More than half of all the top trending videos offering mental health advice on TikTok contain misinformation, a Guardian investigation has found.
People are increasingly turning to social media for mental health support, yet research has revealed that many influencers are peddling misinformation, including misused therapeutic language, “quick fix” solutions and false claims.
As someone who did a psych undergrad and ed PhD, both fields have a lot of "everyone has an opinion" issues that often are contrary to evidence. TikTok didn't invent those bad takes; plenty of self help books peddled in the same types of misinformation on mental health even before the Internet.
I mean, who hasn't got bad advice on how to go about a breakup or deal with grief, etc? Lol
As someone who did a psych undergrad and ed PhD, both fields have a lot of "everyone has an opinion" issues that often are contrary to evidence. TikTok didn't invent those bad takes; plenty of self help books peddled in the same types of misinformation on mental health even before the Internet.
I mean, who hasn't got bad advice on how to go about a breakup or deal with grief, etc? Lol