Research suggests that as social media and Internet use has increased, there has been a steady increase in self-diagnosis. Some clients may strongly identify with an influencer they follow who has a mental illness and the client believes they have the same symptoms. So, what does the research say on the benefits and detriments of the Internet and social media on self-diagnosis of mental health conditions?
The Internet has fueled change in many areas, including politics, education, and mental health. One of it’s greatest contributions to the mental health field is decreasing the stigma surrounding mental health conditions. It has also increased awareness of the multitude of diagnoses instead of the former labels of “troubled”. Social media shows multiple benefits and negative effects in the arena of mental health. This is especially the case for children and adolescents.
Benefits include increased tailored information, peer support, and public health availability. In some cases, it has even spurred people to seek professional assistance for their conditions. And what a relief that can be for them! Not to mention the a large amount of content for various purposes published by mental health professionals. Despite this, the internet contains a wide variety of information with, shall we say, varying credibility.
Unfortunately, there is also a large amount of misinformation on many mental health diagnoses. Research has found that social media use for health information has multiple downsides including lack of accuracy, poor confidentiality, and the risk of sharing incorrect advice.
A recent study by Yeung and colleagues found that over half of TikTok videos on ADHD were posted by non-health care providers and contained misinformation. We have even heard other clinicians discuss client misunderstandings of mental health concepts they heard from social media (or griped them ourselves!).
The Internet and social media have a complicated relationship with mental health information. On one hand, it has decreased the stigma and mystery around mental health and mental illness. On the other, it is frequently flooded with inaccurate information. A door opens for increased self-diagnosis, with varying degrees of accuracy.
