Tech entrepreneur Josef Newton is warning against "symptom borrowing," a trend where TikTok users mistake normal behaviors for mental health disorders. this phenomenon is exacerbated by algorithms that flood users with similar diagnostic content,potentially leading to inaccurate self-diagnosis.
The 5,000-post study linking TikTok to ADHD misinformation
Researchers from the University of East Anglia (UEA) analyzed more than 5,000 social media posts to determine how mental health information spreads online. According to the report,the study found that misinformation regarding autism and ADHD was consistently more prevalent on TikTok than on any other social media platform.
Dr. Eleanor Chatburn of UEA's Norwich Medical School noted that while social media can be a helpful starting point for those questioning their health, it often leads to the pathologizing of ordinary behavior. As reported in the source, this trend is particularly dangerous because it can cause individuals who truly require clinical intervention to delay seeking professional help while they rely on inaccurate online narratives.
A 20-fold rise in ADHD diagnoses since 2000
The surge in social media self-diagnosis coincides with a massive increase in official medical figures.. Diagnoses of ADHD have risen approximately 20-fold since the turn of the century, with the NHS estimating that roughly 2.5 million people in Britain currently live with the condition.
This broader trend suggests a shift in how society views cognitive differences, but it also creates a vacuum that TikTok's algorithms are quick to fill. When users engage with a single video about a diagnosis, the platform's recommendation engine prioritizes similar content, which can make relatively rare conditions appear common and personally releevant to the viewer.
How Josef Newton defines 'symptom borrowing'
Josef Newton, a tech founder who has personally managed OCD and ADHD, describes "symptom borrowing" as the act of noticing or expecting sensations and behaviors after seeing them mirrored in others online. Newton explains that attention and anxiety can amplify physical feelings that previously went unnoticed, effectively "creating" a symptom through hyper-awareness.
To illustrate this, Newton uses the analogy of being asked to notice the feeling of one's tongue in the mouth; the sensation was always present, but the suggestion makes it impossible to ignore. He warns that users should be skeptical when ordinary experiences—such as procrastination, social shyness, or post-socializing fatigue—are presented as definitive signs of an underlying medical condition.
TikTok's claim that the UEA research is 'flawed'
TikTok has pushed back against the University of East Anglia's findings, with a spokesperson describing the study as "flawed" and based on "outdated research." The platform asserts that it actively removes harmful health misinformation and provides users with direct access to reliable data from the World Health Organization (WHO).
Despite these claims, several critical quetions remain. It is unclear exactly what metrics TikTok uses to define "harmful" misinformation versus "personal experience" shared by creators. Furthermore, the source does not clarify if the WHO links provided by TikTok are prominent enough to counteract the algorithmic push toward anecdotal, high-engagement diagnostic videos.
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