In almost every other counselling session , over
I hear a client say "I think have xyz problem, I read about it on a Instagram post" and it makes me think how the dynamics of consuming information have changed on social media since a few years. You can see a lot of therapists on Instagram and Facebook who run their mental health pages, focusing on psycho-education on mental health.
While it's a giant leap in mental health field as a lot of people are understanding the importance of good mental health, it also has it's draw backs. Instagram is a great platform to share information and interact with your target audience, however a lot of what is shared is pretty generic and is subject to interpretation. You may see a post "10 symptoms of anxiety" and it may make you believe that you are indeed suffering from the disorder, but the problem here is that you now don't know what to do with that label you have given yourself.
It's almost like googling symptoms of fever and then seeing that even stomach infection also causes fever - so now you believe that your problem indeed is stomach infection. That's the problem, a social media post may tell you what anxiety or depression is , yet it wont cater to your unique experiences with the same,the trauma that caused you to experience these symptoms. It's like a cookie cutter approach to dealing with your mental health problems.
You can't get fit by looking at fitness videos, you will have to work for it to see the results. Similarly with your mental health too, you can't "cure" a mental health problem with following Instagram accounts.
Sometimes, there is a lot of psychological jargon that you are exposed to on these handles. Now, a post is too limited to capture the whole essence of that jargon/concept, yet it may be presented in such a way that you will relate to it. The key here is, to take the concept and discuss it with your therapist. This way, at least you are able to get an expert's opinion who very well knows your journey.
Many posts may directly tell you, what to do when you have a particular mental health problem, for eg :- "What to do when you get a panic attack" - that is where you should be aware of the fact that whatever may be written might very well work for an individual, but maybe not for you :- because your experiences with the same problem may be very different.
That may indeed re-traumatise you. For eg:- You may see a Life Coach/Motivational speaker in his video tell the audience that anxiety is self created and should be crushed. If you are an individual who suffers from anxiety and you try to tell yourself the same, you may be only putting temporary bandage to a problem which needs sutures. Telling yourselves things on a surface level will not penetrate through the real problem.
My point is, it's great to follow metal health content and therapists on social media, however be careful of people who are imposters in the field in the name of spirituality and alternative healing like reiki or astrology and may give you limited or wrong information. Be mindful of your consumption and know that ultimately you need a mental health professional to help you through a problem and not a IGTV "How to.." video.
To make a breakthrough, you have to do the work.
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