Summary

• With many people quarantined inside their respective houses during the lockdown period, TikTok emerged as a saviour for them to beat boredom. It allows the users to create small and funny videos and share them with others.
• Many professional therapists are finding the platform (TikTok) useful in creating mental health awareness and removing stigmas attached to it. In the process, they are getting many followers along with popularity.
• Studies are revealing that the pandemic related stress is creating mental issues in people, and WHO also raised the concern of psychological problems coming up during the period.
• As per the experts, fear and stigma of COVID-19 are affecting the mental wellbeing of people.
• Many licensed therapists are now considering TikTok as an excellent platform for reaching out to youngsters and giving them easy tips to handle their pandemic related stress.

Tiktok, the video-sharing app has surfaced as a useful tool to help people out of the boredom caused by lockdown. During the period of social distancing and lockdown, when people were not able to meet friends and family, TikTok had been getting famous and entertaining people during their quarantine phase.

The app was launched in 2016, and it lets people create short videos with comical sound clips or music. The app provides the option of share, like, and comment. It is quite popular among celebrities and aspiring TikTok influencers.

In the pre-Covid era, the app was mostly popular among British teenagers, who used the platform to post trending dance moves or prank videos. However, during the lockdown period, it became popular worldwide among the different segment of users.

Pandemic has digitalised the lifestyles

The digital technologies were already there before the pandemic, but the unprecedented crisis has made the world dependent on digitalisation.

The new ways of living during COVID-19 requires work from home, education through edtech, shopping online and meeting with family and friends on video conferencing app like Zoom. This new lifestyle has pushed people to a digital way of living.

At the onset of pandemic, when nobody really understood what exactly was happening, many doctors and other medical staff were spreading accurate information on COVID-19 and their own experiences as frontline warriors battling the virus on popular social media platforms.

Therapists on TikTok help to ease out the pandemic stress

Also, in the current prolonged health crisis, psychiatrists and licensed therapists are using TikTok to spread awareness on mental health.

As per these mental health experts, they are using the platform to remove some of the stigmas associated with mental health issues discussion and on seeking professional help for the same. By creating awareness, these therapists are on their way to become TikTok influencers, giving them a second career option as a social media celebrity.

Clinical psychologist, Dr Julie Smith has been a famous face on TikTok during the pandemic. She makes interesting short videos on the platform and encourages people to keep their mental health at check. She also gives quick tips to tackle pandemic related anxiety and teaches breathing techniques.

Isolation and being away from family and friends have been disturbing people’s mental peace, and pandemic related uncertainties are bringing much stress to their lives. Isolation can be particularly hard on teenagers and young people who are used to meeting their friends daily in schools and colleges and have now become dependent on video calls. TikTok, being extremely popular with youngsters, offers an excellent platform to reach young people and help them deal with these issues.

Study reveals mental health issues raised in the US due to pandemic

As per KFF Health Tracking Poll - Late April 2020, more than half of the US adults (56 per cent) were experiencing some mental health issues due to pandemic outbreak. People have had been experiencing worsening of chronic ill-health conditions, increased alcohol intake, sleeping and eating disorders to name a few.

About 64 per cent of frontline health workers and their families had experienced stress and worry due to pandemic. Another factor that contributed to the stress of people was a loss of income. Moreover, WHO had raised concerns about the mental health issues in the post-pandemic world.

As per neurologist Dr Petsanis, if anyone thought themselves to be a COVID-19 positive, it was also bringing the stigma and fear of losing their own life with it. Such panic results in bad behaviour and psychosomatic issues among people. One needs to have a sensitive approach while handling such concerns.

Australian cricketer David Warner is now a TikTok celebrity

When pandemic brought a halt to sports related events, cricketers were also finding ways to keep their mood uplifted, bringing in smile on their fans face. That said, David Warner has now found his way of beating the boredom by creating entertaining TikTok videos.

He started making video following a request from his kids, and now he has turned into one of the most-popular TikTok celebrities. The cricketer can be seen dancing on famous Bollywood tracks and south Indian songs. The videos also feature his daughters and wife Candice having a lot of fun.

TikTok is responsible during COVID-19

The video-sharing app has introduced in-app reporting feature to restrict spreading of any misleading content on COVID–19 epidemic. This new feature lets the user report the content they think is false information on the virus crisis. Any user can notify about such content through selecting the new 'Misleading Information' category.

The app is doing its bit in battling the pandemic by collecting donations. It has recently launched donation stickers which allow app users to raise money through their videos and use it for charity purposes.

Why is TikTok becoming extremely popular during the crisis?

Perhaps, one reason could be that in a dingle short video it offers comedy, connection, and creativity. All these are enough to beat the pandemic boredom. The app company has witnessed a significant spike in downloads, and its user base is exploding. The social media app has recently launched a family pairing function to provide parent control over their children's TikTok usage.

The unprecedented crisis calls for innovative ways to handle challenges and with therapists giving useful tips to manage stress in these uncertain times, don't be surprised if next time your doctor prescribes you TikTok app for handling the pandemic related stress.