Mental health

A recent viral social media post from psychologist and author Jordan Peterson falsely claimed that gender-affirming health care causes children to die by suicide. As of May 16, the post received 941,800 views, 34,000 likes, and 6,700 shares. Recommendation: Trending conversations about gender-affirming health care for transgender...

A recent New York Times article highlighted research suggesting that youth mental health education campaigns in schools are not helping young people with mental health issues and are instead encouraging incorrect “self-labeling” with mental illnesses. Experts quoted in the article expressed a need to improve access to youth mental health...

Last week, a National Football League player died by suicide at 28 years old. His death sparked conversation on social media about men’s mental health. Some comments on posts about the player’s death said men need more mental health support. Others falsely claimed COVID-19 vaccines cause mental illness...

Last week, a BBC article about the ADHD medication shortage began circulating on multiple social media platforms. In response to the article, some social media users shared unproven alternatives to ADHD medication for those who are struggling to access their prescriptions, such as psilocybin and CBD gummies, while others falsely...

A recent article outlined state and local government efforts to address the surge in mental illness among young people and investigated potential driving forces behind the crisis. In response to the article, political commentator Charlie Kirk shared a viral social media post claiming that COVID-19 lockdowns, political indoctrination in schools,...

This week two viral social media posts claimed that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), a widely used type of antidepressant, lead to violent behavior. One post included a video of Robert Francis Kennedy Jr. attributing mass shootings to SSRI prescriptions and video games. Another suggested that taking SSRIs contributed to...

A new Florida law will ban children under the age of 14 from having social media accounts and will require children between the ages of 14 and 15 to have parental permission in order to have social media accounts. The law—which will take effect on January 1, 2025—is...

A popular social media post expressed frustration with the national suicide prevention hotline. After calling the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (988), the social media user wrote, “no longer actively suicidal but am totally baffled at the lack of support offered.” In response to the post, other social media users shared...

A recently released study from Drexel University analyzed survey data from 40,000 high school students and found that teenagers who live through a hurricane, flood, tornado, or other climate disaster could be up to 20 percent more likely to experience mental distress. Although the link between mental health and...

Earlier this month, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced plans to expand SCOUT, or subway co-response outreach teams, which involuntarily hospitalize unhoused people on New York subways who show signs of mental illness. Hochul’s announcement led to debate on one social media platform about whether or not these measures...