TikTok rolls out mental health guides for users as Instagram faces criticism

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Resources include in-app guides that cover topics such as “signs of trouble,” “steps to making a connection,” and tips on diet and body issues, with the aim of helping patients. people with mental health problems.

“We are proud that our platform has become a place where people can share their personal experiences in mental wellness, find community and support each other, and we take our responsibility to make TikTok a real one. safe space for those important conversations, ”Tara Wadhwa, TikTok’s director of US policy, said in the September 14 announcement.

TikTok has also developed its interventions in search engines. Look for words or phrases like “suicide” and you will get information about local support resources that offer advice on treatment options. If you choose to view search results, you’ll typically see supportive or educational content about suicide, rather than potentially dangerous TikToks.

“It’s a great idea and pretty much anything a platform can do, because other than that we’re getting into more extreme content censorship and maybe even … monetizing things that are meant to be. useful resources, “said Mike C. Parent, psychologist and associate professor in the department of educational psychology at the University of Texas at Austin.

“It is important to talk about suicide and eating disorders and not to remove this content,” he added. Some people might think that talking about suicide will inspire teens to try it, Parent said, but that’s not always the case.

TikTok’s announcement follows a Wall Street Journal story that Facebook publicly downplayed Instagram’s effects on adolescent mental health, although Facebook’s own research revealed serious negative impacts. “While the story (WSJ) focuses on a limited set of results and presents them in a negative light, we are maintaining that research,” Karina Newton, Instagram’s public policy manager, said in a statement. “It demonstrates our commitment to understanding the complex and difficult issues that young people may face, and informs all the work we do to help those experiencing these issues. The question that concerns many people is whether social media are good or bad for people. Research on this is mixed; it can be both. Instagram has tools, such as a “Get Support” prompt that directs users to lines assistance and other advice, intended to help people struggling with mental health issues for a period of time, according to a spokesperson for the company.

Advantages and disadvantages of the changes

Chicago-based psychologist John Duffy said by email that many of his young clients say they first learned about depression, anxiety, attention problems and eating disorders on TikTok.

“I’ve seen some of these videos, some by other kids and some professionally posted, and a lot of them are accurate, informative, and very helpful,” said Duffy, who works with teens, of parents, couples and families and wrote “Parenting the New Teenager in the Age of Anxiety.” “I am happy that there is good information related to mental health available to our young people on a platform that attracts them.”

“Having said that, these changes are far from enough,” Duffy added. Children often rely on TikTok content for diagnosis and treatment, which can be dangerous without adult supervision. “It is crucial that TikTok make it clear that their platform is not a substitute for direct mental health care.” At the bottom of its “Guide to Wellness”, TikTok states that the guides are for informational and educational purposes only and are not “intended to provide mental health or medical services.”

In addition, the guides – which were created with the help of specialist organizations such as Crisis Text Line, the International Association for Suicide Prevention, Live for Tomorrow, Samaritans of Singapore, Samaritans (UK) and the National Eating Disorders Association – exist in TikTok’s Security Center. To access it, users can go to their profile, click on the menu icon in the upper right corner, then scroll to the “Support” section, where they can click on “Security Center”.

“The general thing with user experience is that everything that is important should be one click away or less from the user,” Parent said. “Putting it away in several clicks is a barrier. “

TikTok already had warning labels and activation screens on videos with sensitive or distressing content. The company expands on this by also applying the disclaimers to search results, for phrases like “spooky makeup.”

Offering trigger warnings is polite in some contexts, but research has shown that trigger warnings can be a double-edged sword – in the sense that people can sometimes increasingly integrate trauma into their identity rather than see trigger content as something to be treated to become healthier, Parent said. .

“It might end up with what in psychology we would call safety behavior, which sounds good, but it’s actually unhealthy,” Parent said. “It’s kind of like a person who’s afraid of spiders and you never show them a picture of spiders – well, they’ll never be afraid of spiders.”

Advice for parents and adolescents

It’s important to have open communication with teens before problems arise, Parent said. If parents suspect that their teens’ use of social media is harming their mental health, don’t punish them, he added. Instead, bring in a mental health professional who can mediate these conversations in a way that might resonate better with children.

Also, keep in mind that problematic social media use related to issues like body image may be more of a symptom than the cause of the teenager’s problem, according to Parent.

“Body image issues were around long before social media. And now we live in a time where you can go to social media and find pictures of people as models that you never would have seen before,” he said. said Parent. “It used to be a bunch of white people and maybe Tyra Banks, and they were all skinny and they all looked peculiar.”

Parents should familiarize themselves with social media platforms, especially elements related to mental health, and regularly speak openly with their teens about what they are witnessing, Duffy said.

For teens, being aware of common social media deception – such as filters and cosmetic edits – and changing your social media consumption can help.

Suicide helplines

If you live in the United States and are having thoughts of suicide, you can call 1-800-273-8255 to join the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, which provides free and confidential 24/7 support to people. in suicidal crisis or distress. You can read more about his services here, including his guide on what to do if you see suicidal language on social media. You can also call 1-800-273-8255 to talk to someone about how you can help someone in crisis. For crisis assistance in Spanish, call 1-888-628-9454. If you live outside of the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention provides a global directory of international resources and helplines. You can also turn to Befrienders Worldwide.

Clarification: An earlier version of this story implied that there was only one way TikTok users could access the wellness guides in the app. At the time of publication, there was at least one other way. We’ve clarified the language to tell users the most consistent way they can access guides.

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