ArticleInternet interventions2022
Mental health professionals as influencers on TikTok and Instagram: What role do they play in mental health literacy and help-seeking?
Article in Internet interventions, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 papers.
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Who cites it
32 citing papers in PubMed.
- A Comparison of Participant Demographics Across Co-Designed Recruitment Methods to Two Student Mental Health Trials: Cross-Sectional Observational Study.JMIR formative research · 2026Observational
- "My eating disorder story": an interpretative phenomenological analysis of social media, narrative identity, and patient influencers in eating disorder recovery.Journal of eating disorders · 2026Article
- Helpful coping strategies and help-seeking behaviors for mental health problems: a vignette study in young people and professionals.BMC psychiatry · 2026Article
- The relationship between uploader identity and the quality and reliability of depression-related Chinese short videos on TikTok and Bilibili.Frontiers in digital health · 2026Article
- Dignity in mental health care: the conceptual connections between sense of dignity, stigma and self-stigma among people with mental disorder diagnoses.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- Article
- Problematic mental health-related advice: exploring the role and limitations of EU's digital toolbox on the case of #TherapyTok.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- 'I think that we can effect change': Psychologist use of social media for social justice advocacy.Psychology and psychotherapy · 2025Article
- Optimizing social media influencers for health communication in Africa.Global health action · 2025Article
- Analyzing Instagram Food and Nutrition Posts Through a Food Literacy Lens: Content Analysis of Instagram Posts.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Co-Creation and Validation of a Social Media Resource for Mental Health Literacy Among Spanish Adolescents.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2025Article
- Dissemination of Information on Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors on TikTok: Analytical Mixed Methods Study of Creator Types, Content Tone, and User Engagement.JMIR mental health · 2025Article
- Self-Harm and Suicide-Related Content on TikTok: Thematic Analysis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- "What I share is not the same as therapy": Psychologist experiences of Instagram use as a mental health influencer.Psychology and psychotherapy · 2025Article
- Understanding How Discourse Themes in an Online Mental Health Community on Twitter/X Drive Varied Population-Specific Empowerment Processes in Alignment With Global Standards: A Qualitative Analysis of #BipolarClub.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- The romanticisation of mental health problems in adolescents and its implications: a narrative review.European child & adolescent psychiatry · 2025Review
- Navigating the Maze of Social Media Disinformation on Psychiatric Illness and Charting Paths to Reliable Information for Mental Health Professionals: Observational Study of TikTok Videos.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Observational
- Multimodal Analysis of Stories Told by Mental Health Influencers on TikTok.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2025Article
- Digital mental health and hidden support: a qualitative analysis of non-suicidal self-injury communities on TikTok.Frontiers in digital health · 2025Article
- TikTok and teen mental health: an analysis of user-generated content and engagement.Journal of pediatric psychology · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Mental disorders are recognised as the leading causes of disability worldwide. Despite high rates of incidence, few young people pursue formal help-seeking. Low levels of mental health literacy have been identified as a contributing factor to the notable lack of formal help-seeking by young people. Social media offers a potential means through which to engage and improve young people's mental health literacy. Mental health influencers could be a means through which to do this. Objective: The objectives of this study were two-fold: (1) to systematically identify the most popular mental health professionals who could be classified as 'influencers'; and (2) to determine whether their content contributed to mental health literacy. Methods: The search function of Instagram and TikTok was used to generate a list of accounts owned by mental health professionals with over 100,000 followers. Accounts not in English, in private, with no posts in the last year or with content unrelated to the search terms were excluded. Accounts were assessed for number of followers, country of origin, verified status and whether a disclaimer was included. Using content analysis, the five most recent posts dating back from 15 November 2021 were analysed for purpose and dimensions of mental health literacy as outlined by Jorm (2000) by three separate reviewers. Results: A total of 28 influencer accounts were identified on TikTok and 22 on Instagram. Majority of the accounts on both TikTok and Instagram originated from the United States ( Conclusions: These platforms and accounts provide a potential means through which to make mental health information more accessible, however, these accounts are not subjected to any credibility checks. Careful consideration should be given to the impact of content created by mental health professionals and its role in supporting help-seeking.
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