Speaker 0: OK.
Speaker 0: Um, thanks everybody for being here.
Speaker 0: Like I said, um, my colleagues, Doctor Whiteside, um, and
Speaker 0: Doctor C and I, we're really excited to talk to
Speaker 0: you about a very timely topic.
Speaker 0: Many of you guys have probably been hearing about TikTok
Speaker 0: and self-diagnosis.
Speaker 0: A lot of children, adolescents, young adults, even adults too,
Speaker 0: are watching these short form videos and starting to form
Speaker 0: diagnosis.
Speaker 0: Um, or what they feel like their diagnosis has that's
Speaker 0: going on for them.
Speaker 0: Um, so we feel like this is a timely topic
Speaker 0: and it's becoming increasingly popular and relevant in our clinical
Speaker 0: setting here, and educational settings, and even household conversations too.
Speaker 0: And that's how TikTok and other short film videos platforms
Speaker 0: are influencing adolescent and young adults' mental health.
Speaker 0: A little bit of self-disclosure.
Speaker 0: My husband and I, we have two teenagers at home.
Speaker 0: Um, and so they use a lot of language often,
Speaker 0: uh, probably that they've heard from social media and media
Speaker 0: in general.
Speaker 0: Um, so there's a lot of slang going on that
Speaker 0: like every day there's something about so and so kid
Speaker 0: is low-key delulu.
Speaker 0: Um, so I'm speaking from experience as a parent of
Speaker 0: two teenagers who frequently watch short form videos.
Speaker 0: Um, they're watching it for dancing videos, um, that, you
Speaker 0: know, for pets and animals and so on.
Speaker 0: I also just want to preface to you by letting
Speaker 0: you all know that when we talk about, even though
Speaker 0: our topic is on TikTok, um, just know that it's,
Speaker 0: uh, we're talking about all shorthand videos.
Speaker 0: So we're not only just talking about TikTok, we're talking
Speaker 0: about Instagram reels, YouTube shorts, Snapchat, and so on.
Speaker 0: OK?
Speaker 0: Uh, Division 46 promoted our event when we presented this
Speaker 0: talk last year at APA.
Speaker 0: So, um, students can join for free with this code,
Speaker 0: and Division 46 is a Society for Media, Psychology and
Speaker 0: Technology.
Speaker 0: So my clinician and I, uh, uh, Mara and I,
Speaker 0: and Mara, Amy, and I, we're clinician practitioners, and we're
Speaker 0: based in Northwest Arkansas at, uh, a center called Schuning
Speaker 0: Developmental Center.
Speaker 0: And we're part of the University of Arkansas for Medical
Speaker 0: Sciences.
Speaker 0: And what we do is autism evaluations and also behavioral
Speaker 0: health.
Speaker 0: There's a lot of diversity in our Northwest region.
Speaker 0: Our center is considered the only developmental center in our
Speaker 0: Northwest region.
Speaker 0: So all of our local and rural community pediatricians refer
Speaker 0: to us for evaluations, and we're often seen as the
Speaker 0: regional experts in developmental and behavioral health.
Speaker 0: And like many centers across the country, we've seen a
Speaker 0: significant rise in demand for pediatric mental health care.
Speaker 0: And once intake paperwork is completed, our families currently wait
Speaker 0: approximately 18 months for an autism evaluation, and that number
Speaker 0: continues to grow.
Speaker 0: So, our families are committed and they're willing to wait
Speaker 0: for that long to be seen um at our clinic.
Speaker 0: So it's TikTok and Instagram reels such as these that
Speaker 0: have significantly increased demand for evaluations and referrals for our
Speaker 0: clinic.
Speaker 1: I just watched Percy Jackson and I'm convinced I have
Speaker 1: ADHD.
Speaker 2: I'm asking folks, until it is more widely understood and
Speaker 2: better known by more professionals, autism self-diagnosis is completely valid.
Speaker 2: Hi there, I am Destiny Kay and I am pro-educated
Speaker 3: self-diagnosis, and this is a safe space for you guys
Speaker 3: because I know how difficult it can be to get
Speaker 3: a diagnosis.
Speaker 0: So, yeah, we're seeing an increase in self-diagnosis and mental
Speaker 0: health conversations online.
Speaker 0: And some are, some of these videos actually can be
Speaker 0: very helpful.
Speaker 0: Um, but we also know that some of these videos
Speaker 0: can also be very harmful.
Speaker 0: So, in this presentation, we're gonna discuss how these platforms
Speaker 0: have shaped diagnosis trends, the impact of mental health awareness,
Speaker 0: and what that means for us who work with adolescents
Speaker 0: and young adults in our clinic.
Speaker 0: Many parents and youth cite these videos, um, like these
Speaker 0: when they seek evaluations, and content creators often use psychological
Speaker 0: terms without any type of clinical training whatsoever.
Speaker 0: And so this contributes to an increased concern and confusion
Speaker 0: for some of our families that we see.
Speaker 0: So our objectives for our presentation today are to analyze
Speaker 0: the current data on the impact of TikTok and short-form
Speaker 0: video content on adolescents and young adult mental health, evaluate
Speaker 0: the risks and potential benefits of this content, and then
Speaker 0: discuss strategies for addressing these challenges across home school, and
Speaker 0: the clinical setting.
Speaker 0: So we wanted to just get a quick poll.
Speaker 0: You can just go ahead and comment um in the
Speaker 0: comment section here.
Speaker 0: Um, so before we dive in, we want to hear
Speaker 0: from you.
Speaker 0: So over the past year, have you encountered any clients
Speaker 0: who have used social media or short fun videos as
Speaker 0: a source for self-diagnosis?
Speaker 0: And if you have had, uh, your clients or patients
Speaker 0: doing this, um, what diagnosis did they report having?
Speaker 0: Go ahead and you can just put it into the
Speaker 0: chat.
Speaker 0: So yeah, so it sounds like a lot of what
Speaker 0: we're seeing as well, um, a high number of autism,
Speaker 0: significant ADHD, bipolar disorder, um, Yeah, very consistent.
Speaker 0: OCD very much so.
Speaker 0: Um.
Speaker 0: Yes, yeah.
Speaker 0: PTSD.
Speaker 0: Yes, all of that.
Speaker 0: So thank you for sharing.
Speaker 0: I appreciate it.
Speaker 0: OK.
Speaker 0: Yeah, go ahead and keep the comments coming.
Speaker 0: Um, I'm gonna turn it over to my colleague, Mara,
Speaker 0: who's gonna take over the next part.
Speaker 0: Thank you.
Speaker 4: OK.
Speaker 4: So, um, as Doctor Windriver said, we're clinicians and, and
Speaker 4: not necessarily researchers, so, um, I'm gonna be going over
Speaker 4: the research that has been done in this space so
Speaker 4: far.
Speaker 4: I'll also follow it up with talking about how the
Speaker 4: algorithm impacts the way in which a viewer interprets their
Speaker 4: experience.
Speaker 4: So these headlines might look a little familiar.
Speaker 4: Um, it doesn't, it really doesn't take much effort to
Speaker 4: find a recent headline pointing out to how TikTok is
Speaker 4: resulting in some new trend.
Speaker 4: Over the past few years, there's been a growing media
Speaker 4: narrative about how adolescents and young adults turn to TikTok
Speaker 4: for answers about their mental health.
Speaker 4: YouTube is my brain rod of choice, and I have
Speaker 4: watched so many videos, compiling TikTok videos and providing that
Speaker 4: snarky commentary about the content.
Speaker 4: These are a few of the top videos that come
Speaker 4: up on my YouTube algorithm when I type in TikTok
Speaker 4: and self-diagnosis.
Speaker 4: And I've watched a few in my spare time, and
Speaker 4: these commentators are often poking holes in the process of
Speaker 4: self-diagnosis and pointing out the misinformation.
Speaker 4: So why are young people diagnosing themselves from videos?
Speaker 4: One hypothesis that gets mentioned in the research is that
Speaker 4: there's a lack of access to services.
Speaker 4: APA has published information regarding the lack of services for
Speaker 4: young people, and we know that young people's mental health
Speaker 4: worsened over the course of the pandemic.
Speaker 4: And it's no wonder that folks are turning to whatever
Speaker 4: information source they have for answers about how they are
Speaker 4: feeling.
Speaker 4: And while we don't really have numbers regarding how many
Speaker 4: people are diagnosing themselves with the condition, I think it's
Speaker 4: clear to those of us working with adolescents and young
Speaker 4: adults that TikTok is a major source of their mental
Speaker 4: health and mental health information.
Speaker 4: In fact, 63% of American teenagers use TikTok daily.
Speaker 4: That's nearly 2 out of 3 teenagers on the platform
Speaker 4: each day.
Speaker 4: Young adults are not that far behind, with 59% of
Speaker 4: adults under 30 years old using TikTok every day.
Speaker 4: These numbers do not account for the rest of the
Speaker 4: population who may be using TikTok less frequently or more
Speaker 4: casually.
Speaker 4: We also know that TikTok is more than just entertainment.
Speaker 4: TikTok is often seen as a news source for adolescents
Speaker 4: and young adults.
Speaker 4: This has become especially true in light of our political
Speaker 4: climate and how the public views traditional news sources.
Speaker 4: TikTok has also been used for unfiltered documentation of events,
Speaker 4: such as protests in conflict zones.
Speaker 4: Many adolescents and young adults are using TikTok as a
Speaker 4: search engine rather than Google.
Speaker 4: It's increasingly used as a behavioral health information source.
Speaker 4: The divining feature of TikTok is the for you page,
Speaker 4: the stream of videos driven by the platform's algorithm.
Speaker 4: The algorithm's job is to keep users on the platform
Speaker 4: for longer and longer periods of time, and the most
Speaker 4: effective way to do this is to show users what
Speaker 4: they want to see.
Speaker 4: Adolescents are vulnerable to this steady stream of information.
Speaker 4: This is where I make a little confession.
Speaker 4: So I used to have a TikTok.
Speaker 4: created it during the pandemic, and while I never posted
Speaker 4: anything or commented on others' videos, I was a pretty
Speaker 4: passive user, and I would be on that thing for
Speaker 4: hours, like, to the point where TikTok was sending me
Speaker 4: that video saying, hey, you should probably get off, you've
Speaker 4: been here too long.
Speaker 4: And it's, it's one of those things where, you know,
Speaker 4: as someone who's an adult and educated in behavioral science
Speaker 4: and understands the addictive qualities of media like this, if
Speaker 4: I had trouble getting off of it or moving away
Speaker 4: from it, I can imagine that most of our adolescents
Speaker 4: don't really stand a chance.
Speaker 4: Oh, I'm happy to say I've deactivated my account, um,
Speaker 4: so I'm not susceptible to that anymore.
Speaker 4: I'm gonna present some of the research published about TikTok
Speaker 4: and mental health content.
Speaker 4: Um, I'm gonna give an overview of some of the
Speaker 4: common areas, give a bit of a breakdown.
Speaker 4: I do want to point out that there's a lot
Speaker 4: of good descriptive studies coming out that that shed light
Speaker 4: on what's going on.
Speaker 4: Um, many of these studies will benefit from replication.
Speaker 4: Most are very recent.
Speaker 4: Uh, we know that social media moves fast and academia
Speaker 4: moves slow.
Speaker 4: So, you know, usually academic research is like 5 steps
Speaker 4: behind.
Speaker 4: This is a growing field and it can get overwhelming
Speaker 4: to keep up with all of the new research coming
Speaker 4: out.
Speaker 4: So has mental health.
Speaker 4: This is a very broad tag, potentially encompasses a pretty
Speaker 4: wide range of topics.
Speaker 4: Of the 100 most viewed videos, only one was created
Speaker 4: by a healthcare professional.
Speaker 4: Healthcare professional is someone with the credentials educated on the
Speaker 4: topic, um, a license or a degree in the field.
Speaker 4: 13 of those 100 videos were created by influencers, and
Speaker 4: an influencer, if you don't know, is someone with a
Speaker 4: large following promoting certain topics or goods.
Speaker 4: Often they're getting paid or they have some sort of
Speaker 4: sponsorship.
Speaker 4: 84 were consumer generated, and the consumer is a user
Speaker 4: of TikTok who does not fit the category for professional
Speaker 4: or an influencer.
Speaker 4: And then the last two were created by a television-based
Speaker 4: entertainer in a news organization.
Speaker 4: Mental health content is so pervasive online that a new
Speaker 4: patient coming in for the first session is likely to
Speaker 4: have some sort of exposure to information on social media,
Speaker 4: and as a result, likely to already have an idea
Speaker 4: of what that diagnosis might be.
Speaker 4: There's also evidence that watching mental health content online can
Speaker 4: lead to more harmful content being pushed.
Speaker 4: For teenagers, this includes content around eating disorders and suicide,
Speaker 4: and that is done through the algorithm.
Speaker 4: In terms of autism, we see a mix of helpful
Speaker 4: and unhelpful content.
Speaker 4: 41% of the most viewed #autism videos were inaccurate.
Speaker 4: Of note, these researchers looked into mean number of views
Speaker 4: and likes for inaccurate, overgeneralized, and accurate videos.
Speaker 4: In their analysis, there was no significant difference between the
Speaker 4: three groups.
Speaker 4: There are differences between the creators of the videos though.
Speaker 4: Creators, um, who were healthcare professionals were more likely to
Speaker 4: be accurate in their videos than the videos created by
Speaker 4: autistic creators and non-healthcare professionals, and there was no difference
Speaker 4: in accuracy between an autistic creator and a non-healthcare professional.
Speaker 4: So taking a look at ADHD in this study of
Speaker 4: 100 most viewed ADHD videos on TikTok, 11 were created
Speaker 4: by healthcare professionals.
Speaker 4: The other 89 were by non-healthcare professionals, and none of
Speaker 4: them were by organizations like CHAD or or something that
Speaker 4: we're familiar with.
Speaker 4: 52% of those 100 videos in the study were misleading.
Speaker 4: The majority of those misleading videos cited trans diagnostic criteria
Speaker 4: as exclusive to ADHD.
Speaker 4: Other misleading videos incorrectly discussed pathophysiology of ADHD, provided incorrect
Speaker 4: information about diagnostic procedures, or misattribution of theories to ADHD.
Speaker 4: One of the ones that was mentioned in this research
Speaker 4: was the idea that object permanence is related to ADHD
Speaker 4: and that people who have ADHD don't have object permanence.
Speaker 4: Um, other misleading examples in the study were ADHD paralysis,
Speaker 4: and that ADHD is related to being only under or
Speaker 4: overstimulated.
Speaker 4: Personal experience types of videos can include things like day
Speaker 4: to life content or or description of difficulty with tasks.
Speaker 4: Trauma is increasingly used as an explanation for a wide
Speaker 4: range of what we would call normal behavior.
Speaker 4: Behaviors like people pleasing, perfectionism, decision paralysis, lashing out, doom
Speaker 4: scrolling, rewatching favorite shows, they've all been explained away by
Speaker 4: a viewer's trauma response.
Speaker 4: What's missing from these assumptions is a discussion of what
Speaker 4: trauma actually is.
Speaker 4: And then looking at hashtag trauma videos, 60% of these
Speaker 4: videos described a personal experience by the platform users.
Speaker 4: These videos are often confessional, um, so related to the
Speaker 4: personal experience and or raising, um, awareness raising.
Speaker 4: 10% of trauma videos were by healthcare professionals, 20% by
Speaker 4: alternative providers such as life coaches, and 10% were created
Speaker 4: by influencers.
Speaker 4: Many of the hashtag trauma videos that are about personal
Speaker 4: experience describe normal behaviors as responses to trauma.
Speaker 4: So they frame these normal behaviors as a trauma response,
Speaker 4: and it suggests to the viewer that they may have
Speaker 4: some uncovered trauma that is causing their perfectionism or people
Speaker 4: pleasing or or whatever other behavior that is being brought
Speaker 4: up in the video.
Speaker 4: Another issue seen with these trauma videos is their lack
Speaker 4: of content warnings or appropriate tags, so that users who
Speaker 4: are sensitive to that discussion or have a trauma themselves
Speaker 4: can avoid that type of content.
Speaker 4: So, TikTok induced tics, it's one of the most interesting
Speaker 4: phenomena to me that has come out of these short
Speaker 4: form video users.
Speaker 4: Research shows that there is an increase in tic disorders
Speaker 4: during COVID-19, and that was inconsistent with previous trends.
Speaker 4: Further, the presentations were very atypical.
Speaker 4: So a lot of these first time tick disorders were
Speaker 4: occurring in adolescent women, and the ticks were way more
Speaker 4: complex than the typical tick trajectory.
Speaker 4: Clinicians and researchers discovered that these tick patterns were imitative
Speaker 4: of popular video content.
Speaker 4: Now on TikTok, these videos showcasing the more atypical ticks,
Speaker 4: so the more more complex or involved, and the Tourette's
Speaker 4: conditions, they got more views than simple motor or vocal
Speaker 4: tics.
Speaker 4: And for those diagnosed with a functional tic disorder, about
Speaker 4: 77% of those patients reported watching social media videos featuring
Speaker 4: tic disorders prior to the onset of these behaviors.
Speaker 4: And like super recently, like within this past week, I
Speaker 4: was going through a medical chart of a patient with
Speaker 4: Tourette's and I saw that the neurologist has started asking.
Speaker 4: Do you watch TikTok and Twitch and anything that has
Speaker 4: to do with a creator that has a tic disorder
Speaker 4: or Tourette's, so that, you know, these neurologists are, are
Speaker 4: screening for a functional tic disorder in this way.
Speaker 4: And finally, I want to touch on dissociative identity disorder.
Speaker 4: So DID is very, very, very rare, very serious condition,
Speaker 4: and when I started this review, it didn't even occur
Speaker 4: to me that there would be DID content in short
Speaker 4: form videos.
Speaker 4: There are creators who talk about their systems, and that
Speaker 4: can be very important for them and for their own
Speaker 4: mental health, but as we see with other conditions, young
Speaker 4: people are not getting the quality information about the disorder
Speaker 4: and in turn are misunderstanding some of the key features.
Speaker 4: An analysis of 97 TikTok videos regarding DID, only 5
Speaker 4: were found to be useful.
Speaker 4: Researchers define useful as something that includes accurate information on
Speaker 4: DID.
Speaker 4: 10 of those videos were misleading, so opposite of useful,
Speaker 4: and the rest were neither useful nor misleading, so it
Speaker 4: can be content about personal experiences, comedy, art, discussions, interviews,
Speaker 4: and things like that.
Speaker 4: The two terms that have come up in my review
Speaker 4: of current literature are the Barnum effect and confirmation bias.
Speaker 4: Um, these are extremely important when we're thinking about how
Speaker 4: teens are interacting with TikTok and other social media platforms.
Speaker 4: They're looking for themselves in the content, and they're interacting
Speaker 4: with videos that confirm their prior beliefs.
Speaker 4: And as a result, prolonged use of TikTok and other
Speaker 4: video platforms.
Speaker 4: Gives you an algorithm feed that creates this echo chamber
Speaker 4: for the user.
Speaker 4: And we know that heuristics play a role in this,
Speaker 4: right?
Speaker 4: So this frequent exposure to something leads us to believe
Speaker 4: that it is more common than it actually is.
Speaker 4: If you watch a lot of trauma content, suddenly everything
Speaker 4: is trauma related.
Speaker 4: A complicating factor here is the likes and views that
Speaker 4: some of these videos rack up.
Speaker 4: Adolescents and young adults see how popular some mental health
Speaker 4: videos are, and they see the sympathy and comments that
Speaker 4: come with a video, and there's a thought that these
Speaker 4: behaviors are desirable.
Speaker 4: It reminds me of uh my younger years in sad
Speaker 4: Girl Tumblr era, where it was an aesthetic, it was
Speaker 4: something to aspire, aspire to.
Speaker 4: For video creators, the algorithm pushes videos that are engaging.
Speaker 4: It can support a worldview, they get pushed.
Speaker 4: If they lead to engagement, even negative engagement, they get
Speaker 4: pushed.
Speaker 4: If a creator wants their video to gain traction, they
Speaker 4: create content that the people want to see.
Speaker 4: So to sum it up, we see that there is
Speaker 4: evidence that videos featuring personal experience with behavioral health get
Speaker 4: the highest engagement.
Speaker 4: Related, there are far more non-healthcare professional creators in the
Speaker 4: TikTok space than healthcare professionals.
Speaker 4: These videos are not substantially different in terms of views,
Speaker 4: likes or comments.
Speaker 4: So can adolescents and young adults really distinguish between something
Speaker 4: that is reputable and non-reputable?
Speaker 4: And, you know, not to mention we're in an era
Speaker 4: that is devaluing higher education and degrees and licenses and
Speaker 4: online spaces.
Speaker 4: There's a debate going on about who can speak authoritatively
Speaker 4: on the subject of mental health.
Speaker 4: Those with degrees and licenses in mental health are seen
Speaker 4: as gatekeeping information about mental health when we try to
Speaker 4: limit what non-healthcare professionals can promote on their channels.
Speaker 4: Misinformation is often the norm rather than the exception, and
Speaker 4: TikTok's algorithm can push unhealthy content to users.
Speaker 4: So I wanna leave you with a quote that I've
Speaker 4: found in a Teen Vogue article, which, if you haven't
Speaker 4: read Teen Vogue, Teen Vogue's awesome.
Speaker 4: Um, in this article, oh.
Speaker 4: This was about um mental health.
Speaker 4: So, um, even if you aren't seeking out mental health
Speaker 4: symptoms on social media, the algorithm may give them to
Speaker 4: you anyway.
Speaker 4: Doctor, I think you may be muted.
Speaker 5: Can you all hear me now?
Speaker 5: Perfect.
Speaker 5: OK, so I'm Dr.
Speaker 5: Amy C and I'm a pediatric psychologist and colleagues of
Speaker 5: Doctors Whiteside and Wynd Driver.
Speaker 5: And while we're all clinicians, um, I'm based at the
Speaker 5: local children's hospital and primarily provide behavioral health consultation services
Speaker 5: in the outpatient specialty clinics with.
Speaker 5: Some ongoing therapy with school-aged kids who have acute or
Speaker 5: chronic health issues and some emotional or behavioral health difficulty.
Speaker 5: I feel like I have the easy job today because
Speaker 5: I get to talk about the risks and benefits of
Speaker 5: short form videos and reels with regard to behavioral health
Speaker 5: diagnoses and intervention.
Speaker 5: So let's get to it.
Speaker 5: Using TikTok and other types of short form videos and
Speaker 5: reels to self-diagnose behavioral health issues and address behavioral health
Speaker 5: needs is, like with anything else, bound to come with
Speaker 5: risks in additions to the benefits that should be considered.
Speaker 5: While some have argued that benefits are limited and that
Speaker 5: the risks significantly outweigh the benefits, we're just beginning to
Speaker 5: understand the influence and the impact of these platforms, and
Speaker 5: a further review and continued discussion of the risks versus
Speaker 5: benefits is likely why our talk was accepted at APA
Speaker 5: and why it's being promoted and being something that we're
Speaker 5: showing and doing for other groups.
Speaker 5: It's so that we can make informed decisions with regard
Speaker 5: to utilization and the overall value of these platforms.
Speaker 5: So overall what we found today and I'd like to
Speaker 5: discuss with you is that um While highly visual platforms
Speaker 5: with reels and other short form videos like TikTok can
Speaker 5: provide a sense of validation and community for individuals with
Speaker 5: behavioral health issues, especially those who are isolated, who may
Speaker 5: have limited information and may feel misunderstood, the information provided
Speaker 5: may not be accurate or complete, may be sensationalized for
Speaker 5: likes and views, and significant misinformation, specifically if it leads
Speaker 5: to misdiagnosis, can be harmful.
Speaker 5: So what's the consensus with regard to risk and benefit,
Speaker 5: um, TikTok and other short form video platforms can provide
Speaker 5: a sense of community, support, and shared experience for individuals
Speaker 5: who are struggling with their emotional and behavioral functioning and
Speaker 5: may be very much needed for those who may feel
Speaker 5: that they're misunderstood or feeling isolated or that they're struggling
Speaker 5: on their own.
Speaker 5: Spreading this spreading information about behavioral health is important.
Speaker 5: It's why we talk about dissemination of information with regard
Speaker 5: to psychological science all the time.
Speaker 5: It's why we publish.
Speaker 5: It's why we create educational content.
Speaker 5: It's why we do trainings like these.
Speaker 5: It's why we teach.
Speaker 5: Getting information about behavioral health diagnoses and evidence-based interventions and
Speaker 5: supports can help increase awareness and normalize behavioral health issues.
Speaker 5: It can normalize the treatment of behavioral health issues.
Speaker 5: And doesn't GI Joe say and knowing is half the
Speaker 5: battle.
Speaker 5: Validating and normalizing the experience of others can help individuals
Speaker 5: who may be struggling and do not know what's going
Speaker 5: on with them or what to do, and it can
Speaker 5: make them feel less alone and help them understand different
Speaker 5: options with regard to treating issues they now have a
Speaker 5: name or label for.
Speaker 5: In terms of the creative outlet, individuals who are struggling
Speaker 5: with behavioral health issues have really turned to these short
Speaker 5: form video platforms to express themselves, to let some of
Speaker 5: the things that they've kept in or don't feel comfortable
Speaker 5: or able to show in their private lives out on
Speaker 5: a whole other level, one without direct negative feedback or
Speaker 5: backlash or the immediate consequences that can come with being
Speaker 5: yourself IRL.
Speaker 5: I've referenced TikTok videos or reels that are trending at
Speaker 5: the moment in therapy, maybe to get cred or to
Speaker 5: start a conversation in a more approachable way or within
Speaker 5: the limits or like a delicate dance to try to
Speaker 5: talk to adolescents in their own language, to provide information
Speaker 5: or obtain information that is relevant and or acceptable for
Speaker 5: them.
Speaker 5: I might.
Speaker 5: Use generational slang or language.
Speaker 5: I might reference a recipe that's all the rage, which,
Speaker 5: by the way, is a phrase of speech I might
Speaker 5: use here today in front of you guys, but would
Speaker 5: definitely not use in the context of teens, as I
Speaker 5: would no doubt quickly be outed as one who is
Speaker 5: not alpha or Sigma and maybe even oh the whore
Speaker 5: be thought of as a boomer.
Speaker 5: I do this when I'm trying to provide recommendations to
Speaker 5: teens in the clinic and families as well.
Speaker 5: I try to offer handouts and information that include website
Speaker 5: references or mobile health apps for things like guided relaxation
Speaker 5: videos or apps for tracking migraines, medications, or bowel movements,
Speaker 5: and websites with great filters like those that can filter
Speaker 5: out behavioral health providers in one's own community who do
Speaker 5: not accept one's insurance when trying to assist individuals in
Speaker 5: accessing or establishing ongoing therapy if Recommending it.
Speaker 5: These videos and reels provide a lot of food for
Speaker 5: fodder, and while they say no publicity is bad publicity
Speaker 5: and videos can start conversations even if it is to
Speaker 5: address misinformation or correct assumptions that are out there that
Speaker 5: might need to be corrected, if we don't know what
Speaker 5: teens are consuming, we can't do this.
Speaker 5: By placing information about behavioral health on TikTok and other
Speaker 5: video platforms.
Speaker 5: We're, we're better able to know what's out there and
Speaker 5: have a finger on the pulse of the current zeitgeist
Speaker 5: for teens.
Speaker 5: And as Paul Harvey says, and now the rest of
Speaker 5: the story, and in no certain order, we should probably
Speaker 5: get to the potential costs or limitations of these platforms.
Speaker 5: So if knowing is half the battle, knowing is good,
Speaker 5: right?
Speaker 5: Well, maybe not if the content is sensationalized for likes
Speaker 5: and subscribes or clicks which can turn into dollars or
Speaker 5: to further the agenda of an individual who has very
Speaker 5: much had their sights set on one day being plucked
Speaker 5: out of their obscure little corner or space of the
Speaker 5: web, who's finally found that special formula and their video
Speaker 5: has gone viral, and they are now internet famous.
Speaker 5: What I want to put out there is that there's
Speaker 5: perhaps secondary gain.
Speaker 5: That might be at play when people are creating or
Speaker 5: publishing content for others to view on these type of
Speaker 5: platforms.
Speaker 5: It's information if information has been sensationalized, so to speak,
Speaker 5: or there's misinformation that's spread faster than anyone can actually
Speaker 5: do anything about, information that cannot be policed or contained,
Speaker 5: that this type of information can very much amplify worry
Speaker 5: or fear related to certain behavioral health issues, misinformation.
Speaker 5: can result in unnecessary anxiety or distress as opposed to
Speaker 5: a more clear understanding of behavioral health issues or needs,
Speaker 5: especially for parents or caregivers of teens, parents who may
Speaker 5: have concerns of their own and turn to their own
Speaker 5: videos and reels to find information that reinforces negative beliefs
Speaker 5: or that exacerbate an already difficult to navigate conversation with
Speaker 5: their teen or even with a potential treatment provider if
Speaker 5: one is accessed.
Speaker 5: Video with the content and the projection of certain images
Speaker 5: that content creators, influencers, or companies that pay to have
Speaker 5: access to the followers of those creators in order to
Speaker 5: market to certain populations put out there for all to
Speaker 5: see an idealized image or narrative, and this image or
Speaker 5: narrative can cause comparisons and can engender or highlight potential
Speaker 5: feelings of inadequacy and can negatively impact.
Speaker 5: Self-esteem, they can potentially lead others to think that perhaps
Speaker 5: by comparison their behavioral health issues are not as big
Speaker 5: of a deal or is not as significant and therefore
Speaker 5: do not warrant diagnosis or intervention or even just increase
Speaker 5: the negative thoughts or feelings those suffering from behavioral health
Speaker 5: difficulties can have which can inadvertently worsen the existing symptoms
Speaker 5: or issues.
Speaker 5: So like Dr.
Speaker 5: Whiteside has brought up, some research suggests that exposure to
Speaker 5: certain content on platforms or utilization of the platform's algorithms
Speaker 5: can cause a disproportionate exposure to certain kinds of content
Speaker 5: or the prevalence of exposure to idealized or sensationalized images
Speaker 5: and or narratives, or just exposure to certain content can
Speaker 5: trigger or Increased symptoms of depression and anxiety, especially in
Speaker 5: vulnerable populations or users.
Speaker 5: The amplification of symptoms can lead individuals to feeling worse
Speaker 5: or perceived more intense or frequent symptoms that they might
Speaker 5: have had without this type of exposure.
Speaker 5: Maybe it's a way to identify with a group or
Speaker 5: to foster a sense of belonging or identity during a
Speaker 5: state.
Speaker 5: of identity formation or the development of one's own sense
Speaker 5: of self, but teens are going through so many challenges
Speaker 5: and are considered more susceptible and more easily influenced due
Speaker 5: to lack of formally formed, fully formed sense of self
Speaker 5: and a desire to please or fit in and to
Speaker 5: not look different or to garner potential disapproval or negative
Speaker 5: attention in any way.
Speaker 5: Their brains are basically made for this, or should I
Speaker 5: say made for developing and fostering relationships, and identity based
Speaker 5: on approval and attention and engagement within the context of
Speaker 5: their peer groups.
Speaker 5: But when the brain with all its adolescent brain chemistry
Speaker 5: is exposed to instant social gratification, perceptions can be skewed
Speaker 5: and identification based on a desire to fit in rather
Speaker 5: than.
Speaker 5: Actual constellation of symptoms and then subsequent acceptance and praise
Speaker 5: from those trying to provide or foster support might perpetuate
Speaker 5: a self-assigned label or diagnosis.
Speaker 5: Social contagion and self-diagnosis of certain behavioral health disorders or
Speaker 5: symptoms in particular, to include eating disorders, Tourette's syndrome, especially
Speaker 5: among teen girl users, has been highlighted.
Speaker 5: Perhaps it's because of this, because of this group's susceptibility
Speaker 5: or potentially related to a strong desire to fit in
Speaker 5: or gain social cred online that social contagion has been
Speaker 5: posited as a potentially underlying factor involved in increased self-diagnosis
Speaker 5: and increased presentation of symptoms or risk for developing symptoms
Speaker 5: within this population.
Speaker 5: Additionally, the stereotypical nature of some of the content can
Speaker 5: lead to increased imitation.
Speaker 5: Perhaps the biggest costs are with regard to misinformation and
Speaker 5: misdiagnosis is the delaying of professional diagnosis and treatment and
Speaker 5: the potential negative impact that information obtained via short form
Speaker 5: videos can have on treatment efficacy or outcomes when behavioral
Speaker 5: health assistance is accessed.
Speaker 5: Self-diagnosis based on misinformation or misinterpretation of experiences can result
Speaker 5: in misdiagnosis.
Speaker 5: Users of these platforms can be inundated with biased and
Speaker 5: inaccurate content.
Speaker 5: This can result in misinterpretation of their experiences and symptoms
Speaker 5: and can lead to increased self-diagnosis of behavioral health disorders
Speaker 5: they do not actually have or lead to inaccurate beliefs
Speaker 5: about the severity or prognosis of of issues that they
Speaker 5: do have.
Speaker 5: Self-diagnosis and relying on TikTok and other platforms for treatment
Speaker 5: or to cure one's self-diagnosed behavioral health issue can delay
Speaker 5: the seeking of professional help for accurate assessment, diagnosis, and
Speaker 5: guidance with regard to one's behavioral health.
Speaker 5: Additionally, self-diagnosis can cause individuals to treat one but not
Speaker 5: all the other behavioral health needs if or when comorbidities
Speaker 5: exist.
Speaker 5: This can be more problematic for the individual than if
Speaker 5: their comorbidities have been diagnosed and treated concurrently.
Speaker 5: Um, self-diagnosis and identity based on, on this perception can
Speaker 5: lead to increased entrenchment or belief that something is what
Speaker 5: it is and can't be something else and can lead
Speaker 5: individuals.
Speaker 5: A can lead individuals to potentially not be open to
Speaker 5: a diagnosis being incorrect or the idea that something else
Speaker 5: could be going on or that additional issues might be
Speaker 5: at play.
Speaker 5: It can negatively impact the therapeutic experience and relationship and
Speaker 5: can.
Speaker 5: Delay or prevent treatment buy-in, motivation, efficacy, and or benefit
Speaker 5: of treatment.
Speaker 5: Talk about not setting a therapist of a teen up
Speaker 5: for success.
Speaker 5: If the therapist is attempting to correct misinformation or misconceptions
Speaker 5: or misdiagnoses, this can really potentially increase the likelihood that
Speaker 5: the teen may feel dismissed or invalidated by their therapist.
Speaker 5: So I also hope that I can get this volume
Speaker 5: going, but after discussing some of these risks and benefits
Speaker 5: in further detail, I thought it might be helpful to
Speaker 5: show two examples that highlight the good and the bad.
Speaker 5: This first example, I want you guys to watch and
Speaker 5: maybe put in the comments what characteristics you think might
Speaker 5: make this reel, a good example of information about behavioral
Speaker 5: health on TikTok.
Speaker 6: I thought you'd never ask.
Speaker 6: OK, so psychiatrist with ADHD here, let's talk about the
Speaker 6: actual diagnostic criteria for ADHD.
Speaker 6: There are two main categories that we think about, inattentive
Speaker 6: symptoms and hyperactive impulsive symptoms, and you can have a
Speaker 6: combination of both or you can have one or the
Speaker 6: other.
Speaker 6: Symptoms have to be present for at least 6 months.
Speaker 6: They can't be caused by any other mental health issue
Speaker 6: like an episode of depression or severe anxiety, and they
Speaker 6: have to have been present when the person was a
Speaker 6: child and in different domains of their life.
Speaker 6: So it can't just be that they're distracted at school.
Speaker 6: It has to be like school and home, something like
Speaker 6: that.
Speaker 6: And most importantly, these are symptoms that are going to
Speaker 6: happen to everyone at some point in their life, but
Speaker 6: if you have ADHD, they are excessive and it's to
Speaker 6: the point where these symptoms get in the way of
Speaker 6: your ability to function.
Speaker 6: I'll do a part 2 and a part 3 where
Speaker 6: we talk about what the actual symptoms look like for
Speaker 6: people with inattentive symptoms and people with hyperactive and impulsive
Speaker 6: symptoms.
Speaker 6: I'm gonna give you 17 questions that I actually ask
Speaker 6: my patients when I am assessing them for ADHD.
Speaker 6: Please keep in mind that you cannot diagnose yourself with
Speaker 6: ADHD just based on these questions.
Speaker 6: ADHD symptoms can overlap with a lot of other mental
Speaker 6: health issues and also with just normal human experience.
Speaker 6: So if this is something that resonates with you, doesn't
Speaker 6: automatically mean you have ADHD, just means maybe it's worth
Speaker 6: talking with your doctor or therapist.
Speaker 5: OK, so some of the things I saw in the
Speaker 5: in the comments that make this sort of a good
Speaker 5: example of content out there is that it is being
Speaker 5: given information to the population from a credible individual, somebody
Speaker 5: who has degrees in mental health and is a practitioner,
Speaker 5: also sort of self-diagnosed.
Speaker 5: She provided some good definitions and the Information was accurate
Speaker 5: and really outlined the symptoms that are diagnostic of ADHD
Speaker 5: to include the functional impairment or distress kinds of things.
Speaker 5: It normalized things and she even talked about saying, you
Speaker 5: know, if some of these things resonate for you, it
Speaker 5: doesn't mean that you have ADHD per se, right?
Speaker 5: She really encourages if you feel like these resonate, you
Speaker 5: need to.
Speaker 5: Seek out assessment for for treatment of something that could
Speaker 5: be going on.
Speaker 5: So I think those are all really good points, and
Speaker 5: she had some good disclaimers.
Speaker 5: It seemed like she was relatable in the first, you
Speaker 5: know, video you saw of the coat, which I think
Speaker 5: can provide some credibility sometimes with the degrees on the
Speaker 5: wall, right?
Speaker 5: And then the next one, she's kind of in a
Speaker 5: t-shirt but still kind of showing she's in her office
Speaker 5: and is a practitioner.
Speaker 5: See what we have next, and this one that we're
Speaker 5: gonna pull up next, sorry.
Speaker 5: Um is one about ADHD as well, and I want
Speaker 5: you guys to watch and tell me what sort of
Speaker 5: sticks out to you with regard to characteristics that might
Speaker 5: make this real an example of maybe a not so
Speaker 5: good video about behavioral health that's available on TikTok, given
Speaker 5: what we've discussed about the risks.
Speaker 7: People with ADHD do not miss other people.
Speaker 7: It's a blessing and it's a curse.
Speaker 7: But those of us with ADHD, we do not miss
Speaker 7: people.
Speaker 7: It's out of sight, out of mind.
Speaker 7: We have what's called object permanence.
Speaker 7: If you are not in front of us or engaging
Speaker 7: with us, our brain literally files you away, and we
Speaker 7: forget about you, and we can forget about you for
Speaker 7: weeks, months, or even years.
Speaker 7: My wife, who committed suicide in 2015, unless I directly
Speaker 7: think about her, I forget.
Speaker 7: And it sucks.
Speaker 7: There's a, there's a horrible part of this, but there's
Speaker 7: also a great superpower to it.
Speaker 7: When it does come to exes, it comes to people
Speaker 7: in your life that have hurt you.
Speaker 7: Guess what?
Speaker 7: You do forget about them.
Speaker 7: And the scary part though, and the worst part is,
Speaker 7: is when you do start to talk to people, we
Speaker 7: literally have put time in a capsule, we have forgotten
Speaker 7: about you.
Speaker 7: When we start talking to you again, it could be
Speaker 7: 2 years later, and guess what, that file cabinet opens
Speaker 7: up and we go back to talking to you like
Speaker 7: we talked to you a week ago, 2 days ago.
Speaker 7: We literally can remember some of these obscure details that
Speaker 7: you were telling us about, obscure details of your life,
Speaker 7: and we are able to act and literally, it feels
Speaker 7: like we have just talked.
Speaker 7: You and we forget that it has been a huge
Speaker 7: gap in time because we forgot about you, but we're
Speaker 7: able to pick up right where we left off.
Speaker 7: And it is one of those superpowers with ADHD.
Speaker 7: It is something that, again, if we're not messaging you
Speaker 7: and we're not talking to you, and you want that
Speaker 7: engagement with us, that relationship with us, you do have
Speaker 7: to put the effort forward, and it's not selfishness, it's
Speaker 7: literally how our brain works.
Speaker 7: And even if with ADHD, it is setting reminders and
Speaker 7: focusing on who Important people to keep in touch with.
Speaker 7: I have went times without talking to my, my parents
Speaker 7: or my mom for months, and I forget.
Speaker 7: I was like, when was the last time I talked
Speaker 7: to her?
Speaker 7: I'm like, holy crap, it was like 4 months ago,
Speaker 7: and I have to call her and be like, Oh
Speaker 7: my God, I am so sorry.
Speaker 7: But that is how our brain works and it is
Speaker 7: very normal and natural for us.
Speaker 7: The wolves with ADHD, comment down below if you know
Speaker 7: what I'm talking about, because this is a struggle and
Speaker 7: a half for us, and it's something that we have
Speaker 7: to find coping tools for.
Speaker 5: OK, yeah, so there's a lot to sort of talk
Speaker 5: about with this video given what we've been talking about
Speaker 5: and a lot of you guys wrote in that it
Speaker 5: was a very personal account, not necessarily very accurate, and
Speaker 5: it was definitely sensationalized.
Speaker 5: There's a lot of overgeneralization and it's not.
Speaker 5: Necessarily based on evidence or accurate, the object permanence, which
Speaker 5: is not a part of ADHD, was put out as
Speaker 5: a symptom or things.
Speaker 5: I think he also tries to increase the group or
Speaker 5: normalize in a hyperbolic way by talking about, you know,
Speaker 5: this being our superpower, definitely uses a lot of we
Speaker 5: in our conversation.
Speaker 5: has comic posters in the background, right?
Speaker 5: He talks about comment below, so this might be a
Speaker 5: person who's looking for likes and views, and I think
Speaker 5: one of the, you know, pretty scary things that people
Speaker 5: have also commented on is that this can be really
Speaker 5: dangerous information to have out there and it's hard to
Speaker 5: police.
Speaker 5: So now I'm going to turn it back over to
Speaker 5: my colleague Dr.
Speaker 5: Wendriver.
Speaker 0: Great.
Speaker 0: Thanks, Amy.
Speaker 0: Um, I'm gonna advance to the next slide here.
Speaker 7: HD do not miss other people.
Speaker 0: OK.
Speaker 0: All right.
Speaker 0: So, many of us are clinicians in this virtual room
Speaker 0: right now.
Speaker 0: So I'm not gonna go over the details of like
Speaker 0: what strategies of what parents and caregivers should do, teachers
Speaker 0: and administrations, and what clinicians, as clinicians, what we can
Speaker 0: do.
Speaker 0: But I will go over a few that I think
Speaker 0: is so important.
Speaker 0: So, um, we all know as parents and caregivers that
Speaker 0: we need to make sure that we keep an eye
Speaker 0: on how much screen time our, our Kids are doing.
Speaker 0: So, according to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent
Speaker 0: Psychiatry, teens spend an average of about 8.5 hours a
Speaker 0: day on screens.
Speaker 0: And that's not just um social media, gaming and streaming.
Speaker 0: They are also doing uh schoolwork on their Chromebooks.
Speaker 0: So, if any of you guys have kids out there,
Speaker 0: even at kindergarten, they're starting to give kids Chromebooks at
Speaker 0: school, um, all the way up to high school, their
Speaker 0: Burning in all their homework over Chromebooks, they're submitting all
Speaker 0: their assignments, they're uploading their tests, and so on, um,
Speaker 0: over Chromebooks.
Speaker 0: So sometimes, you know, just being on screen time for
Speaker 0: school can lead into bleed into watching TikTok videos.
Speaker 0: I know that from my own personal experience with my
Speaker 0: kids that they'll be researching an essay, um, you know,
Speaker 0: writing an essay on their Chromebook, and then they want
Speaker 0: to look up an example, and then all of a
Speaker 0: sudden now, They're watching Instagram reels, and it's like, bro,
Speaker 0: you need to be getting back and staying focused on
Speaker 0: the work that you're supposed to be doing.
Speaker 0: Um, we also know just like, uh, encouraging our adolescents
Speaker 0: with healthy sleep habits.
Speaker 0: We really want to make sure that there's no revenge
Speaker 0: bedtime procrastination, where teens might, you know, teens are so
Speaker 0: busy, they are, they might just stay up later, um,
Speaker 0: to doom scroll and, and bed rot and, and look
Speaker 0: at their phones.
Speaker 0: We also want to make sure that as parents, we're
Speaker 0: co-viewing and discussing the content, and just really making sure
Speaker 0: that we're validating their experiences.
Speaker 0: And that's even as parents and clinicians and teachers, like,
Speaker 0: if your child comes to you, let's validate what their
Speaker 0: experiences that they're having as a parent, we may just
Speaker 0: go, oh, jeez, you know, you're just watching another video
Speaker 0: again.
Speaker 0: Like, you can't believe everything that's on the internet.
Speaker 0: Um, I know that sometimes like I had to talk
Speaker 0: to my teenagers about that.
Speaker 0: I sometimes have to talk with my 82 year old
Speaker 0: mother-in-law about that.
Speaker 0: You can't believe what's all on the internet.
Speaker 0: And so, you know, but at the same time, at
Speaker 0: the end of the day, we really need to make
Speaker 0: sure that we validate before we provide education because as
Speaker 0: many teens, we know with many teens, they know it
Speaker 0: all.
Speaker 0: They don't want to hear it.
Speaker 0: And so, if we can validate and we can make
Speaker 0: that connection with them, then we can provide a little
Speaker 0: bit more education with them along the way.
Speaker 0: And as a parent, I want to make sure that
Speaker 0: I model my own screen time habits as well.
Speaker 0: So, if my child overhears me saying that I think
Speaker 0: I might have a tic disorder, or I might have
Speaker 0: OCD, what am I modeling to my child?
Speaker 0: You know, is that, is what I'm watching on TikTok,
Speaker 0: um, must be true.
Speaker 0: My kids are gonna think that that's true as well.
Speaker 0: Um, for teachers and school staff, we know that teachers
Speaker 0: and school administrators are overworked and underpaid.
Speaker 0: So we get that they have a lot of work
Speaker 0: that they're already doing.
Speaker 0: But we know that schools are in a very unique,
Speaker 0: uh, a, a very unique position to embed media literacy
Speaker 0: in everyday learning.
Speaker 0: And it's not just for history or English class, right?
Speaker 0: And teachers and administrators can help students think critically, um,
Speaker 0: about media messages and biases, digital citizenship, um, online safety,
Speaker 0: um, making sure that what they respond, would you say
Speaker 0: that to somebody in front of their face, uh, versus
Speaker 0: just online, and then learn how to create and share
Speaker 0: responsible content.
Speaker 0: I know that a lot of schools are working on
Speaker 0: phone-free environments.
Speaker 0: So a lot of schools now have what is called
Speaker 0: phone banks or designated phone lockers, so they got to
Speaker 0: put their phones into a locker or a pouch, and
Speaker 0: then they'll get it at the end of the class
Speaker 0: period, or they get it at the end of the
Speaker 0: day.
Speaker 0: A lot of schools are doing what is called digital
Speaker 0: monitoring in schools.
Speaker 0: So many school districts now monitor students' activity through their
Speaker 0: school's Wi Fi.
Speaker 0: So if keywords like suicide, depression, guns, ammunition show up
Speaker 0: in certain search logs that they're on.
Speaker 0: Administrators are immediately alerted and notified.
Speaker 0: And this triggers a safety protocol, and parents are contacted
Speaker 0: immediately, and the student is brought down for a wellness
Speaker 0: check to the counseling, counseling office.
Speaker 0: Again, we want to make sure that as teachers too,
Speaker 0: we are looking at sleepy, sleepiness, restlessness, disengagement, um, and
Speaker 0: referring to the school counselor or behavioral health service if
Speaker 0: needed.
Speaker 0: So, uh, oops, I think I just skipped one.
Speaker 0: so strategies for the clinical setting.
Speaker 0: So we as clinicians, we also have a responsibility for
Speaker 0: checking with our families about How much screen time is
Speaker 0: your child having?
Speaker 0: If we're working with adolescents and you're able to meet
Speaker 0: with them one on one, you know, just doing a
Speaker 0: quick check-in, tell me what content are you looking at
Speaker 0: online?
Speaker 0: What platforms are you using?
Speaker 0: What do you think about that?
Speaker 0: You know, if they're coming in to say, hey, I
Speaker 0: think I got ADHD and I need to get checked
Speaker 0: out about this, again, we really want to make sure
Speaker 0: that we're validating them.
Speaker 0: Um, we really want to make sure that we're hearing
Speaker 0: them before we provide any type of education whatsoever.
Speaker 0: So, again, yeah, collaborating with our pediatricians, collaborating with our
Speaker 0: school psychologists can be really helpful, validating their concerns.
Speaker 0: And I, I think the key point too, in this
Speaker 0: clinical setting, too, is that we clinicians, we can be
Speaker 0: a catalyst for systems-level change.
Speaker 0: I know that my colleague here, Mara, she was talking
Speaker 0: about earlier that out of 100 of those TikTok videos,
Speaker 0: only 1 was from a healthcare professional.
Speaker 0: Oh my God.
Speaker 0: Gosh, you know, like only one, only one of them.
Speaker 0: But we as clinicians, we can do more and more
Speaker 0: and more.
Speaker 0: We can put out those videos, we can make those
Speaker 0: contents.
Speaker 0: Um, I know that, you know, I've done some videos
Speaker 0: too on Instagram reels and on TikTok, and they take
Speaker 0: a lot of time to edit and to cut and
Speaker 0: paste and all that stuff.
Speaker 0: But we can be a catalyst for systems level change.
Speaker 0: We can do that.
Speaker 0: Um, and if we don't do those, We can also
Speaker 0: go to our kids' schools, we can do presentations, we
Speaker 0: can go to our local library.
Speaker 0: I'm I know school district, school districts too, they love
Speaker 0: it when psychologists come and we present to them.
Speaker 0: Um, community comes into play, they will, you know, they
Speaker 0: will come to your sessions.
Speaker 0: Um, and I know that they're, everybody's looking for ways
Speaker 0: and how we can uh meet our adolescents where they
Speaker 0: are.
Speaker 0: But I really want to get to this nugget, which
Speaker 0: is like, what is, what are these, these short form
Speaker 0: video platforms?
Speaker 0: What is their responsibility?
Speaker 0: Because we know they also need to take responsibility about
Speaker 0: what's going on too.
Speaker 0: So one of the things, uh, is that suggested is
Speaker 0: demoting misleading content.
Speaker 0: So we want to make sure that, again, Mara was
Speaker 0: saying earlier, too, is that the algorithm, the more that
Speaker 0: you watch, Watch a certain video on on a certain
Speaker 0: politic, or politician or a certain mental health, you're going
Speaker 0: to see more of that.
Speaker 0: But we, we need to force TikTok's hand and Instagram's
Speaker 0: hands to adjust the algorithm to reduce visibility of unverified,
Speaker 0: sensationalized mental health videos, right?
Speaker 0: Um, especially those that promote um misleading information or inaccurate
Speaker 0: diagnosis.
Speaker 0: We want to boost credible resources or boost credible sources,
Speaker 0: so prioritize content from licensed professionals.
Speaker 0: So if I'm a clinical psychologist, I could go through
Speaker 0: a verification process to say, hey, I've got a check
Speaker 0: mark next to my name.
Speaker 0: What I'm talking about is verified and credentialed, um, especially
Speaker 0: like programs like APA or NIMH, um, or NIH, whatever
Speaker 0: TikTok videos or Instagram videos that they put out, that
Speaker 0: there's also a check mark next to their names.
Speaker 0: We want to make sure that we um can flag
Speaker 0: any type of risky trends.
Speaker 0: So, using machine learning to detect patterns and videos of
Speaker 0: harmful behaviors.
Speaker 0: Um, we've heard of like the, the ThaiPod challenges on
Speaker 0: TikTok and Instagram reels, and on YouTube shorts, um, medication
Speaker 0: misuse, glamorizing mental health diagnosis.
Speaker 0: And so, I know that on TikTok and on Instagram,
Speaker 0: Um, and similar platforms, they have now required creators to
Speaker 0: disclose if you're using AI content.
Speaker 0: So, if many of you guys know that like, um,
Speaker 0: I can put a background behind me looking like I'm
Speaker 0: in Hawaii.
Speaker 0: A lot of adolescents are doing that now.
Speaker 0: They're saying that, you know, they're on a beautiful European
Speaker 0: vacation when they're really just sitting there on their couch.
Speaker 0: So there's a, there's now, um, a button on there
Speaker 0: that says like, hey, this is AI.
Speaker 0: But again, you, you have to push that over to
Speaker 0: Green saying that you are.
Speaker 0: So, a lot of content creators, they're not gonna do
Speaker 0: that, perhaps.
Speaker 0: Um, also fact checking, uh, prompts before posting.
Speaker 0: So when users mentions, mentions terms like ADHD, PTSD, anxiety,
Speaker 0: or anything like that, it prompts them with a message.
Speaker 0: Anybody who's watching these videos, it prompts video uh viewers
Speaker 0: with a message encouraging them to really look.
Speaker 0: Of this information.
Speaker 0: This is not from a verified clinician, OK?
Speaker 0: There also needs to be warning labels.
Speaker 0: We have black box warning labels on medications.
Speaker 0: We need to have that also on these videos too.
Speaker 0: So, um, add flags to videos discussing mental health diagnosis
Speaker 0: with disclaimers such as, you know, maybe this is not
Speaker 0: uh suitable or substantial medical advice.
Speaker 0: Please see your pediatrician or please see your primary care
Speaker 0: physician for more detailed information.
Speaker 0: And then credentialing verification system.
Speaker 0: So again, creating a verified mental health provider, um, badge
Speaker 0: for licensed clinicians.
Speaker 0: So again, if I'm a psychologist, I want to get
Speaker 0: that check mark to help users identify credible creators.
Speaker 0: And then, Collaborators, we can, um, we can also collaborate
Speaker 0: with mental health organizations.
Speaker 0: So I can collaborate with, with NANI NAMMI or Mental
Speaker 0: Health America or APA to create inform informative campaigns and
Speaker 0: reliable video series, and then expand harmful content definitions, so
Speaker 0: include misinformation around mental health diagnosis and treatment.
Speaker 0: Um, within harmful or dangerous content policies, and a mandate
Speaker 0: that creators, um, include a disclaimer if discussing symptoms, diagnoses,
Speaker 0: or advice related to mental health.
Speaker 0: So those content creators who don't have a degree after
Speaker 0: their name, or they're not verified, but they have a
Speaker 0: responsibility to, they need to put on their um platform,
Speaker 0: they need to put on their page that they're not
Speaker 0: a medical professional or a mental health professional, right?
Speaker 0: So, again, advocating around harmful trends, and many of you
Speaker 0: guys, like I just said earlier, have heard of that
Speaker 0: TiPod challenge that came out in about 2017.
Speaker 0: And unfortunately, it led to two children passing away, consuming
Speaker 0: those iPods.
Speaker 0: And so what happened was Procter and Gamble, um, who
Speaker 0: are the makers of TiPod, they responded by launching public
Speaker 0: service announcements like a PSA on all social media platforms
Speaker 0: and short form video platforms.
Speaker 0: They launched a platform saying, this is not safe.
Speaker 0: You should not be consuming these TPods, uh, children and
Speaker 0: adolescents, um, adults.
Speaker 0: We need to watch over our kids and see what
Speaker 0: they're doing.
Speaker 0: Um, they collaborated with influencers.
Speaker 0: So they got Rob Gronkowski to come and also do
Speaker 0: videos too, to make sure that kids were not, you
Speaker 0: know, uh, consuming these, uh, Tide Pods.
Speaker 0: They partnered with a poison Control Center and engaged directly
Speaker 0: with social platform videos, and they collaborated with other platforms
Speaker 0: as well.
Speaker 0: So they across the board, they got on Procter and
Speaker 0: Gamble got on these platforms, and we're published, publishing these
Speaker 0: overall on videos too.
Speaker 0: So, overall, key takeaways, um, we want our adolescents to
Speaker 0: think as critically as possible.
Speaker 0: Uh, we want to help our teens evaluate credibility and
Speaker 0: spot the misinformation.
Speaker 0: And so, in order to be able to do so,
Speaker 0: we got to have these conversations with them, create open
Speaker 0: spaces for teens to be able to talk safely, feel
Speaker 0: safe with you, um, and just really emphasizing to our
Speaker 0: adolescents that just because you have the symptom doesn't necessarily
Speaker 0: mean you have the diagnosis.
Speaker 0: Those are two very totally different things.
Speaker 0: But, again, we want to validate what they're experiencing.
Speaker 0: And then TikTok and other platforms too can improve filtering
Speaker 0: and removal of these videos.
Speaker 0: So if there are content creators, um, who are publishing
Speaker 0: videos, pushing these videos that are not true, TikTok and
Speaker 0: other platforms should just be able to say, delete.
Speaker 0: We are not going to even be publishing because this
Speaker 0: is harmful to, um, our, our kids.
Speaker 0: All right.
Speaker 0: Thank you so much for being here, you guys.
Speaker 0: Um, I know we only have like about 4 minutes
Speaker 0: left.
Speaker 0: We can stay on a little bit if needed, um,
Speaker 0: but, uh, happy to provide you with our emails here.
Speaker 0: Please reach out to us, take a snapshot of this.
Speaker 0: We're happy to answer any questions you might have.
Speaker 0: Thank you so much.
Speaker 5: Yeah, and I wanted to say, you know, it's sometimes
Speaker 5: hard to leave some of these talks not feeling overwhelmed
Speaker 5: and pessimistic and wondering, you know, what we can do
Speaker 5: even though we've brought up these points.
Speaker 5: But recently, so in the past, you know, Tide or
Speaker 5: cigarettes companies have had ownership of making sure that information.
Speaker 5: That's put out there is not going to harm the
Speaker 5: public, and they could be held accountable for that illegally,
Speaker 5: but technology groups and AIs and websites and things like
Speaker 5: that haven't had the same accountability legally.
Speaker 5: There was a case that case law that was put
Speaker 5: out that said that you can't really hold them accountable
Speaker 5: for things, but Recently they have been having those laws
Speaker 5: kind of overturned in more recent case law with Mehta
Speaker 5: and Mark Zuckerberg being held accountable for information that's put
Speaker 5: out there.
Speaker 5: So if there is a financial sort of cost or
Speaker 5: motivation to police some of these things, that they can
Speaker 5: be held legally accountable for contributing to negative.
Speaker 5: Things.
Speaker 5: I think there's hope in that.
Speaker 5: In addition to, like Mina said, just making sure that
Speaker 5: we as disseminators of scientific information are putting information out
Speaker 5: there in places and ways that are digestible to people.
Speaker 5: But thanks for coming to the talk, and I'll put
Speaker 5: my email in the chat if you guys want to
Speaker 5: follow up, please feel free.