Man dies after hitting bridge while doing TikTok dance on top of 18-wheeler
When You’re Diagnosed with Autism—by TikTok - "Do you ever seek reassurance, overspend, get angry over small things, fear abandonment, or pretend to be happy? If so, you might be suffering from anxiety, self-harm, ADHD, a wounded inner child, and something called “smiling depression”—at least according to the gurus of the video-sharing site TikTok, where the hashtag #selfdiagnosis has accrued over 13.5 million views. In many of the most widely surfed parts of the online world, it turns out, having a psychiatric condition isn’t just acceptable; it’s quirky, trendy, even desirable. It offers a victim-based identity, an excuse for one’s shortcomings, and a source of moral authority... these avenues now commonly distort the definition of “disorder” to the point of meaninglessness. Being normal used to be normal. Everyday forgetfulness was solved with post-its, not pills. Awkward didn’t equal autistic. Of course, people got nervous before tests and miserable after breakups. Sadness and fear were symptoms … of being human... Psychiatrist Allen Frances, chair of the 1994 DSM-IV: Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, warned of this trend in 2012, when he critiqued its successor, DSM-5... First, small revisions lowered the threshold for diagnosing a variety of conditions, including major depression, ADHD, and anxiety. Under the newly expanded definitions, Frances argued, the concept of mental illness could swell to encompass everything from grief to immaturity. Second, commonly exhibited behaviors such as forgetfulness, overeating, chronic pain, and temper tantrums were linked to psychiatric issues, thanks to the inclusion of over a dozen new disorders... TikTok’s worried well are the perfect market for these services, as the vast majority of the app’s self-diagnosis videos appear to provide little possibility of disconfirmation. And if you like one clip, dozens more will pop up on your feed to hammer home your newly embraced form of self-identification. In the online world, these follow-up videos are what pass for “second opinions.” Everyone seems to be in agreement—so how could the original diagnosis possibly have been wrong? “Neurotypical people don’t wonder if they’re autistic,” one bespectacled brunette asserts. “If you’re questioning if you’re autistic, you probably are.” Another user explains that “If you think that you’re not autistic because no one in your family is autistic, that doesn’t mean that you’re not autistic. It just means that half the people in your family are undiagnosed autistic.” After all, “the medical community has pretty much agreed at this point that autism runs in families.” The solution? “Be confident in your self-diagnosis. And then do what I did and go diagnose half your family!” On TikTok, diagnostic labels don’t just designate conditions: They encompass a lifestyle, community, and culture. This helps explain why TikTokers react so indignantly when their diagnoses are questioned. It isn’t just their condition that’s put into question, but an entire newly created social ecosystem... a lot of autism “influencers” tend not to talk about the fact that many on the spectrum will never have a chance to achieve fame or success precisely because of their autism. In these TikTok subcultures, disability is currency. You’ll find endless reminders that “autism is a superpower,” and that we need more #affirmations for #adhdtiktok and #neurodiversity. You can watch stimming duets and slam poems, and surf a rich subgenre that might be described as autistic–girl–listens–to–song–with–headphones. You’ll learn that all your favorite fictional characters are on the spectrum. You’ll master the art of in-group behavior, and get advice on comebacks to fend off neurotypicals, especially those nasty “incel autistic ppl.” Maybe you’re not autistic now. But hang around long enough and you may well change your mind. Or perhaps you’ll find out you have undiagnosed dyscalculia, hyperlexia, or any one of the dozens of other conditions that fall under the neurodivergence umbrella. The point is, you’re different. You’re special. This is why doctors and other medical professionals are often described with suspicion in these forums: When a condition has become your source of moral authority, what incentive is there to get better?... It’s notable that no-one on TikTok is diagnosing themselves with schizophrenia or severe personality disorders such as antisocial and borderline. It’s hard to find videos about “high-functioning psychosis” or three clues that you might have a neurodegenerative illness, or five reasons to see bipolar as a blessing. Under the guise of activism and public awareness, self-diagnostic TikTokers have done a good job medicalizing their own quirks and flaws, while doing nothing for those afflicted with tragically debilitating psychiatric conditions that are the furthest thing from “superpowers.”"
When you're obsessed with ending "stigma" and "spreading awareness" about "mental health", you can't challenge "lived experience" and "just because someone else is suffering more than you doesn't mean you're not suffering"
If everyone is ill, no one is
Meme - "When i finally got brave enough to tell my psychiatrist I think I have autism and she said "no, im not going to talk about that with you, I've had too many patients think they have autism because of tiktok""
Teen Girls Are Developing Tics. Doctors Say TikTok Could Be a Factor. - WSJ - "Movement-disorder doctors were stumped at first. Girls with tics are rare, and these teens had an unusually high number of them, which had developed suddenly. After months of studying the patients and consulting with one another, experts at top pediatric hospitals in the U.S., Canada, Australia and the U.K. discovered that most of the girls had something in common: TikTok. According to a spate of recent medical journal articles, doctors say the girls had been watching videos of TikTok influencers who said they had Tourette syndrome, a nervous-system disorder that causes people to make repetitive, involuntary movements or sounds... Doctors say most of the teens have previously diagnosed anxiety or depression that was brought on or exacerbated by the pandemic... To unlearn these tics, doctors recommend cognitive behavioral therapy and tell patients to stay off TikTok for several weeks... Clusters of tic-like disorders have happened previously, including a famous case a decade ago in which several teens in upstate New York developed tics that were diagnosed as “mass psychogenic illness.” Such cases were mostly confined to specific geographic locations, but social media appears to be providing a new way for psychological disorders to spread quickly around the world... TikTok is particularly popular with teenage girls, ranking in many studies as their social-media app of choice"
TikTok Diagnosis Videos Leave Some Teens Thinking They Have Rare Mental Disorders - WSJ - "TikTok videos containing the hashtag #borderlinepersonalitydisorder have been viewed almost 600 million times. Only 1.4% of the U.S. adult population is estimated to experience the disorder, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, a nonprofit mental-health advocacy organization. Borderline-personality disorder is almost never diagnosed in adolescents, because their personalities are still forming and because some symptoms, such as having unstable personal relationships and exhibiting impulsive behavior, are hard to distinguish from typical teen behavior, doctors say. Multiple-personality (aka dissociative-identity) disorder is even rarer, affecting less than 1% of the population... When teens watch TikTok videos and decide they have a mental-health affliction—even if they’re really only suffering from adolescence—it can pose a treatment challenge and cause frayed family relationships... “It can be tricky when there’s a strong clinging to a particular diagnosis,” said Bre-Ann Slay, a clinical psychologist in Kansas City, Mo. TikTok videos that de-stigmatize mental illness and lead some teens to seek help can be positive, she added, but only up to a point... “What shocked me the most was how many videos there were about multiple-personality disorder because of how rare it is”... “We have to convince these kids to release their self-diagnoses but when they leave us they go right back into that TikTok community which reinforces their beliefs”... being saturated with negative content can alter the brain’s chemistry, displacing feel-good neurotransmitters with stress hormones... "Despite how great the newfound mental-health awareness is among teens, there seems to be a trend of using mental-health diagnoses as a social currency”... her For You page became overrun with videos about mental-health disorders. A recent Wall Street Journal investigation showed that TikTok’s algorithm picked up on subtle cues from users, such as how long they lingered on a video, and then showed them more and more of the same content. Many teens have said constant TikTok videos about extreme dieting and exercise contributed to eating disorders. Others developed physical tics after watching video streams of influencers who said they had Tourette syndrome... Over the course of a year, Ms. Fridley thought she had a different diagnosis every couple of weeks. She jotted them down in her journal, told her parents and brought them up in weekly sessions with her therapist... Ms. Fridley said she eventually came to accept that the only conditions she had were depression and anxiety. Having a break from social media during her 54 days in the device-free residential program helped."
Questioning someone's lived experience means you're toxic and need to improve. Who can know someone better than himself? Clearly mental illness is underdiagnosed, and if you disagree you are trivialising mental health issues and need to reflect and become a better person
Someone (not a teen) who self-diagnosed to feel special triumphantly told me that diagnosing oneself with a metal illness was also a mental illness
Naturally this is not evidence at all that kids are being groomed into self-identifying as trans or having some other weird sexuality
Abigail Villalobos IDed as tourist who climbed Mayan pyramid - "A renegade tourist who was met by a furious mob after climbing an ancient Mayan pyramid in Mexico’s Chichén Itzá this week has been identified as a 29-year-old Mexican national. Officials said that Abigail Villalobos had attempted to pass herself off as a Spaniard after she was arrested for her viral stunt, but it has since been determined that she is actually from Mexico. Villalobos was detained for about 30 minutes at the Tinum police station Monday, fined the equivalent of $260 and then released... Villalobos sparked outrage when she flouted rules prohibiting visitors from scaling the 98-foot Mayan Temple of Kukulcán... She was seen in TikTok videos dancing on the steps at the top of the pyramid and entering the temple, before descending to the sounds of loud jeers from a crowd of visitors. Furious onlookers hurled profanities at the rule-breaker, calling her an “a–hole” and an “idiot” in Spanish, and demanding that she be jailed. Some particularly offended witnesses went so far as to spray Villalobos with water, knock the hat off her head and pull on her blonde locks as she was being led away by officials with the Mexican Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH)."
Convenience store Cheers fires employee who posted his argument with police officers on TikTok - "The Cheers convenience store employee who had an argument with some police officers on New Year's Day has been dismissed, NTUC FairPrice supermarket chain said on Wednesday (Jan 4). FairPrice, which owns the Cheers franchise, also apologised for the public concern caused by the incident, which received much attention online via videos that the employee himself had published on his TikTok account."
Maybe he earned more from TikTok anyway
Red Rooster worker fired from fast food giant over TikTok video caption as police investigate - "A Red Rooster worker claims she was fired from one of the fast food chain over a caption on one of her TikTok videos. The Brisbane worker, who goes by the name Qrillo on TikTok, posted a seemingly innocent video on Saturday of herself working in the drive-thru of a Red Rooster, with the restaurant's uniform and headphones on... 'When I accidentally put a $100 note in my pocket at work,' she wrote, captioning the video: 'Why am I so silly'. It didn't take long for her managers at Red Rooster to notice the video, allegedly swiftly terminating Qrillo on Sunday... Qrillo then replied 'It's black history month you can't fire me', followed by three more skulls. February is Black History Month in the US."
Meme - "Big Tech looking for who to lay off Everyone who posted a Day in the life TikTok"
Meme - "When your best friend stops sending you memes and starts sending TikTok links instead.
Padme: "You're going down a path I can't follow.""
