Over the past few years, Tik Tok has picked up where Instagram has failed because instead of striving for a perfect reality, it has normalized conversations about depression symptoms and alleviated the stigma of seeking help.
The problem, however, arose when content creators on this social network started collecting likes on the topic of depression.
Users record videos about being depressed because they didn't get the food they ordered on time, they can't go to school because they're too tired (ie "depressed"), and #ADHD and relationships are among the most searched hashtags attention disorder for which wrong diagnoses are made.
Psychologist Mina Hagen explains for the "Vremena" portal that all these symptoms should not be underestimated, but that the position from which someone talks about them is more important.
"It's one thing if someone complains that their food is late, with the statement - How can this happen to ME? (I don't deserve it), versus complaining like There's even food for me. running late (because nothing works for me/I am a less valuable person)”.
Ljiljana Marković, a special educator from the Edu Center, believes that relativizing depression on Tik Tok is just another way to attract attention.
"In the majority of cases in the situations you described, it's about attracting attention, or sometimes it's the way young people deal with current frustration," Marković believes.
Depression is not cool.
Hagen points out that this should not be confused with young users who use the network to talk about their emotions and get social support. But he is completely against the glorification of mental illness.
"I don't think being depressed is cool." Just like having cancer isn't cool either. These are serious diseases that impair the quality of life and threaten it.
He believes that although depression is sometimes used colloquially, we should not ignore it if someone complains to us that they are not feeling well. One of the main signs that something has changed is knowing that you didn't feel that way before.
"With us, depression has become a home for certain conditions when you are a little depressed." "If someone says that they don't want to learn, the question is whether they don't like to do it or they used to like it, but now they don't have the will," says Hagen.
A feeling of hopelessness
Our interlocutors see the difference between someone just being in a bad mood and being depressed in the symptoms, which boil down to a feeling of hopelessness.
"Withdrawal, giving up, aggression in children and young people, complete isolation and cessation of all activities in the most severe cases are alarm signals. If people notice more frequent bad moods, sadness and a feeling of hopelessness, they should contact an expert to be sure what is happening to them," warns Marković.
Similar symptoms are mentioned by Hagen: "Decreased motivation, it is difficult for you to get out of bed, sleep disorder - you have bad sleep or sleep too long, appetite disorder, decreased libido...".
She would always help when someone told her that they were depressed, whether it was through Tik Tok or live, because she has an understanding of the world we live in today.
"Because of these tragedies that befell us, people's condition can very easily worsen, plus wars, inflation, covid, living in Belgrade becomes impossible. Living conditions are bad, and someone tells you: Think positive", she states the context in which people become more and more depressed.
Self-diagnosis of disorders
Playing medical experts, some Tik Tok content creators encourage their users to do the same by self-diagnosing disorders.
For example, influencers like Connor DeWolfe have amassed millions of followers by making videos about their daily lives with ADHD. ADHD is one of the most popular topics on Tik Tok, with videos having over 10 billion views and millions of likes.
The problem is that in the comments below these videos, users claim to have ADHD just based on the symptoms the influencers talk about.
"In our practice, we often meet young people who interpret their behavior based on videos posted on social networks. In such a situation, they attribute diagnoses to themselves, most often depression and bipolar disorder, because they recognize some of the symptoms in their behavior," says Marković.
The logical step would be to turn to experts, but they still don't.
"Although they suspect or claim that they have a mental health problem, they do not turn to a doctor or psychologist for help," says Marković, "but use the self-imposed diagnosis to justify their choices and actions."
Young and very young people tend to get their knowledge and knowledge about the world from social networks, where popularity is far more important than competence. Based on the popularity of the so-called influencers often share advice about things they have no idea about, and susceptible users take it for granted.
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