A 2025 survey of 2,565 Australians by Growth Distillery and Medibank, found that nearly 2 in 3 respondents use platforms like Instagram and TikTok as their main source of mental health and wellbeing information.

50% of the most viewed mental health videos on TikTok were shown to be misleading.

A recent investigation by The Guardian analysed the 100 most viewed videos on TikTok tagged #mentalhealthtips.

A panel of qualified mental health experts found that 52 out of them contained misleading or harmful advice.

Therapy-speak has gone viral.

Terms like:

• 👉 Trauma
• 👉 Gaslighting
• 👉 Narcissist
• 👉 Attachment style
• 👉 Triggered
• 👉 Dissociation

are everywhere now...

But they’re often taken out of context or wrongly defined.

We’re self-diagnosing.

• “If you do this one thing, you probably have ADHD.”

• “If they make you question yourself, it’s gaslighting.”

• “Don’t like conflict? That’s a trauma response.”

• “They don’t take accountability? Narcissist.”

Comments like this encourage people to take on clinical labels without consulting a professional.

Why are more people self-diagnosing online?

Platforms like TikTok and Instagram are:

✔️ Fast

✔️ Free

✔️ Relatable

✔️ Always available

When professional support feels out of reach, self-diagnosis seemingly offers a short-cut to an explanation, identity and a sense of control.

We're just trying to understand ourselves.

But without proper guidance, it’s easy to:

❌ Mislabel

❌ Mistake discomfort for disorder

❌ Miss the real issue

❌ Build your identity around a false diagnosis

Social media isn’t therapy.

It can help:

– Raise awareness

– Spark important conversations

– Show you're not alone

– Plant a seed

- Open your mind to possibilities.

But it can't give you everything you need.

What can you do?

• Be mindful who you choose to follow

• Don’t assume what people say is accurate

• Cross-check your sources

• Talk to your GP, seek out an accredited therapist, contact a credible mental health service