HealthLinksSC.com | 37 LETTING INTRUSIVE THOUGHTS WIN Users are uploading videos dubbed “letting the intrusive thoughts win” in which they take action on an impulse — whether shattering ice over an open car window or pressing the alarm button in a hotel elevator. Still, it appears TikTokers are conflating intrusive thoughts with impulsive thought, when the term “intrusive thoughts” is typically linked to certain mental health conditions like obsessive-compulsive disorder. “STUPID MENTAL HEALTH” At the end of 2021, TikToker Nina Laevski posted a video that showed her reluctantly stepping outside her door in the winter and going on a walk, accompanied by text reading, “Going on a stupid walk for my stupid mental health.” The video was a smash, garnering nearly 9 million views and nearly 1 million likes. POV: THIS IS WHAT IT’S LIKE… TikTok has become famous for being the social media platform that in many ways is the most honest. Unlike Instagram, which is often filled with happy facades and images of vacations, young people on TikTok tend to be a bit more straightforward about their personal struggles and mental health issues. The POV — or point-of-view — type of video is hugely popular. Many POV videos are humorous, but some are raw, honest depictions of what life is like for people with certain mental health or physical health conditions. THE SELF-DIAGNOSING PHENOMENON While POV videos can be helpful in many ways, such as helping people struggling with mental health issues not feel alone or isolated, they can also fuel a significant amount of misinformation. HOT GIRL WALK The “hot girl walk” trend may sound more complicated than it is. The trend took off in 2021, as women on TikTok touted the mental health and physical benefits of doing a daily walk. Those mental health and physical health benefits, in some way, make you “hot.” The term is meant to give a positive spin to following a daily mental health routine. “LUCKY GIRL SYNDROME” Positive affirmations, positive talk and “manifesting” have all been trending TikTok conversations for years now. Manifesting, for example, is essentially the idea that if you believe your dreams or goals will happen, they will with time. “Lucky girl syndrome” is a new trend that emerged in 2023 and is similar in many ways to its predecessors. The idea, in short, is that positive thinking can make way for positive results. If you believe you’re lucky, for example, lucky things begin to happen. #MASCARA Recently, TikTokers have been posting videos under the #mascara hashtag not to discuss makeup — but instead to discuss serious issues like suicide, trauma or sexual abuse while evading TikTok’s censorship filters. Code words like #mascara are often used on TikTok to avoid the platform’s ban on certain words. Originally, the trend started out with mascara referring to one’s partner, but then evolved into a code word for darker topics like trauma and abuse. Since then, mental health experts have become more concerned that the trend could be triggering, dismissive and re-traumatizing to certain viewers. DIGITAL DETOX More and more people are touting the benefits of a “digital detox,” or finding various ways to decrease the amount of time on screens, whether it’s your phone, television, iPad or laptop. TikTokers provide various steps on how to do it, whether it means charging your phone in a separate room, putting time limits on apps or even taking full two-week breaks from your phone. Many TikTokers trying digital detoxes say benefits include lowered anxiety, more productivity and better sleep. MISINFORMATION AND SOCIAL MEDIA TRENDS In February 2023, Medical Marketing and Media (MM + M) reporter Lecia Bushak posted a list of TikTok trends that can harm and help mental health. Excerpts from that list follow. Source: mmm-online.com/home/channel/9-mental-health-trends-on-tiktok-from-intrusive-thoughts-to-lucky-girl-syndrome/
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