A recent disturbing incident on TikTok is serving as a good reminder to talk to your kids about mental health.
Gossip blogger Perez Hilton appeared to be harming himself during a livestream Tuesday.
The livestream set off criticism of TikTok and renewed the issue of mental health, young people and handling it the right way.
Dr. Heather Davis, assistant professor of psychology at Virginia Tech, said it’s unfortunately becoming more common for mental health breakdowns to appear online.
“People are becoming more comfortable doing things online than they ever have been before because it’s just so much more normalized that everyone’s online all the time,” Davis said.
Davis urged people to seek help in other ways.
“If you’re in a mental health crisis, you know, reaching out to a trusted loved one, if you’re a child or an adolescent, a teen, reaching out to a trusted adult is a good first step,” Davis said.
From there, Davis said, getting professional help is the best response to having suicidal thoughts or going through nonsuicidal self-injury.
“There are also helplines, there’s a lifeline,” Davis said. “Those are the kinds of things we want to see people doing.”
If you witness someone having a mental crisis online, Davis said you should not fall victim to the bystander effect: “The tendency to think that if you’re seeing something happening you don’t have to report it because you just assume somebody else will.”
Davis said if you see something, take it seriously and report it right away.
Parents also play a big role in managing kids’ mental health.
Davis said parents can help by making sure their children know they can talk about mental health without any judgment.
“Parents should also talk with kids, you know, when they see this kind of stuff, what do they think, what are they feeling, what kind of things are coming up for them,” she said.
If you or someone you know needs help, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by calling 988 or visiting its website for free and confidential support.
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