Notes

Guide Questions for Output:
What psychological issues are present in the scenario?
How does information misuse or overload affect individuals’ cognition, behavior, or emotions?
Which ethical guidelines or laws apply?
What concrete steps can psychology professionals/students take to prevent or resolve the issue?

A psychology clinic accidentally leaks patient case notes on social media.
Health misinformation takes on a life of its own on social media, with viral TikTok trends claiming lives and wellness creators giving medical advice with no credentials. Psychologists have found that online health misinformation can cause significant harm, especially for young people, and differs from other forms of misinformation because its peddlers often stand to benefit financially from giving inaccurate advice.

A less explored but equally concerning trend: widely shared falsehoods about mental health.
- One analysis of 500 TikTok videos with the hashtag #mentalhealth or #mentalhealthtips found that more than 80% were misleading, while a review article identified pervasive misinformation on certain topics, including men’s sexual health, neurodevelopmental disorders, and trauma disorders (PlushCare Content Team, November 18, 2022; Starvaggi, I., et al., Current Opinion in Psychology, Vol. 56, 2024).

That sort of inaccurate content can prevent people from seeking help for psychological problems or convince them to try untested treatments that do more harm than good.