Over half of top 100 mental health TikTok videos contain misinformation: report
Over half of the top-trending TikTok videos giving advice on mental health include misinformation, according to a report released Saturday.
The Guardian compiled the top 100 TikTok videos posted under the #mentalhealthtips hashtag and sent them to psychiatrists, academics and psychologists, who examined them for misinformation.
Some examples of bad advice include using supplements like holy basil, saffron or magnesium glycinate or eating an orange in the shower to decrease anxiety, "methods to heal trauma within an hour" and "guidance presenting normal emotional experiences as a sign of borderline personality disorder or abuse."
The Guardian says that in its review, experts determined that "52 out of 100 videos offering advice on dealing with trauma, neurodivergence, anxiety, depression and severe mental illness contained some misinformation, and that many others were vague or unhelpful."
Dan Poulter, a former health minister and NHS psychiatrist who looked at the videos about severe mental illness, said some of them "pathologise everyday experiences and emotions, suggesting that they equate to a diagnosis of serious mental illness.""This is providing misinformation to impressionable people and can also trivialise the life experiences of people living with serious mental illnesses," Poulter said.
Amber Johnston, a British Psychological Society-accredited psychologist who evaluated the trauma videos, told The Guardian that even though some contained portions of truth, they were oversimplified.
"Each video is guilty of suggesting that everyone has the same experience of PTSD with similar symptoms that can easily be explained in a 30-second reel," Johnston said. "The truth is that PTSD and trauma symptoms are highly individual experiences that cannot be compared across people and require a trained and accredited clinician to help a person understand the individual nature of their distress."
She added that "TikTok is spreading misinformation by suggesting that there are secret universal tips and truths that may actually make a viewer feel even worse, like a failure, when these tips don't simply cure."
Another expert, Chi Onwurah, a Labour member of Parliament in the United Kingdom, said TikTok doesn't have the best track record.
"Content recommender systems used by platforms like TikTok have been found to amplify potentially harmful misinformation, like this misleading or false mental health advice," she added. "There's clearly an urgent need to address shortcomings in the OSA to make sure it can protect the public's online safety and their health."
The Guardian reported that TikTok said videos were removed "if they discouraged people from seeking medical support or promoted dangerous treatments. When people in the UK search for terms linked to mental health conditions, such as depression, anxiety, autism or post-traumatic stress disorder, they are also directed to NHS information."
In January, the Supreme Court upheld a federal law that would ban the Chinese-owned social media company.
In May, President Donald Trump said that he would extend the deadline for the TikTok ban so that the company can be sold to a U.S. owner.
A TikTok spokesperson told Fox News Digital about The Guardian's analysis, "There are clear limitations to the methodology of this study which opposes this free expression and suggests that people should not be allowed to share their own stories."
They added that, "At TikTok, we proactively work with health experts at the World Health Organisation and others to promote reliable information on our platform and remove 98% of harmful misinformation before it's reported to us."
Jeff Smith, director of the Asian Studies Center at The Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital the news only adds to concerns about the company.
"If we needed another reason to wrest control of TikTok away from the Chinese Communist Party, this report on mental health disinformation would serve as a powerful reminder," Smith said.
He added, "It has been clear for years that this is just the tip of the iceberg. The extent of TikTok's misinformation, propaganda, and espionage activities are shocking and extensive. This report only underscores the urgent need for the Trump administration to force a sale of TikTok to an American entity or ban the app from operating in the United States, as required by law."
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The DSM-5 also removed the subtypes as separate diagnostic categories, based on the presenting symptom. This was found to not be helpful, since many subtypes overlapped with one another and were thought to decrease the diagnostic validity, according to the American Psychiatric Association (APA). Instead, these subtypes are now specifiers for the overarching diagnosis, to provide more detail for the clinician. Subtypes of schizophrenia Although the subtypes don't exist as separate clinical disorders anymore, they can still be helpful as specifiers and for treatment planning. There are five classical subtypes: paranoid hebephrenic undifferentiated residual catatonic Paranoid schizophrenia In 2013, the APA determined that paranoia was a positive symptom of the disorder. Paranoid schizophrenia was no longer considered a separate condition. However, the subtype description is still used because of how common this symptom is. 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For instance, an individual who had catatonic behavior but also had delusions or hallucinations and disorganized speech might have received a diagnosis of undifferentiated schizophrenia. With the new diagnostic criteria, this merely signifies to the clinician that a variety of symptoms are present. Residual schizophrenia This 'subtype' is a bit tricky. It's been used when a person has a previous diagnosis of schizophrenia but no longer has any prominent symptoms of the disorder. The symptoms have generally lessened in intensity. Residual schizophrenia usually includes more 'negative' than positive symptoms, such as: flattened affect psychomotor difficulties slowed speech limited attentiveness to personal hygiene Many people with schizophrenia go through periods where their symptoms wax and wane (increase and decrease) and vary in frequency and intensity. Therefore, this designation is rarely used anymore. 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A child psychiatrist with experience in childhood schizophrenia should lead the treatment team and discussions about its plan. Treatment typically involves a combination approach that can include: Conditions related to schizophrenia Schizoaffective disorder Schizoaffective disorder is a separate and different condition from schizophrenia, but sometimes it gets lumped in with it. This disorder has elements of both schizophrenia and mood disorders. Psychosis, which involves a loss of connection with reality, is often a component. Mood disorders can include either mania or depression. Schizoaffective disorder is further classified into subtypes based on whether a person has only depressive episodes or whether they also have manic episodes with or without depression. Symptoms can include: paranoid thoughts delusions or hallucinations trouble concentrating depression hyperactivity or mania limited attentiveness to personal hygiene appetite disturbance sleep disruptions social withdrawal disorganized thinking or behavior Diagnosis is typically made through a thorough physical exam, interview, and psychiatric evaluation. It's important to rule out any medical conditions or any other mental illnesses like bipolar disorder. Treatments include: medications group or individual therapy practical life skills training Other related conditions Other related conditions to schizophrenia include: delusional disorder brief psychotic disorder schizophreniform disorder
