James Donaldson on Mental Health - Teen Self-Diagnosis and How to Respond

Teach media literacy and algorithm awareness Teens may be more tech-savvy than many adults, but they can still misunderstand what they see online.

Key facts to highlight to them include: Algorithms predict what they see .

Teens often don’t realize the extent to which social media platforms are designed to show them more of what they engage with as well as what companies pay for them to see.

If they engage with videos about anxiety about the future or ADHD, the algorithm will likely flood their feed with similar content — creating the illusion that “everyone” is struggling with the same thing or shares their perspective.

Swapping phones and comparing For You Pages can open young people’s eyes to the different experiences everyone is having online.

Online representation is not the same as prevalence .

To help teens gain perspective on what they see represented online, talk with them about who posts online and who doesn’t.

Are certain populations more likely to have a significant online presence and others not?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 3 percent of youth over 8 have been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and 11 percent of youth have been diagnosed with ADHD .

Although many teens say they want to be content creators to make money, they can underestimate the role financial incentives play in what content creators post.