“What people didn’t realize were symptoms of anxiety.” “Signs of inattentive ADHD at work.” “Five physical things you didn’t know were signs of depression.”
Health advice is everywhere on TikTok. And with just a few clicks, users can easily fall down a rabbit hole of videos that convince them they have a disease or disability.
According to a survey conducted on June 23 by academic writing support platform EduBirdie, almost half of Gen Z respondents said that TikTok’s health content makes them feel anxious. And the line between medical advice and misinformation is already blurring, with research showing that nearly half of Gen Z trust health experts on TikTok more than their doctors.
Health anxiety is nothing new. This is called “cyberchondria,” a term used to describe the extreme anxiety caused by compulsively searching for medical information. It’s the same feeling that was once associated with the words “Dr. Google.”
But the way people encounter health information is changing, and that change is especially evident among Gen Z, the first generation to grow up immersed in social media. According to Pew Research, 3% of Americans over 65 say they regularly get news on TikTok, but that number jumps to 43% for Gen Z.
Why searching for symptoms online can make you anxious
In the age of TikTok and WebMD, it’s easier than ever to suffer from medical conditions. AI chatbots will be able to answer health questions in seconds, adding another layer of medical information to people’s feeds and searches. Cyberchondria could become even worse due to factors such as public health outbreaks, celebrity deaths, and daily stress.
At the same time, the rise in the number of creators offering health advice, many without the relevant qualifications or with financial incentives to promote their products, has made it difficult to distinguish between reliable information and misleading claims.
If worry persists despite reassurance, worry about symptoms can turn into cyberchondria, says Dr. Christopher Pittenger, professor of psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine and director of the Yale OCD Research Clinic. Patients may see worrisome information online, see a doctor, be reassured that there is nothing to worry about, and continue searching for answers to ease their fears.
“I think it’s a problem if your worry gets compounded and you end up in a spiral of looking and worrying,” Pittenger says.
The study, which surveyed 2,000 Gen Z adults, found that nearly nine in 10 participants said they suspected they had at least one medical condition, including depression, ADHD and cancer, after viewing health content online. Additionally, 38% of participants became worried that they would die after watching a health video, and 21% began to believe that they had cancer.
Pittenger said cyberchondria has been around for as long as the internet has existed, but with today’s social media and 24/7 access, information can be obtained “faster, and perhaps without you even looking for it.” He warns that it’s easy to get stuck in a feedback loop when you watch one anxiety-inducing TikTok and click on more videos about that condition.
According to Harvard Health and Northwestern Medicine, this anxiety can manifest as physical symptoms such as increased heart rate, shortness of breath, and difficulty sleeping.
And Gen Z, who report lower trust in doctors than older generations, are more likely to seek medical advice from social media influencers and their peers.
“That’s a problem,” Pittenger said, adding that the idea that you can become an expert by “reading a one-paragraph explanation or watching a 90-second video” “helps you prepare for self-diagnosis.”
Why self-diagnosis is misleading
Social media can be a useful starting point for recognizing symptoms, but experts warn against self-diagnosis without a professional evaluation.
The survey found that more than half of respondents had sought medical attention because of worries they experienced on TikTok. But at least 70% of the time, those visits ended in false alarms.
Before the pandemic, researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine typically saw adults seeking ADHD evaluations after recognizing the same characteristics that led to their child’s diagnosis. But Margaret Sibley, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Washington School of Medicine, says since then, more people are connecting their own experiences with ADHD symptoms they encounter online and seeking self-assessment.
“We know that the biggest reason people self-refer is because they’re learning about ADHD through the internet and connecting with what they see,” Sibley says.
Pittenger and Sibley say creators have an incentive to post viral hot takes, and social media videos often have overly complex diagnostic criteria.
“I’m concerned about the reliability of the diagnosis,” Sibley said. “If the diagnostic criteria are so flimsy that anyone can claim that they might have enough symptoms to merit a diagnosis…it just creates a lot of confusion.”
How to manage Cyberchondria:
- Refrain from Google searches. Pittenger says that while it’s helpful to stay informed about your health, repeatedly searching for symptoms can increase anxiety.
- Stop interacting with the content. When you comment or like a video, the algorithm is more likely to show you similar content. Pittenger recommends asking, “What will this cost?” If your videos are interfering with your evening plans or peace of mind, it may be time to turn them off.
- Turn to healthy distractions. Simple things like meditation, deep breathing, exercise, or doing laundry can interrupt the cycle of anxious searching.
- Trust reliable sources. Before accepting a creator’s advice, Pittenger said viewers should consider the creator’s qualifications and whether there is a financial incentive to promote the product. “Think about why what this person says means to me. Even if the answer is, ‘I like your videos because I find them attractive or because they’re good at talking,’ I don’t know if that’s a valid reason,” Pittenger says. Instead, rely on trusted news sources and medical journals for information.
- Please get a professional diagnosis. While it’s normal to have questions about your health after viewing related content, only a trained medical professional can determine whether your symptoms meet diagnostic criteria, Sibley said. “When we carefully evaluate people, it’s not necessarily about the diagnosis, but also about the solution,” she says.
Rachel Hale’s role covering youth mental health for USA TODAY is supported by a partnership with Pivotal and Journalism Funding Partners. Funders do not provide editorial input.
Contact her at rhale@usatoday.com.@rachleighhale At X.
