After a brief hiatus, we are BACK! This week, we discuss recent upwards trend in self-diagnosis, and how TikTok and other similar social media platforms may be contributing to the spreading of misinformation and dangerous messaging.

How to access mental health support in Australia:

https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/mental-health-where-to-get-help

Supporting your young person to seek professional support:

https://raisingchildren.net.au/pre-teens/mental-health-physical-health/mental-health-therapies-services/teen-mental-health-assessment

Extra Resources and References:

• Abi-Jaoude, E., Treurnicht Naylor, K., Pignatiello, A. (2020). Smartphones, social media use and youth mental health. Canadian Medical Association Journal. 192(6), 136-141.
• Basch, C.H., Meleo-Erwin, Z. Fera, J., Jaime, C., Basch, C.E. (2021). A global pandemic in the time of viral memes: COVID-19 vaccine misinformation and disinformation on TikTok. Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics. 17, 2373–2377.  
• Blackman, A. (2018). What are self-limiting beliefs? +How to overcome them successfully. Retrieved from https://business.tutsplus.com/tutorials/what-are-self-limiting-beliefs–cms-31607 
• Curtis, R.G., Prichard. I., Gosse, G., Stankevicius, A., & Maher, C. (2023). Hashtag fitspiration:
• credibility screening and content analysis of Instagram fitness accounts. BMC Public Health. 23(241).
• Kong, W.; Song, S.; Zhao, Y.C.; Zhu, Q.; Sha, L. (2021). TikTok as a health information source: Assessment of the quality of information in diabetes-related videos. Journal of Medical Internet Research. 23, e30409. 
• Krasnova H, Widjaja T, Buxmann P, et al. (2015). Why following friends can hurt you: An exploratory investigation of the effects of envy on social networking sites among college-age users. Information Systems Research. 26. 585-605.
• Lupton, D., Jutel, A. (2015). ‘It’s like having a physician in your pocket!’ A critical analysis of self-diagnosis smartphones app. Social Science and Medicine. 133, 128-135.
• Mandzufas, J., Ayalde, J., Ta, D., Munro, E., Paciente, R., Pranoto, E.P., King, K., How, K., Sincovich, A., Brushe, M., et al. (2023). The Investigation of Health-Related Topics on TikTok: A Descriptive Study Protocol. Digital, 3, 97–108.  
• McCashin, D., Murphy, C. (2023). Using TikTok for public and youth mental health – A systematic review and content analysis. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 21(1), 279-306. 
• Naslund, J.A., Bondre, A., Torous, J. & Aschbrenner, K.A. (2020). ‘Social Media and Mental Health: Benefits, Risks and Opportunities for Research and Practice’. Journal of Technology in Behavioral Science, 5, 245-257.  
• Nguyen, V.C., Birnbaum, M., De Choudhury, M. (2023). Understanding and Mitigating Mental Health Misinformation on Video Sharing Platforms. ACM Conerences on Human Factors in Computing Sytems, April 23-28, Hamburg, Germany, New York, USA.
• Song, S.; Zhao, Y.; Yao, X.; Ba, Z. (2022). Serious information in hedonic social applications: Affordances, self-determination and health information adoption in TikTok. Journal of Documentation, 78, 890–911.  
• Twenge JM, Joiner TE, Rogers ML, et al. (2018). Increases in depressive symptoms, suicide-related outcomes, and suicide rates among U.S. adolescents after 2010 and links to increased new media screen time. Clinical Psychological Science. 6, 3-17.
• Van Dam, S.; Van Reijmersdal, E. (2019). Insights in adolescents’ advertising literacy, perceptions and responses regarding sponsored influencer videos and disclosures. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace. 13, (2).
• Yeung, A., Ng, E., Abi-Jaoude, E. (2022). TikTok and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A cross-sectional study of social media content quality. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. 67(12), 899-906.