Do you find it hard to keep up with every TikTok trend? You're not alone; many parents feel the same. With the platform churning out roughly 16,000¹ new videos a minute, having your finger on the throbbing TikTok pulse is nearly impossible.

But when you're parenting a tween, one of the latest trends spilling out of social media into classrooms is too important to ignore.

Trending mental health content on social networks glorifying certain mental health and neurodevelopmental disorders can make tweens identify with them or even feel it's cool to have one, possibly encouraging them to self-diagnose. And with a 2022 study² identifying 52%² of all TikTok videos on ADHD as misleading, parents need to know more about the hype so they can navigate it successfully.

This guide discusses the phenomenon and explores how it could affect your child. We discuss red flags and reveal tips for an open, well-informed mental health conversation.

Experts are warning parents of a growing pattern among tweens: self-diagnosing mental health disorders. Partly due to the explosion of mental health content on TikTok and Instagram, amplified by the ever-present algorithms and a destigmatisation of mental health, tweens are increasingly consuming videos of relatable influencers openly sharing their diagnosis.

Mental Health content has exploded on TikTok, with hashtags such as #mentalhealth, #anxiety, and #adhd generating billions²  of views and turning the platform into a destination where users seek advice on mental health.

Research shows a rabbit hole effect due to the platform's personalization feature (the For You Page). Amnesty International explains³ how their technical study showed that after 5-6 hours on TikTok, almost 1 in 2³ videos were mental health-related, about ten times more than what was shown to accounts without any prior engagement with mental health content.

One participant in the focus group said: "The content I see makes me overthink [even] more, like videos in which someone is sick or self-diagnosing. It affects my mentality and makes me feel like I have the same symptoms, and worsens my anxiety. And I don't even look them (videos) up, they just appear in my feed."

TikTok is home to many psychiatrists, therapists, and other mental health advocates, like Lindsay Fleming⁶, a licensed therapist, teen mental health expert, and psychotherapist, Mathias James Barker⁷. However, they are outnumbered by non-medically trained influencers who share their experiences.

If your child spends time on social media and consumes mental health content, you may want to keep an eye out for these signals:

Leading with empathy and coming from a place of curiosity¹² rather than criticism will help you start an open conversation¹³ with your child. Asking her,' What videos do you watch?' and 'How do they make you feel?' are sound questions before actively listening and validating emotions.

Once you've heard her, gently explain that anyone can post on TikTok; not all advice is clinically sound. Always keep an open conversation about social media content and algorithms. Help her set healthy boundaries and start following credible content creators together while prioritizing real-life connections.

However, if you feel your teen is genuinely struggling, organize a visit to your GP or a school counselor.

As our children grow up in a world where fake news and misinformation surround us, critical thinking is an important skill to teach them. Also, with 40%¹⁵ of 8-12-year-olds and 95% of 13-19-year-olds using social media daily, equipping them with social media literacy is vital.
How can you teach her to do this? Try these strategies as suggested by experts¹⁶:

While it's tricky for us to keep up with all the social media trends, if we keep an open conversation, stay curious, and use a compassionate approach to our kids' interests, we can stay connected to our tweens. By teaching them social media literacy, they can confidently build the tools to navigate mental health online.