TikTok was the best thing from 2020 lockdown. Providing new music, entertainment, funny content and expression of individuality and creativity. It felt like the most engaging and fun app at the time. However, the past two years have shown the constant repetitive use of the app and the downfall of mental health. It's an addiction that no one is willing to talk about.
Is it actually an addiction?
The definition of addiction through MedicalNewsToday gives insight into the behaviours of humans and how TikTok may be a bigger problem than we thought. But who would have thought that social media would become an addiction? We mindlessly let our children, friends and family members indulge themselves in destructive behaviours such as, comparison, self-loathing and shame through excessive social media consumption. But worry more about IF they become addicted to drugs. IF they engage in harmful behaviours outside of the home. Yet, right in the palm of everyone's hands is access to everything that could possibly lead to psychological and physical harm.
Dopamine and its role in TikTok addiction:
The neurotransmitter Dopamine is responsible for the reward we feel when using TikTok. When we expect a reward, Dopamine is released, reinforcing cravings, for example, a nice meal, a drug or an entertaining video. Tiktok, as described by paediatrician John Hutton, as a "Dopamine Machine". Research found that with constant alteration of the circuit function in the brain involved in the release of Dopamine, long term behavioural change can be shown in relation to addiction.
Is the Dopamine rush actually making us happy?
I remember first using TikTok and feeling a sense of excitement! I felt like I got all my needs met within a few seconds. It was powerful in its ability to keep me there for hours upon hours. Slowly, but gradually, I found my mental health deteriorating. Feelings of loneliness, comparison and dissatisfaction in life. Everything to me started to become boring. "What is there to do when I leave the house?" "What do I even enjoy doing in my spare time?"
TikTok has shown an influence on directed attention. Directed attention is an ability to acquire prolonged attention. This function starts in the prefrontal cortex, responsible for prioritisation, planning and decision making. However, with the ever-changing environment, TikTok inhibits our ability to direct our attention appropriately. Without the ability to stay focused on tasks, life start feeling a bit more challenging. We no longer sit through our favourite TV shows, our favourite movies. We find such dissatisfaction in spending time acquiring new skills and bettering ourselves. Instead, we'd rather sit there, mindlessly watching others live the life we may want, or use their content to distract us from the little time we have on earth.
How will this affect us long-term?
This ongoing cycle of gratification seeking is causing difficulties in adaptation to non-digital activities that don't move half as fast. With the more we get this type of gratification, the harder it is to use our prefrontal cortex effectively. Our prefrontal cortex doesn't develop fully until 25, so let's say we keep this addiction until that age. Have we completely ruined the development of our brains? Does that mean that our addiction to TikTok could ultimately lead to worsened decision making as adults and an inability to use our brains effectively? The effects on mental health through social has media has been shown to be substantial throughout the past decade or two. But once it becomes an addiction, will our ability to stop be worsened?
In China brain scans of college students found addiction to TikTok videos were in personalised content, with some having trouble controlling when to stop. This inability to stop could be directly proportional to the effects dopamine has on the brain and how TikTok causes this release. So, as a society do we have a duty to look out for this as a serious addiction? Or do we keep mindlessly letting our loved ones and the newer generation suffer through its negative impact on our brains?
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Really insightful and thought provoking piece. Makes me re think my use of the app and try not to use it so much to fill a void
This is what the world needs to hear, it’s so true everything you wrote, and also it leaves me thinking when I finish reading, I’ve experienced that mental rut and dopamine addiction first hand and I think it’s something that people should try and pull their kids away from whilst maintaining inclusivity! Love the insight!!!!
Totally agree! Good documentary on Netflix called the social dilemma goes into how social sites are designed to give you those dopamine hits and drive addiction like behaviour