempting to advertise remedy for individuals who might need reservations about it.
But a variety of movies that designate diagnoses or psychological well being points are from “content creators” who don’t have any licensing or professional experience. That’s what makes this part of TikTok controversial – especially since, according to 2022 Influencer Marketing Hub statistics, 32.5% of the app’s users are between the ages of 10 and 19. Of course, there’s no rule that only people with degrees can give mental health advice, and a great thought can come from anywhere. But with no system of review or verification, the app is a bit like the Wild West.
For Faith Arkel, the app is a bit of a mystery. She is a licensed professional counselor (LPC) and national certified counselor (NCC), as well as a master addiction counselor (MAC) and certified professional counselor supervisor (CPCS). With a master’s degree in community counseling from Georgia State University, Arkel has been in the field for over 30 years, supervising therapists working to get their state licenses and putting her expertise into practice both in the Cherokee County, GA, mental health system and her private practice. In short, she’s been trained to know what she’s talking about.
Arkel jokingly refers to herself as a bit of a “dinosaur” – she has a love-hate relationship with Facebook however doesn’t use some other social media. So, whereas she had heard of TikTookay, she didn’t know a lot about it – till we introduced her with 5 movies from the #mentalhealth aspect of the social community. Some posters have been therapists, and a few weren’t. Arkel had insights (and a few selection phrases) on the matter.
Things Narcissists Say
@therapythoughtswithjb Shit Narcissists Say. #fyp #foryoupage #narctok #narcissist #narcissism #mentalhealth #therapy #healing #trauma #traumarecovery
This video comes from TikTookay consumer @therapythoughtswithjb, one in every of many therapists utilizing the platform to deliver consideration to psychological well being and trauma. In her video, JB goes via examples of what a relationship with a narcissist or somebody with narcissistic traits would possibly appear like and what issues they could say. She additionally briefly discusses the phases of that relationship, which she calls the “idealization stage,” the “devaluation stage,” after which the “discard stage.”
This video will get an excellent grade from Arkel. “I think she made some very good points and things to think about when people are in relationships with people who are narcissistic.” Unlike some movies, which have been reductive, too dense, or outright incorrect, this one had good info, particular examples, and a creator that sounds a bit extra down-to-earth, fairly than one who rapid-fires info.
Of course, it’s not an in-depth treatise, however on TikTookay, that’s par for the course. “I think she was being broad-brushed, as certain people are when they want to label narcissists,” Arkel says. “Now, everybody who’s selfish, people want to label them a narcissist.”
Trauma Dump Therapist
@rachooow #stitch with @realraywilliam #traumadump #traumadumping #therapytok @sidequesttherapy #yousuck #therapist #childhoodtraumacheck #fyp #viral #notright
This TikTookay was deleted, however the consumer made a video with textual content in it that reads: “When a client wants to trauma dump first session.” The caption reads: “Not happening on my watch ever again.”
“Trauma dumping,” as defined by Psychology Today, refers back to the act of intense oversharing, particularly of traumatic ideas or occasions. People who’re being “dumped” on aren’t a impartial, consenting occasion to the sort of emotional oversharing, so it may possibly make them uncomfortable.
Arkel was unimpressed. “If a therapist is reluctant to receive [traumatic information] and feels that it’s not OK to do that, then what are the signals that the therapist is giving around safety to this client who is needing someone to catch her or him?” she says. “We need to let them know we can handle this. ‘You’re not going to overwhelm me.’”
“Trauma dumping” normally applies to oversharing trauma with somebody who’s unaware or didn’t consent to listening to traumatic info and is never utilized to conditions during which somebody requested for the data, or is getting paid to listen to it as a part of their job (as a therapist is).
When requested about how a therapist ought to strategy a scenario like this, Arkel says that if a consumer opens with an outline of intensely traumatic occasions, that may be a useful window into their type of interplay. “To lead with trauma tells me a lot about this person,” she says. “They have no sense of boundaries.”
Arkel explains that if somebody goes into a primary session – an anxiety-causing interplay at the perfect of instances – and discusses trauma, usually one thing that could be very tough to speak about, then they is perhaps testing the therapist to see how properly the therapist handles it. The therapist needs to be dealing with this individual delicately and compassionately, not shutting them down.
Why You Have an Anxious Attachment Style
@therapyjeff This is why you have an anxious attachment style. #therapy #anxiousattachment #anxiousattachmentstyle #attachmentstyle
In this TikTookay, which has over 8,000 likes, consumer @therapyjeff discusses the the explanation why somebody might need an anxious attachment type. Overall, Arkel says this video is heading in the right direction, nevertheless it’s robust to deal with a nuanced problem like this on TikTookay, on condition that movies can solely be as much as 3 minutes lengthy.
Arkel concedes that the recommendation on this video isn’t unhealthy, however it might be answering the incorrect query. It’s too targeted, she says, on uncovering the mysterious motive behind a psychological downside as a substitute of fixing it. “This may be an accurate story, but there’s so much more complexity involved in working that through,” she says of therapyjeff’s video. “It feels like his focus is on uncovering the ‘why’ of the problem. It’s one of my pet peeves in terms of things therapists think they’re supposed to do. I call them archaeological digs.”
Many purchasers come to Arkel wanting to know why one thing unhealthy occurred to them, or pondering that having a analysis would possibly clarify why they do the issues they do. But that’s not all the time helpful info to have. Say you’ve got attachment points. Would realizing why you’ve got them actually aid you change your thought patterns? “Where I take that is, what is underneath that ‘why’?” Arkel says. “If we were to spend the time to figure it out, what would be different when we have that answer?”
Clients hope that they’ll be capable to “move on” as soon as they’ve that info, or that in the event that they perceive why they behave in undesirable methods, they gained’t behave in these methods anymore. This isn’t what occurs, Arkel says, as a lot as folks would possibly hope. Instead of looking for the explanation for each perception, it’s higher to ask how legitimate these beliefs are.
Signs You Have Been Mentally Abused
@imdeathglare anyone else relate to all 4?… #awareness #coping #pain #pleasespeakout #anxiety #depressionandanxiety #depressionquote #seekhelp #sorrow #speakup
A video’s success on TikTookay will depend on how lengthy an individual watches it and whether or not or not they work together with it, so consideration and engagement at any price is very valued. In Arkel’s view, that’s solely too apparent on this video, which explains the “signs you have been mentally abused.”
Arkel had a particularly dim view of this video. She felt that it may “set people down the wrong path.”
Being uncomfortable will not be the identical as being abused, and the one that causes us discomfort isn’t essentially abusing us, however you wouldn’t know that from this video. One video with pessimistic messaging like this will not be an enormous deal, but when somebody’s complete feed is made up of movies like this, their temper and self-image is perhaps in danger, particularly for the younger folks that make up a lot of TikTookay’s consumer base.
“It is too easy to over-identify with being abused, now,” Arkel says. “We think that every uncomfortable or painful thing we experience means that we were traumatized. That’s not true.”
Humans are resilient when confronted with struggling and battle, Arkel explains. Over-identifying with being abused can entice somebody into the concept that they’re a sufferer and gained’t be capable to have a satisfying life. TikToks like these actually don’t assist.
ADHD and Object Permanence
@peterhyphen I’m no expert but I hope this helps people understand their different brains a little better! #ADHD #ADD #mentalhealth #objectpermanence #organization
This TikTookay comes from consumer @peterhyphen, who makes no declare to being an professional – simply an advocate. He discusses part of having consideration deficit hyperactivity dysfunction (ADHD) that he says he needs he had recognized about sooner: If one thing isn’t in his field of regard, he would possibly overlook it’s there. He explains that he copes with it by placing issues in plain view. He says folks with ADHD battle with object permanence and his mind will overlook that issues and folks exist.
TikTookay has loads of movies explaining the indicators or signs of a dysfunction, normally from customers which have that dysfunction. Sometimes these embrace relatable points that even neurotypical folks can see in themselves. But this consumer’s expertise isn’t the most typical one Arkel has seen in her apply.
“I don’t think forgetting is the big problem with ADHD. It’s attention,” she says. ADHD is commonly an issue with consideration and attending to issues, not whether or not or not an individual can bear in mind issues. Arkel offers an analogy: People with out ADHD who can attend to issues might even see that there’s a fowl flying exterior, however they know they’re taking notes or studying a guide, in order that they don’t attend to the fowl. For an individual with ADHD or ADD who can not prioritize the eye, the fowl exterior has as a lot precedence because the guide they’re presupposed to be studying.
Arkel says: “ADHD is more about what’s happening in the brain and the process around not being able to filter out stimuli or prioritize stimuli as they’re being experienced.” In many instances, that results in issues with consideration, fairly than issues with reminiscence. So this consumer’s expertise could also be comparatively uncommon.
Of course, the disagreement right here could be a matter of utilizing completely different phrases to imply primarily the identical factor. There won’t be an unlimited distinction between having your complete consideration drawn to a fowl exterior the window and forgetting that there’s nonetheless a guide on the desk in entrance of you. And, in fact, no two folks’s experiences would be the similar, even once they have the identical dysfunction.
Identifying Mental Illness on TikTookay
The controversy with TikTookay’s algorithm nonetheless stands: The extra somebody watches a specific form of video, the extra the algorithm will suggest related movies. If you watch a variety of cute cat movies, in fact it’ll present you extra of that, nevertheless it works in much less type methods as properly. Should you linger on a video about untrue companions too lengthy, you could begin to see extra movies like that, and earlier than you realize it, your feed is filled with movies titled “15 Signs That Your Partner is Cheating on You.”
The algorithm might be damaging to folks with anxieties who might discover their fears worsened by the movies on their feeds. Similarly, TikTookay content material appears hung up on diagnoses and signs. It’s simple to see movies speaking about relatable signs and pondering, “Hey, that’s me.”
“People come in, and the first thing they tell me is, ‘Oh, I’m bipolar,’” Arkel says. “I work on correcting it right away and try to work on separating them from over-identifying with what becomes limitations or excuses or their own self-inflicted victimization of it. We can become very over-identified, so I really resist diagnostic-speak.”
For therapists who surprise the place their purchasers are getting their details about diagnoses and signs, TikTookay could also be one thing to ask about.
