🧠 What I Learned About Mental Health on TikTok

Writing this series deepened something I’ve been thinking about: how digital spaces—especially TikTok—shape the way we talk about healing. There’s something powerful in those therapy influencer videos: the soft lighting, the calm voices, the comforting feeling that someone finally gets you. But these videos often blur the line between feeling cared for and actually being cared for (Bell). True care is built on knowing the individual—their background, experiences, and the specifics of their challenges—something even the most well-meaning TikTok creator cannot fully provide (Wright 85).

I realized the emotional structure behind these clips: they’re intentionally designed with a hook, a soothing tone, a moment of clarity, and a tidy takeaway—like a mini emotional rhythm (Huston 20). It’s easy to fall into believing that a fleeting "aha" moment is progress, rather than just comfort.

That’s where the fictional DM came from—the space between feeling validated and actually healing. A place where learning the vocabulary of trauma or anxious attachment doesn’t automatically translate into healing. As Wright puts it, these catchy clips can lead to “self-diagnose or delay formal treatment” (Wright 90). That idea really stayed with me—because sometimes I’ve felt the same way: thinking the work is done just because I understood the words.

If this series taught me anything, it’s this: TikTok can be a starting point for connection and awareness—but it can’t be the finish line. True healing asks more of us than understanding alone. It asks for depth, reflection, support, and sometimes the bravery to reach beyond the comfort of the For You Page into the real world.