TikTok, a famous entertainment platform that depends mostly on short-span videos, has been taking the world by storm over the last few years (around 63% of teens in the United States use the app, while 38% say that it's their favorite app). The increased use of TikTok among youth and children has rised concerns worldwide, especially among parents. Today we delve into this and explore how TikTok might affect the mental health of youth and children and how it can affect those with certain mental disorders.
The addictive nature of TikTok
TikTok is quite addictive; anyone who uses it or knows someone who does can notice that effect on their own. The first place to stop at, is this addictive nature of TikTok. Addiction, which on its own is a problem and also considered a mental disorder, is a gateway to a number of other mental disorders.
What makes TikTok so addictive?
The secret to TikTok addictive nature is its "For You" feed. TikTok algorithm feeds you super personalized feeds that are designed "For You," throwing you into what's known as the "rabbit hole," so you end up watching one video after another, and where you initially wanted to browse for ten minutes or so, you suddenly find out that actually hours have passed.
Psychologist Dr. Jean Twenge said TikTok’s algorithm in particular is “very sophisticated” and “very sticky".
Is TikTok addiction a mental disorder?
The answer is no, because addiction itself is not really considered a mental disorder. However, addiction is a medical disorder, whether it's porn addiction, drug addiction, or social media addiction like that of TikTok. The problem with addiction is that it's complusive; you feel a strong urge that's difficult to resist to do the thing you are addicted to and release those dopamine hits. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter directly involved with addiction.
Addiction by itself is a problematic condition that affects the quality of life, it affects your relationships and social life, your sleep, and much more; but, in addition to this, addiction to TikTok affects your mental health and affects those with mental disorders in other ways.
How TikTok addiction affects those with mental disorders
A report by Amnesty International has revealed that after running automated TikTok accounts for five to six hours, almost 1 in 2 videos were related to mental health. They also noticed that the rabbit hole effect was even faster when the researchers rewatched the mental health related videos. half of the videos in the "For You" feed were related to mental health struggles, and some of them were romanticizing, normalizing, or encouraging suicide.
When a user is sad or depressed, they stop longer at a video that relates to their sadness and depression, then the feed starts suggesting more and more of those types of videos to the user.
The relationship between problematic use of TikTok and certain mental disorders
Generally, we hear a lot about how consumption of social media can have a negative impact on mental health. Several studies have concluded that the extended and prolonged use of social media can affect mental health.
TikTok and Depression
When it comes to depression, it's a loophole. Depression is a risk factor for problematic TikTok use (PTU); in other words, those who suffer from depression have a higher risk of developing addiction to TikTok, which throws them into the rabbit hole. Since young people who struggle with depression are most likely to stop more at mental health related videos, hence their feed suggests more of them, some of those videos might be harmful. Although TikTok now tries to remove the content related to suicide, but the risk is still there for it's not only about suicide related content.
TikTok and anxiety
Just like depression, anxiety was found to be a risk factor for Problematic TikTok Use, which means people with anxiety are more likely to get addicted and are more likely to get affected by the clips on mental health that are in TikTok than another person who doesn't suffer from anxiety.
A study done on high school kids, found a direct correlation between TikTok use and increased symptoms of anxiety. The study showed that increased use of TikTok doesn't only heighten the symptoms of anxiety but also those of depression. Male students showed higher rates of depression and anxiety than female students.
Not to mention that several studies have generally linked the excessive use of social media as a whole ( TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, etc.) to mental disorders like depression and anxiety, it also increased the risk for loneliness.
TikTok and memory Loss
Some of the kids and teenagers who use TikTok regularly complained of not being able to concentrate or pay attention for a long period of time. The effect that TikTok exerts on memory is indirect. Research done on problematic cell phone use, in which the participants used the phone for long period of time, has shown that there is an inverse relationship between smartphone addiction and mental health. Disorders that were reported include anxiety, sleep affectation, stress, consumption of substances, and to a lesser extent, depression.
It's established that depression and prolonged anxiety are associated with poor memory performance. To simplify it, TikTok might cause addiction, and addiction to smartphones and excessive time spent on screen might cause depression and anxiety, which in turn are risk factors for poor memory performance.
In conclusion, we can say that uncontrolled use of TikTok might relate to mental disorders, memory loss, and a shorter attention span. If parents can control the time their children spend on TikTok and on social media, these effects might be lessened or avoided; also, awareness needs to be raised in regards to the type of content that teenagers and children consume.
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