It’s no secret that everyone at one point in their life has suddenly been overwhelmed with an illness so much so that they have taken to Google or other social platforms to uncover the true cause of their ailment.
Most of the time, search results will conclude that your health is much worse than it may be.
As social media platforms such as TikTok have grown more popular it isn’t any surprise that people have started sharing their medical journeys with online audiences.
Combining the need to discover the meaning behind your symptoms and the easy access to disabilities and conditions online can be easily summarised as a recipe for disaster for some people.
TikTok, specifically, in the past few years has become a main platform for raising awareness on disabilities and conditions. Recently, the platform’s disability audience has risen immensely due to the influx of videos from creators advocating for awareness.
One condition that gained great attention was Tourette’s Syndrome. Creators with this condition quickly went viral in 2020 and 2021 for their seemingly ‘amusing’ tics.
Influencers known for posting about their Tourette’s journey include Evie Meg (Thistrippyhippie) and Glen Cooney (This.Tourettes.Guy). They quickly became popular after making videos such as trying to bake while ticcing, or simply showing what makes tics better and worse.
To many people, it seemed like a very interesting and entertaining disability to live with. It became a breeding ground for videos mocking and misunderstanding the seriousness of the medical condition.
Not only were unwanted mocking clips quickly rising, but comments questioning the legitimacy behind the creators with these conditions started to overcrowd the comments section of each video.
Many of the Tourettes influencers hurriedly tried to resolve this by explaining exactly how their condition affected them. Still, unfortunately, videos like that do not get the same traction as the funnier, more light-hearted content.
Tourette’s, of course, is not the only medical condition that faces this sort of backlash. Creators with mental health conditions often experience similar confrontations, especially if it is harder for them to prove that they have it.
This spirals into the question of whether social media is even the place to discuss topics that are so sensitive.
On the one hand, there is always a need for recognition and realisation in communities like these; nobody wants to suffer alone, so it feels safe and welcoming to find other people who experience the same difficulties that you do. Sharing ways to cope, daily logs and methods to overcome stresses surrounding your issues must come as a relief for those searching for answers.
Unfortunately, on the other side of things, it can quickly become a toxic and misleading way to cope with unusual symptoms.
Comments that produce harmful feelings about such medical symptoms could also have an underlying effect. If there are more videos being uploaded claiming to help you understand your symptoms without ever seeking professional advice, then more people will end up going undiagnosed for the issues they may actually suffer from.
People then believing that they have a condition that they do not have will also spread misleading information about these difficulties and inevitably end up with fewer people believing the real and reliable information given by medical professionals.
Social media does have its positives – it can bring people together to cope with these difficulties.
However, it should still only be used as a community platform to meet people and share coping mechanisms rather than a reliable medical information source. Self-diagnosis from social media is not a safe or supported way to address medical issues.
Featured Image Credit: Pexels
Writer at Brig Newspaper
2nd year Journalism and English student
