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TikTok videos leave teens thinking they have rare mental disorders (2021)

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Re: TikTok videos leave teens thinking they have rare mental disorders (2021)

#91

Post by nerdponx »

Angostura wrote: post #60
nemo44x wrote: post #15

For all of human history across every culture, parents would do what they could to keep their kids away from “bad influences”. You move to certain areas, go to certain places, are members of certain organizations etc. which serve to socialize your kids with kids from families that have shared values. You don’t talk to strangers. With the internet and especially media like TikTok parents are exposing their kids to unt…

From the opening chapter of 'Three Men in a Boat', published 1889: I remember going to the British Museum one day to read up the treatment for some slight ailment of which I had a touch—hay fever, I fancy it was. I got down the book, and read all I came to read; and then, in an unthinking moment, I idly turned the leaves, and began to indolently study diseases, generally. I forget which was the first distemper I plun…

The modern-day analogy is browsing WebMD. Specifically targeting young people and telling them misleading things is different.

Re: TikTok videos leave teens thinking they have rare mental disorders (2021)

#92

Post by LocalPCGuy »

giraffe_lady wrote: post #69
DoughnutHole wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well the problem with ADHD is the same problem of pretty much all psychological disorders - diagnosis is only ever really fuzzily falsifiable. You get diagnosed with it if you tick enough of the boxes of behaviours/dysfunctions associated with it - you can fall short of a diagnosis by one behaviour and still be in a very similar condition to a diagnosed person, or tick enough boxes but fall short based on the diagnos…

I can credibly claim stimulant treatment for adhd saved my life so I'm not at all skeptical of its value in this context. But doesn't everyone respond extremely well to stimulants? They're some of the most common recreational drugs and neurotypical people seek them out for performance enhancement on cognitive tasks.

> doesn't everyone respond extremely well to stimulants?

Not really - despite their popularity (as you say, heavily sought after), studies have shown that there really isn't a significant cognitive boost for neurotypical folks that take these stimulants[1]. While they have a significant effect for those with ADHD because their brain is not providing the chemicals properly, and these drugs enable that. They aren't boosting cognitive abilities for those with ADHD, they are fixing a problem so that folks with ADHD can think and focus properly.

Didn't spend a ton of time looking up the sources I've read this in, but here is one:

[1] - https://www.mdpi.com/2226-4787/6/3/58

> Studies support that stimulants enhance attention, memory, self-regulation and executive function in individuals with ADHD. Recent research, however, has found that many college students without ADHD report misusing prescription stimulants, primarily to enhance their cognitive abilities.

> ...

> Overall, the present findings indicate dissociation between the effects of Adderall on activation and neurocognition, and more importantly, contrary to common belief, Adderall had little impact on neurocognitive performance in healthy college students.

Re: TikTok videos leave teens thinking they have rare mental disorders (2021)

#93

Post by krona »

AlexandrB wrote: post #62
nemo44x wrote: post #15

For all of human history across every culture, parents would do what they could to keep their kids away from “bad influences”. You move to certain areas, go to certain places, are members of certain organizations etc. which serve to socialize your kids with kids from families that have shared values. You don’t talk to strangers. With the internet and especially media like TikTok parents are exposing their kids to unt…

> For all of human history across every culture, parents would do what they could to keep their kids away from “bad influences”. Not to be pedantic, but is this actually true? Parents used to send their kids to work in the factory at 10. Was that "keeping them away from bad influences"? If you're saying something is "across every culture", I think some citation is required.

It was keeping them away from starvation and the lucky were given the rudiments of a christian education (which otherwise was unheard of) as part of their 'employment'.

Re: TikTok videos leave teens thinking they have rare mental disorders (2021)

#95

Post by giraffe_lady »

jklinger410 wrote: post #25

Tangentially related. I think capitalism increases self-reported rates of mental illness because individuals who are not achieving the highest goals they set for themselves are looking for an easy excuse as to why they can't achieve them. I think levels of anxiety are also on the rise, which causes many symptoms which are similar to more severe mental illnesses. Which also reinforces my first point.

If you're going that way you can reasonably say that capitalism is the context that makes some of these things disorders in the first place.

For example it's still not clear to me whether I consider my adhd a disorder in a vacuum. It definitely is here, I can't consistently execute the tasks that that will allow me to safely live.

But there have definitely been times and places where "weirdo who is good with kids, calm in an emergency, and knows a lot of infrequently-used-but-valuable skills" is a role people are allowed to occupy.

I'm definitely disordered within a context where each individual must labor effectively or die. There have been other arrangements though. This is probably true for some, but not all or even maybe most, mental illnesses and neurological disorders as well.

Re: TikTok videos leave teens thinking they have rare mental disorders (2021)

#96

Post by z9znz »

devmor wrote: post #37

My question is: Does this actually matter? Does this have a lasting impact or do the kids simply move on with no negative changes to their lives? I remember thinking a lot of dumb stuff as a teenager. Just because I thought it doesn't mean it was bad that I did.

I suspect it is worse now than when some of us were kids. Some of us had less exposure to stuff that could mess us up because there was less stuff available. After all, in my early youth we had only three TV stations.

I also see a parallel with HN and developers with impostor syndrome. Before HN, and even before Slashdot, I was a good developer. I wrote some impressive C, C++, and Java code that went into some serious projects. But now, thanks to HN, I know that I'm a below-average developer. Perhaps I'm not, but it sure feels that way because of what I see presented and discussed here.

If I had grown up with HN, I might not have done some of the things I did; rather I might have given up and chosen a career which I didn't feel inadequate at. This is how I imagine kids today feel with all the stuff they have access to. I mean heck, you can even go to youtube and see 10 year olds making amazing creations out of just about any material you can think of. How does that feel when you're still trying to cut straight lines on paper?

Re: TikTok videos leave teens thinking they have rare mental disorders (2021)

#97

Post by Karto »

Angostura wrote: post #60
nemo44x wrote: post #15

For all of human history across every culture, parents would do what they could to keep their kids away from “bad influences”. You move to certain areas, go to certain places, are members of certain organizations etc. which serve to socialize your kids with kids from families that have shared values. You don’t talk to strangers. With the internet and especially media like TikTok parents are exposing their kids to unt…

From the opening chapter of 'Three Men in a Boat', published 1889: I remember going to the British Museum one day to read up the treatment for some slight ailment of which I had a touch—hay fever, I fancy it was. I got down the book, and read all I came to read; and then, in an unthinking moment, I idly turned the leaves, and began to indolently study diseases, generally. I forget which was the first distemper I plun…

That's a beautiful excerpt, thank you. Barnum effect didn't wait for Barnum.

Re: TikTok videos leave teens thinking they have rare mental disorders (2021)

#98

Post by Ensorceled »

madeofpalk wrote: post #68
overthemoon wrote: post #5

Tik Tok is the reason I've been told several times I have ADHD. Pretty sure I don't! This phenomenon is so infuriating. The only half-convincing defense I've heard of it is that it could, maybe, theoretically, disseminate information about illnesses to people who don't have the money to see a professional, but the other effects are so much worse it doesn't seem worth it.

It's not just related to tiktok, but there definitely was a strong fetisisation of ADHD going on which seemed to peak in 2020-2021 (but still there).

20 years ago, when my step kids were young, people also said ADHD and Autism was a "fad" and "overdiagnosed".

People have been talking like this since at least the 90's and always claiming it's a new, recent, thing.

Re: TikTok videos leave teens thinking they have rare mental disorders (2021)

#99

Post by ralusek »

jklinger410 wrote: post #25

Tangentially related. I think capitalism increases self-reported rates of mental illness because individuals who are not achieving the highest goals they set for themselves are looking for an easy excuse as to why they can't achieve them. I think levels of anxiety are also on the rise, which causes many symptoms which are similar to more severe mental illnesses. Which also reinforces my first point.

No, surely a system in which duties and resources are distributed along the lines of "from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs" will absolutely not encourage people to maximize needs while minimizing abilities.

Re: TikTok videos leave teens thinking they have rare mental disorders (2021)

#100

Post by giraffe_lady »

LocalPCGuy wrote: post #92
giraffe_lady wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can credibly claim stimulant treatment for adhd saved my life so I'm not at all skeptical of its value in this context. But doesn't everyone respond extremely well to stimulants? They're some of the most common recreational drugs and neurotypical people seek them out for performance enhancement on cognitive tasks.

> doesn't everyone respond extremely well to stimulants? Not really - despite their popularity (as you say, heavily sought after), studies have shown that there really isn't a significant cognitive boost for neurotypical folks that take these stimulants[1]. While they have a significant effect for those with ADHD because their brain is not providing the chemicals properly, and these drugs enable that. They aren't boo…

Interesting, their use for that is so common I assumed it was a real effect. People who use them that way definitely think it helps. Prescription stimulants are also pretty powerful mood boosters though so I imagine it's very easy to assume you're smarter while on them just because they make you feel great.

Anyway thanks for the info, definitely upends an assumption I'd had for years.

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