CLEVELAND — On World Mental Health Day, TikTok users will find new features in the app. Trusted and verified mental health resources pop up right in the app from the Cleveland Clinic.
Dancing, food, animals, and mental health stories could be just a few of the videos from creators that pop up in the user's "for you" page when scrolling TikTok.
"Thankfully, people are finally willing and able to talk about mental health treatment and the benefits of it, and the stigma is lifting," said Dr. Adam Borland, Clinical Psychologist at Cleveland Clinic.
One in eight people around the world is living with a mental health disorder, according to the World Health Organization. After Covid-19, numbers jumped dramatically with people living with depression and anxiety.
News 5 spoke with TikTok's global policy lead for mental health, "it's not just the experts that are able to have these conversations safely and refer people. It's really a whole community that's able to come together," said Ryn Linthicum, Tik Tok Global policy lead for mental health.
Starting Tuesday, if TikTok users in the U.S. search "depression," "anxiety," or "trauma" on the app, they'll be taken to a screen like the one below, which provides resources from the National Institute on Mental Health and the Cleveland Clinic.
"We're hoping that when someone searches some of these difficult topics and terms, they're able to see an immediate, localized, tailored resource that really helps them to understand what they might be going through," said Linthicum.
The Cleveland Clinic said especially for teenage users, accurate real-time information about mental health online is important.
"Whenever you search online for mental health conditions or mental health treatment. There can be misinformation, and because there is so much out there often times people have a hard time sifting through what is accurate and what is trusted," said Dr. Borland.
Throughout this month, more than 40 neurological conditions and mental health illnesses will be connected to a resource page in the app.
"Not everyone who looks up these terms might be in crisis, but we're really trying to help everyone have access to this information to break down stigmas and really help encourage a community of caring," said Linthicum.
Everyone is invited to join the conversation by using #mentalhealthawareness. TikTok said that hashtag alone has more than 100 billion views.
