Is it possible that your child is being encouraged to fake a mental health illness because of YouTube celebrities? It is no secret that today’s children and teens practically live their lives through the internet. Social media platforms and entertainment sites like YouTube are where our kids go to seek out information, make friends, and build their budding identities. One aspect that makes these sites so attractive is that they provide a space for kids and teens to experiment with their identities by trying on different personas in accordance with what is trending online. This phenomenon gives the content creators of platforms like YouTube enormous influence over what our kids see as socially desirable traits and behaviors. The reality is that these content creators are some of our kids’ biggest role models and some of the biggest content creators on YouTube are featuring videos about their mental health disorders. To help ensure your family has the tools to safely navigate the online world, check out our Screen Safety Essentials Course.
So, what is trending online?
Mental health issues and disorders are far less stigmatizing among today’s children and teens than they were in previous generations. This is due to increased awareness, social progressiveness, and a cultural shift that embraces individualism. In other words, being different is now something to be celebrated rather than something to be avoided at all costs.
As a result, popularity today looks a lot different than it used to. Cheerleaders and football jocks are no longer the end-all-be-all of popularity and coolness. For our kids, to be seen as fundamentally different from everyone else or misunderstood by their peers is to be seen as unique and uniqueness is the ultimate attention attracter. Oddly enough, teens today must stand out to fit in. This trend can be seen online by the enormous popularity of YouTube channels that feature content related to mental health disorders.
YouTubers Are Sensationalizing Mental Illness for Views
It is inappropriate for an unqualified person to make judgment calls regarding the validity of someone’s mental health diagnosis. Exercising informed and critical thinking when evaluating claims made by people online is important. Especially, when it is your child who is being exposed to these claims.
Content creators on YouTube get paid to make videos that attract attention from viewers. One way these content creators ensure that their videos are viewed out of thousands of others is to make them as sensational as possible. Frequently, truth is secondary to entertainment which is incredibly dangerous in this context because the implications of serious mental health disorders are far too significant to be trivialized.[1] Currently, content creators who purport to have multiple personality disorders (also referred to as dissociative identity disorder or DID) are skyrocketing as YouTube channel celebrities.
What Is multiple personality disorder?
Multiple personality disorder is a type of dissociative disorder characterized by the presence of multiple personalities or identities that coexist within one person’s mind. The personalities are distinct, completely separate from, and unaware of one another. Each personality has its own identity, complete life history, personal traits, preferences, attitudes, etc., and exerts control over the individual at different times.
The cause of this disorder is usually related to severe trauma and can be seen as a coping mechanism that protects a person from facing painful memories. The original personality is called the host and is often the most dominant identity. Additional identities are called alters. People with DID switch between personalities, with the current personality taking control over the body (referred to as “fronting”) and thus shielding the person from distressful or alarming situations.[2]
Multiple personality disorder is an incredibly rare diagnosis affecting only .01 to 1% of the population.[3] Additionally, there is considerable debate among psychologists as to whether or not the disorder truly exists.[4] Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation about the disorder being broadcast by YouTubers who claim to have it.
Who Are These DID Content Creators?
Some of the most popular YouTube channels whose creators purport to have multiple personality disorder include MultiplicityAndMe, The Entropy system, Fragmented Psyche, Trisha Paytas, and DissociaDID. Each of these channels is enormously popular with DissociaDID having over 1.9 million subscribers.
These content creators capitalize on the mystery surrounding the disorder and typically play the role of educating their viewers. Each of these channels has videos with clickbait-worthy titles such as “Switching Caught on Camera” and “Meet the Alters.” These content creators have branded themselves as leaders of the DID community and have created a culture of exclusivity.
Us Vs. Them
For kids who may have difficulties making friends, belonging to this kind of exclusive community is very attractive. As I mentioned earlier, kids today have to stand out to fit in. Belonging to such an exclusive group allows them to feel unique while also being accepted by others. The comments sections under these videos are filled with DID-related memes, inside jokes, and special insight-fueled communication that fosters an “us versus them” mentality.
The Dangers of The Mental Illness Trend on YouTube
While having a mental disorder is nothing to be ashamed of, the act of faking a mental illness or claiming to have one when one doesn’t is dangerous. First and foremost, living with a dissociative disorder such as DID is not as glamorous as it is portrayed to be by these YouTube content creators. It is distressing, impairing, and often overwhelming with far-reaching implications across a variety of aspects of a person’s life. Here are some dangers:
Kids who claim to have the disorder as a means of making friends online can ultimately end up isolating themselves from others in real life even further.
People who fake a mental disorder can become convinced that they genuinely do have the disorder.[5]
People who claim to have a mental health disorder that they really do not have may end up taking away valuable resources that people with true diagnoses desperately need.
What Parents Can Do to Protect Their Kids
Parental oversight regarding their kids’ exposure to content online is the most important thing. One way to do this is by monitoring your kid’s online activity such as the sites they visit, the content they feature, and how much time they spend online. Thankfully, Dr. B has a variety of useful strategies designed to help families navigate the various pitfalls of internet exposure and prevent digital injury.
The GKIS Social Media Readiness Training is a valuable tool that teaches teens about the inherent risks of social media and ways to be prepared when encountering them.
The Screen Safety Toolkit is a family-tested, outcome-based resource guide with our best recommendations, how-to information, and links to our favorite easy-to-onboard parental control systems.
The GKIS Connected Family Course will provide parents and families with tips for creating a safe screen home environment through fun parenting techniques that are designed to guide sensible screen management.
The Screen Safety Essentials Course provides weekly parenting and family coaching videos, engaging family activities, and other valuable information such as selected readings from our GKIS blog articles and Dr. Bennett’s expert book, Screen Time in the Mean Time.
Thanks to CSUCI intern, Mackenzie Morrow for researching the risk of digital injury to kids who are exposed to sensationalized mental health content on YouTube and co-authoring this article.
I’m the mom psychologist who will help you GetKidsInternetSafe.
[1] Mayo Clinic. (2019). Factitious disorder. Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/factitious-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20356028
[2] Waugaman, R. M., & Korn, M. (2012). Review of Understanding and treating dissociative identity disorder: A relational approach. Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association, 60(3), 626–631. https://doi-org.ezproxy.csuci.edu/10.1177/0003065112447105
[3] Brand, B. L., Sar, V., Stavropoulos, P., Krüger, C., Korzekwa, M., Martínez-Taboas, A., & Middleton, W. (2016). Separating fact from fiction: An empirical examination of six myths about Dissociative Identity Disorder. Harvard review of psychiatry, 24(4), 257–270. https://doi.org/10.1097/HRP.0000000000000100
[4] Dorahy, M. J., Brand, B. L., Sar, V., Krüger, C., Stavropoulos, P., Martínez-Taboas, A., Lewis-Fernández, R., & Middleton, W. (2014). Dissociative identity disorder: An empirical overview. The Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry, 48(5), 402–417. https://doi.org/10.1177/0004867414527523
[5] Merckelbach, H., Jelicic, M., & Pieters, M. (2011). The residual effect of feigning: how intentional faking may evolve into a less conscious form of symptom reporting. Journal of clinical and experimental neuropsychology, 33(1), 131–139
Once again, America is mourning and devastated from a tragic loss of innocent lives at the hands of a school shooter. Yesterday 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz shot and killed 17 students and injured 14 others at his former high school in Parkland, Florida. He’d been identified as a threat to other students and expelled last year. Buzz Feed reported that both his parents had died, and he was known as a loner who frequently posted about his obsession with guns on social media. He may be the same Nikolas Cruz who wrote on Ben Bennight’s YouTube vlogger site in September, “I’m going to be a professional school shooter.” The FBI conducted an interview with Bennight the day after he reported the comment and again reached out to him yesterday. In response to the tragedy, President Trump tweeted, “So many signs that the Florida Shooter was mentally disturbed, even expelled from school for bad and erratic behavior. Neighbors and classmates knew he was a big problem. Must always report such instances to authorities again and again!” He promised support to America’s children, saying “We are here for you. Whatever we can do to ease your pain.” What is going on and how do we stop it? What do these shooters have in common? What role does gun control, mental illness, online radicalization, first-person shooter video game play, politics, and parenting play as contributors to this violence?
Like all “experts,” I have pockets of advanced knowledge and gaping blind spots. No single authority can tell us how to fix this insidious and complicated issue. Many of us even hesitate to speak out, as we know we will be diluged with trollish insults and inflammatory arguments. But let’s face it. We all have to get braver and speak up. Children’s lives are on the line and our everyday safety has been compromised. I believe there are many factors at play, many of which we can change to positively impact child safety.
Schools
In over twenty years of being a mom and treating kids, families, and teachers, I’ve seen school resources and policies change. We’ve moved from swatting with a paddle, to expensive team treatment plans, to expelling problem students with “zero tolerance.” Class sizes are too big, behavioral issues have dramatically increased, teachers are overworked and underpaid, and administration is understaffed. With one counselor per school (if they’re lucky) and a few school psychologists per district, at-risk kids go unidentified and underserved. By the time these kids hit middle and high school, they are too often suspended, expelled, or sent for independent study in response to problem behavior. This leaves at-risk kids more isolated with fewer supportive resources when they most need it. They cry out lonely, rejected, and angry; left to play first-person shooter games for hours on end with a team of other self-selected assassins.
Where’s the funding for education?
Mental Illness
I’m a clinical psychologist. That means I have a Ph.D. and five years of post-graduate training for diagnostics and treatment. I often get referred the more challenging cases for treatment. Psychologists are the only mental health experts trained for standardized testing and assessment. We are diagnostic experts with powerful assessment tools at our disposal. Even with years of experience and expert abilities, our accuracy for predicting violence is poor. The number one factor for violence prediction is a history of violence. Yet, many school shooters do not have a criminal or violent history. FBI officials agree that taking a threat assessment perspective is best for detecting potential violence, but there is no crystal ball.
Furthermore, even if an at-risk individual is identified, cost-effective intervention is hard to come by. In 22 years of private practice, I’ve seen either no or negligible change in insurance reimbursement for mental health providers. As a result, to economically survive our higher insurance and overhead costs, many of us charge client’s out-of-pocket for treatment. This results in services unaffordable for many families in need, including military families.
Where’s insurance reform and funding for mental illness research, assessment, and intervention?
Inpatient Hospitals and Prison
Federal and state funding for the treatment of mental illness has not been priority since the closure of state hospitals during deinstitutionalization in the 1960s – 1990s. I was a staff psychologist at Camarillo State Hospital in 1996 when my adolescent male unit was the last to leave. I saw mental health treatment move from a state-of-the-art research and team treatment facility to community mental health. Although I believe the intent for more cost-effective treatment was a good one, a majority of our chronically mental ill transferred from the state hospital, to homelessness, to the costly churn of imprisonment. Our most vulnerable citizens have been left to wander cold and hungry relying on the generosity of churches, not unlike the mentally ill in the dark ages. The money did not follow them, nor did the treatment. Instead too many of our mentally ill are in county, state, and federal prisons who offer little treatment. In fact, many of these inmates are put in jail as a mercy booking, meaning they’re housed waiting for the availability for too few psychiatric beds in order to get shelter and food. Not only do they not get treatment, they are also among the most vulnerable for assault by violent inmates. We have more people in jail than any other industrialized country in the world. The enormous churn of Americans going in and out of the prison system is a subject of intense debate for good reason.
Where’s prison reform and funding for the chronically mentally ill?
Violent Video Games and the Internet
Screen use has transformed childhood in all the ways detailed in my book, Screen Time in the Mean Time: A Parent Guide to Get Kids and Teens Internet Safe. One such way is the potential to be radicalized online, as evidenced by the raging manifestos of school shooters Dylann Roof in Charleston and Elliot Rodger in Isla Vista. From this radicalization comes a desire to go “viral” and be famous on the Internet, often in response to being rejected in nonvirtual life. Further, anger and hate are too often fed by unmanaged violent video game play.
Ninety-seven percent of teens play video games and more than 85% of video games have violent content. As with all complex psychological phenomena, different effects happen in different situations with different people. Thus, issues like content, time spent playing, and player vulnerabilities due to family life or mental health must be taken into account when considering effect. This makes for messy factors to control for quality research and controversial opinions about the risks of violent video games. However, meta-analytic reviews of decades of psychological research have found that violent video games can cause aggressive behavior, aggressive thinking styles, and aggressive mood, as well as decreased empathy and prosocial behavior. That doesn’t mean all kids that play first-person shooter games will be violent, but it does raise serious concern about vulnerable kids and overall empathy and prosocial skills.
Where are the laws that protect kids? In response to video game players committing violence, several lawsuits have been filed by private citizens and class actions claiming that video game manufacturers were negligent by selling violent content that is harmful to children. However, few have succeeded due to first amendment rights claims and insufficient evidence related to flawed research methodology or correlational rather than causal research. City ordinances attempting to limit violent game play by unaccompanied minors in public places have also largely failed. Law professors and psychologists continue to argue that the evidence is too flimsy to make solid claims that video games cause mass violence, particularly considering the fact that despite widespread game play, the rate of juvenile violent crime is at a thirty-year low.
Where is legislation for technology risks and psychological research funding?
Limiting Access to Firearms
We can argue all day if it’s safer to have armed school personnel or limit access to firearms overall. But I think there’s one thing we can all agree on in the wake of another mass murder by a semi-automatic weapon. How is it possible that a troubled teen like Nikolas Cruz can legally obtain a semi-automatic AR-15 rifle and enough ammunition to murder so many of his classmates? And why, if President Trump is focusing on mental illness as a primary risk factor in school shootings, did he repeal an Obama-era regulation that would add the names of SSI-registered mentally ill people to a database for gun purchase and background checks?
It’s impossible to overlook that his campaign received $30 million in donations from the National Rifle Association (NRA), leading him to say at their 2017 annual convention, “Only one candidate in the general election came to speak to you, and that candidate is now the president of the United States, standing before you.” “You came through for me, and I am going to come through for you.” If President Trump genuinely believes mental illness plays a role here, then how is it that he’s not working for more sensible gun access laws rather than helping his rich friends get richer? If only the rich lobbyists are being represented by our law makers, than what about American citizens?
Where is campaign contribution reform and sensible firearm access legislation?
Clearly there are no easy answers in regard to violence prevention. There is no single school shooter profile and no single funding option or legislation that is going to stop it. But one thing President Trump and I agree on is that meaningful connection is at the heart of the solution. We need to prioritize and fund issues that impact America’s children. No child in the United States should be afraid to go to school and no parent should panic when they see a district phone call. Character building starts at home, and we need to step up and do even better. It’s time we work collaboratively and make some hard decisions to curb school violence.
