Forensic psychologist: 'I have come face to face with the dangers' of TikTok
A mother, greatly concerned about her 14-year-old son, called me recently. Her teen was showing symptoms of major depression, including sadness, irritability, argumentativeness, failing grades and withdrawal from his activities and interests.
In fact, he was spending most of his time at home in his bedroom on TikTok.
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His mother was alarmed because his obsession with TikTok seemed to make his depression worse, and he was resistant to the idea of seeing a mental health practitioner. He told his mother that his "friends" on TikTok were helping him and that he didn't need counseling.
After weeks of pleading and prodding, the boy finally agreed to see me.
His mother was valid in her concerns about him. And her assessment that TikTok was making him worse was correct as well.
TikTok is enormously popular
TikTok's popularity is epic. The app has been downloaded more than 2.6 billion times worldwide since its launch in 2016 and records more than 1 billion active users per month. More than a third of TikTok’s users in the United States are no older than 19. And users open the app eight times a day on average.
As a clinical psychologist who treats kids, I have come face to face with the dangers of this social media giant.
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My new patient asserted that he was being helped by his friends on TikTok and the mental health content provided to him on the app. But his friends consisted of strangers who were filling his head with inaccurate and dangerous messages.
Frequent use of TikTok is associated with numerous mental health problems. Recent investigative reports by The Wall Street Journal and Raw Story have highlighted the deleterious influences of TikTok on kids.
A large problem with TikTok is that it provides a stream of user-uploaded videos and recommends additional clips based on which videos are being watched. These recommended clips can be extreme, provocative and even dangerous.
Self-harm and suicide videos have been recommended to teens who viewed content about depression. Videos about severe diets and self-induced vomiting have been pushed to kids searching for content about eating problems.
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Conversations with “friends” on TikTok about mental health matters can be quite unhealthy. Some kids who admit to being depressed are met with sarcasm or ridicule by peers. In 2020, children were exposed to a video of a man killing himself.
TikTok challenges have led children to engage in destructive and illegal acts. In December, schools around the country were on alert or temporarily closed because of a TikTok challenge about a school shooting. Other TikTok challenges have called for teenagers to rip out locks of hair, overdose on Benadryl and snort a condom.
3 steps that can help kids
There are three obvious solutions to the problem of TikTok’s dangers:
►TikTok needs to do a better job of monitoring and regulating their content so that mental health problems in our kids are not made worse. To TikTok’s credit, they have improved their approach to monitoring content in recent months, but even more diligence is necessary going forward.
►Parents need to regularly monitor their children’s use of TikTok. Without being overly intrusive, parents must be watchful of their children as they delve into social media experiences that may carry real danger.
►Parents need to understand that TikTok cannot be a substitute for obtaining professional help. TikTok “friends” and content are not a replacement for evaluation and treatment by a mental health clinician.
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My patient has done quite well in recent months. He is on antidepressant medication and receiving individual therapy. And his use of TikTok is now supervised by his parents.
TikTok and other social media platforms are here to stay. They can provide endless hours of entertainment and education for our kids. But let’s be aware that children also may be drawn to potentially harmful and toxic situations on these sites and may not be able to extricate themselves without intervention.
My patient’s mother saw the danger and acted. Unfortunately, her situation is not unique.
Alan D. Blotcky is a clinical and forensic psychologist in private practice in Birmingham, Alabama. This piece orginally appeared on USATODAY.com
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: TikTok can hurt kids' mental health. Here's how parents can help.
