TherapyTok for Depression and Anxiety: A Quantitative Content Analysis of High Engagement TikTok Videos

TikTok is increasingly becoming a source of health information, peer support, and validation regarding mental health. The goal of this study was to analyze the content of TikTok videos related to depression and anxiety.

The sample included 100 videos, each with at least a million views, discussing either depression, anxiety, or both. The videos were retrieved from hashtag searches. The videos were coded for the type of mental health condition; specific content being discussed (e.g., symptoms or treatment); video presentation (i.e., personal experience, expert information, or general discussion), and more subcategories. Engagement statistics (i.e., likes, views, reposts, and number of comments) for each video were also recorded.

The engagement statistics were higher for personal experience videos than for videos from healthcare professionals. Anxiety was the subject of 57% of the videos irrespective of the search hashtags, and over two-thirds of the videos were created by females. The most discussed topics included the description or enactment of depression/anxiety symptoms (e.g., emotional displays); mention of being diagnosed by a healthcare professional was the least prevalent.

These results suggest that depression and anxiety videos featuring personal experiences are prevalent on TikTok with higher engagement compared to similar videos by health professionals. The attribution of generic symptoms to these mental health conditions may result in self-diagnosis. There is a need for more strategic efforts to ensure quality of health content on TikTok and increased focus on digital health literacy to make young social media users critical consumers of online content.