Study Links TikTok to Lower Self-Esteem, Mental Health Decline
Just 10 Minutes of TikTok Can Negatively Impact Your Mental Health

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We’ve all done it: logged onto TikTok or Instagram and next thing you know, you’ve been sitting and staring at your screen for over an hour. You may think you’re just mindlessly scrolling but some harmful images and influences may be entering your psyche without you even realizing it.
A recent study found that just 10 minutes of scrolling on TikTok can lead to lower self esteem and negative body image in women. Scientists based in Australia surveyed women ages 18 to 28 from July through October 2021 about their TikTok consumption habits. The study, titled “#ForYou? the impact of pro-ana TikTok content on body image dissatisfaction and internalization of societal beauty standards,” showed half the participants explicit or “pro-anorexia” content on TikTok, and the other half viewed more neutral content. Yet both groups of women reported feeling a decrease in their body image and negative self esteem.
“Because disordered eating content is so prevalent on TikTok, there was also the possibility that TikTok users in our study would be somewhat inoculated [to] its effect but that certainly was not the case,” Rachel Hogg, senior lecturer in the School of Psychology at Australia’s Charles Sturt University, told NBC News. Hogg and her colleague, Madison Blackburn, conducted the study.
Blackburn and Hogg say TikTok’s “For You” page is reason people are exposed to such dangerous content, even if they aren’t looking for it. The algorithm curates itself to a user’s interests and shows them content that is similar to what they engage with. If a person engages with a video by liking or sharing, the algorithm will likely show the user similar content, making the algorithm more influential than the choices of an individual user, according to Hogg.
TikTok isn’t the only platform to blame for exposing users to harmful content. A different study conducted around the same time in 2021 found that Instagram has also been promoting pages that glorifying eating disorders.
About 9 percent of Americans will experience disordered eating in their lifetime. Consuming both explicit and implicit eating disorder content on the social media app could increase the risk of developing self-harm or disordered eating habits such as orthorexia (an obsession with proper or healthful eating) in young women. To further complicate issues, eating disorders often go unrecognized, underreported, and undiagnosed in Black women and women of color. Meanwhile, Black people use Instagram and TikTok at higher rates than their white counterparts, thus possibly exposing them more often to harmful content that could negatively impact their body images. Black women also experience high levels of racist attacks online for their appearance and attractiveness, leading to low self-esteem and poor mental health.
Social media has been a powerful tool to help people get connected and spread important ideas. However, apps like Instagram and TikTok can also spread harmful messaging around health and beauty and set unrealistic expectations of body images that users can be susceptible to.
So if you’re finding yourself wrapped up in the endless barrage of seemingly perfect yet photoshopped bodies, or worse, you’re seeing content that explicitly encourages you to engage in disordered eating habits or crash dieting, there are things you can do to protect your mental health and sense of self while browsing the apps.
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Curate your social media feeds to reflect positive messages, affirming content, and real bodies by paying attention to who you follow. Follow more body positive users and content. And use them block, unfollow, and mute buttons, baby! Tune out captions, tags, and images that you think may trigger comparisons or feelings of low self esteem.
And when in doubt, just tune it out. Limit your constant exposure to harmful images by not looking at them. Disable your notifications or even disable Instagram or TikTok all together. If that feels hard, set a limit for your time on the apps or designate specific hours for scrolling.
Find happiness and fulfillment offline. You can prioritize your in-person interactions with friends and family or spend time outdoors. Practice mindfulness techniques like meditation, deep breathing, or a mindful morning or evening routine that doesn’t involve scrolling. Get in the habit of picking up a book instead of your phone first thing in the morning or last thing before bed.
Most importantly, pay attention to how you feel when you’re on social media. Replace mindless scrolling with mindfully engaging online. Notice if you’re feeling pressured or particularly low after viewing certain accounts or stories. And if you’re feeling like it’s all too much, ask for help from a friend, family member or mental health professional. Your real life and your real sense of self is more important than anything you’ll see online.
If you’re concerned that you might be struggling with an eating disorder, contact National Alliance for Eating Disorders Helpline: 1 (866) 662-1235 Monday-Friday, 9am-7pm ET. If you are in crisis, call or text Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: 988.
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Just 10 Minutes of TikTok Can Negatively Impact Your Mental Health was originally published on elev8.com