Tips for talking to your children

Teenagers get all kinds of information from social media. Some are good, some are not so good.

And like adults, a lot of information (and wrong information) that they see is about health. Because more and more people share their personal stories about neurodivergence, mental health, migraine, malnutrition, diet sensitivity, and other medical conditions, this conversation moves to the open. And flooding this content leads teenagers to the central question: do I also have this condition?

This causes the waves of children who are looking for formal diagnosis for the conditions they have started identifying, often based on unclear symptoms with a variety of causes that may occur. For parents, it can make them not sure what to do next.

Every time your child shares concerns about their health, it is important to consider it seriously. Even if it’s trending and seems inconsistent with what you have seen from them.

Children’s Clinical Psychologists -Uva Health Emily T. O’Gorman, PhD, and Evan J. Anderson, PhD, shared their advice to navigate health care information on social media.

Are there values ​​on social media for mental health?

O’Gorman: I really like to see more mental health discussed. There are several destmations on social media that might be good in the end. If this is the things that we can talk about, then people will get the help they might need.

Are the benefits greater than the risk? I don’t know. Social media risks can be much broader than just diagnosis of yourself. There are many risks and legitimate concerns there.

There is also a slight danger in the label and attached to them and let it be you as a person. But there are still some benefits to be able to accept all parts of yourself.

What or who can you trust on social media?

O’Gorman: Difficult because you usually don’t see people’s credentials about Tiktok. Look at all social media with healthy skepticism. Encourage skepticism in your teenagers.

I encourage people to use leading sources for mental health information. These include:

How much information is wrong medical out there?

Anderson: Trauma information, so far, is the perpetrators of the wrong information on social media. It was followed quickly by Autism Spectrum Disorder and ADHD. We have data that shows a third of information about scientific unhealthy mental health conditions.

There is a saying in the autism community that when you know one person with autism, you know one person with autism. When people talk about their experiences with autism in more common global terms on social media, it can easily instill wrong information.

Why are children more likely to fall in love with wrong information about mental health?

Anderson: It’s about a new search. When you have increased involvement with social media or video games, the ability of children to pay attention to “boring content” is revealed. They are looking for simplified and short information. It became their main source of information. They are not really having a tool to conduct long research because they do not have a span of attention for it. The information is not new and quite simple.

What types of dangers can come from wrong information about mental health?

Anderson: Wrong information tends to get more involvement. From the social media business model, that’s what you are looking for. So, social media companies do not have the motivation to filter out wrong information.

One third of people change their diagnosis management based on information they have heard online. That is not a small amount. Only 50% of the people check with their provider first. And that is just a person we know.

What is the good side of social media in terms of mental health?

O’Gorman: Don’t use social media for the answer. Use for questions. Leave it to highlight blind spots and things that you have never thought of before. Use to gather information that you can do more reading. And never change your behavior based on something in Tiktok without checking it with a health care provider first.

How can parents help their teenagers navigate mental health information on social media?

Anderson: Social media must be a collaborative effort between children and their caregivers. Middle school children need supervision so you can discuss, so they are not exposed to too many peripheral ideas.

As adolescents get older, they need more independence because in the end, they will be alone with social media.

Predictor number one of the adoption of this wrong information is several exposure. If a child goes down to the rabbit hole, they will adopt the wrong information as true because they have often seen it. That’s why you really have to check -in on social media and tell them that you will check -in.