Leaning into the digital age: the role of TikTok and other technologies in providing mental health information

A quick search of “ADHD” on TikTok produces several videos generated by non-clinicians that describe symptoms of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.1 According to the New York Times, “For Gen Z, TikTok is the new search engine.”2 In the article, a Google executive, Prabhakar Raghavan, emphasises that 40% of adolescents are now initiating specific types of searches, such as where to eat lunch, on TikTok instead of Google. It stands to reason that this pattern would extrapolate to queries about mental health treatment and diagnosis.As an individual in my 20s, I find myself using a variety of ways to access information. I tend towards social media platforms such as TikTok to answer everyday quandaries—where to eat, where to travel, what to wear. As a third year psychiatry resident, however, I read books and journal articles, consult with psychiatric pharmacists, and trawl medical databases to answer clinical questions. Journalists and mental health clinicians…
Read Original Article: Leaning into the digital age: the role of TikTok and other technologies in providing mental health information »