CHICAGO (NewsNation Now) — The social media platform TikTok has been home to everything from makeup tutorials to dance challenges, but during the pandemic, it also turned into a mental health education resource center.
Therapists are able to connect with users and create videos sharing basic mental health information in a more casual setting.
Clinical Psychologist Dr. John Duffy says “it was inevitable that TikTok would provide some type of solutions” to the teens suffering with some mental health struggles.
“It’s really kind of an impressive use of a social media platform,” said Duffy.
He believes the pandemic has exasperated stressors for a generation already reporting significantly higher levels of anxiety.
“So most every area of their lives has been different for more than a year. This has been really really trying on them. And more and more of them have been in therapy than ever before,” said Duffy.
He stated that parents should also check in with their teens to make sure they are watching experts in the field of mental health and to take the advice with a grain of salt. Duffy also emphasized it should not replace psychotherapy services.
Watch the full interview in the player above