TikTok has become one of the most widely used apps by high schoolers and college students today, with more than two-thirds of American teens active on the app. TikTok put itself on the map after the start of the 2020 pandemic, with many teens and young adults resorting to it for entertainment and connection to their peers. However, it also became a platform that fueled social anxiety and misinformation that has proven to be detrimental to a number of teens and their mental health.
The year following the pandemic revealed a wave of what began to be referred to as “TikTok tics” — a disturbing trend in teenagers across the world displaying sudden symptoms similar to that of Tourette’s syndrome and seizures without a biological explanation. Most intriguing about this outbreak was that many of these teens claimed that they truly believed they were suffering from Tourrette’s syndrome despite lack of biological proof.
Many of these teens had also been watching other teens on TikTok claiming through popular videos to be suffering from the disorder. It appeared that the content had such a strong influence on teenage viewers that they psychologically convinced themselves that they had a physical disorder.
According to a study conducted by the University of Calgary that researched why some adolescents were more sensitive to these TikToks than others, “Four out of five of the adolescents were diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder, and one-third reported past traumatic experiences.” The study incorporated 300 teens across eight different countries. There also appeared to be a link between these cases and gender, with an immense majority of the teens suffering from the tics being female, transgender or non-binary. This overwhelming conclusion was one that still cannot be readily explained, though it is likely that these groups suffer from higher levels of anxiety within their social environments.
Neurologists and psychologists who researched this phenomenon have found that it was not the first time something such as this had occurred. In 2011, a cheerleader from a local high school in the small western New York town of Le Roy experienced sudden and intense tics. A few weeks later, her best friend began experiencing similar symptoms and within a few months, several students throughout her social hierarchy had begun to experience these bizarre symptoms.
Teens are among the most receptive groups to social media influences and other stressors. The constant psychological and emotional changes during these years push teens to find new ways to cope with the accompanying anxieties. Catching a glimpse of those who are also struggling can cause this “herd mentality” to spiral out of control, such as in the case of the TikTok tics.
Social media platforms like TikTok clearly have the potential to break the geographical barrier among impressionable teens. It is important for these teens and young adults to receive support and guidance from their parents, peers and other role models to avoid dangerous mental degradation through TikTok and other social media.
