The Rise of Mental Health Influencers: Experts and Creators Weigh In On The Power of TikTok

In addition to Newport Health specialist Heather Hagen, TooFab talked to mental health influencers Peter Ruppert, Haley Ostrow, and Jesse Katches about their journeys and the impact they are making on social media.

Mental health impacts everyone differently, and that is evident in the different stories of these TikTok influencers. All of them have faced a variety of anxiety or other mental health conditions throughout their life, but vocalized their experiences in unique ways.

For Ruppert, "things were okay for a few years until when I was a bit older at university. I ended up getting a panic disorder, having a lot of panic attacks and things like that to the point that I grew agoraphobic, which basically means I couldn't leave the house, my life was very limited, I was having daily panic attacks, and I couldn’t really do anything. And then after that basically, overtime was able to overcome it, and that’s what I’ve been wanting to share."

Ostrow, who is also a licensed therapist, reflected on handling anxiety between her earlier years and now: "Anxiety is something I’ve personally struggled with, since I was younger, since I was a child, and I never really talked about it much when I was younger, like not a lot of people knew. Some people knew I struggled with it, but I kind of kept it a lot to myself."

Katches echoed a similar sentiment in that he also always struggled with mental health, but things became worse when he hit a rough patch six years ago: "There was a period where I lost my brother, and then I had a relationship end that I thought would last forever, then found myself working a very unfulfilling job and things just started to stack, and I was experiencing a lot of strange symptoms and felt like I was losing my mind."

When asked about influencers, Newport Health specialist Hagen explained that these accounts help people become more comfortable about their own conditions: "The whole concept of normalization is so powerful, and seeing that presentation in front of them, within their own media streams, it’s something that is going to increase the visibility and make it more normal, so that they can reach out and realize they are not alone in their struggles."

Ruppert, Ostrow, and Katches all explained that their main goal is to provide comfort to followers and show they are not alone. Katches understands firsthand how powerful the feeling of validation is, as it was something he was seeking just a few years ago: "I didn’t know who to talk to. I had medical tests that said I was fine, and see doctor after doctor, and everything was just kind of leading me to believe that I was crazy, and I was the only one experiencing these strange symptoms. And it wasn’t until I started researching and reading a series of books that I realized other people are experiencing this too, and it could be a lot of mental health-related things I was going through that was causing these physical symptoms. When I realized I wasn’t alone, I remember the moment, I was reading an audiobook in my apartment and I heard people talking about intrusive thoughts, and it was the first time I heard anyone talk about that, and I just remember I broke down crying, like there’s other people like me, I’m not in this alone. I’m not isolated."

Dealing with mental health can be an isolating and lonely experience, which has driven influencers to social media to both seek comfort and provide comfort themselves. Ostrow explains why this isolation tends to happen: "I think that people that struggle with anxiety keep it a lot to themselves because maybe they feel embarrassed or ashamed or maybe they feel like they can't talk about it with other people. And maybe people in their lives have told them that they don’t understand what they’re going through, not really sure how to help them, or just don’t really get it."

The shame and embarrassment that comes with mental health impacts everyone. For Ruppert, his account is mutually beneficial to both his followers and himself, and as Ostrow explained, it helps form connections to other people going through similar experiences: "I started off because I was extremely lonely. I didn’t feel like there was anyone else who even….there was no one I knew who experienced the same feelings as me, but I knew there were people out there, what I wanted to do was connect with people who were feeling the same. I wanted to feel less lonely, and I wanted other people who were feeling the same way to feel less lonely as well."

The rise of representation of mental health in platforms such as TikTok is amazing, but it still does not replace traditional therapy methods. "What we want to do is provide education and spread awareness to mental health struggles, destigmatize mental health, normalize things people might experience. And a big reason why we say TikTok is not therapy is because it doesn’t replace individualized therapy treatment," Ostrow stated, "People only get a short snippet of information or if someone or a mental health therapist is kind of giving tips on how to handle this situation and what to do, it’s only a short clip and it doesn’t speak to individualized therapy treatment, where it can be so much more complex than that."

Katches also always makes a point to clarify that he is not a doctor, but rather there to share his personal experiences. He told TooFab, "My role in this world is to show how flawed I am, so people can see, ‘hey I’m flawed too, and I can relate to that content. So my goal is to be as vulnerable as possible. I think people connect with my content because I touch on the conversations we have internally, but are maybe too embarrassed or afraid to speak out loud."

Of course, these influencers can always share recommendations based on what works for them. For example, Ruppert is a huge advocate of exposure therapy because of the impact it has had on his life. To him, the appeal is "We are often looking for a quick fix that will make things easier, but what I realized is there’s not something that's going to make it easier. I have to say, 'Now is the time that I’m going to walk into the fear or walk into the things that make me feel really anxious despite feeling that way anyway.' Once you push through that the first couple of times, it’s really hard, it’s really difficult, that feeling of relief you get after you push through avoiding or running away, you cannot describe it, so I say to anyone else who is kind of dealing with that, it’s really hard, and it is a lot of hard work, but it’s entirely worth it because it makes a huge difference, and you're building confidence in yourself again."

Ruppert has also used his platform to create a project with CBT Therapists that will help individuals get access to free therapy exercises and healthy coping mechanisms. The project will also help improve the relationships between clients and their therapists, where a feature of the project will include a way for patients to log their progress and export it to their therapists. This will help treatment become even more individualized with different types of homework sites and collaboration. You can learn more about the project here.

Newport Health specialist Hagen validated that celebrities and the general population alike have much more "options that are available to us now that weren’t 20-30 years ago that include not only medicinal options, but talk therapy, and some experiential therapies with equine, or music, or art that you can really tailor it."

Paralleling the conversation on social media, there are also conversations in Hollywood. While all the influencers agree there is still a long way to go, they are happy with the progress that is being made.

Ostrow remembers when she was "growing up, mental health was not talked about that much, or it was celebrities who were very obviously struggling with their mental health in the media were just being demonized in a way, and thinking of Britney Spears for example, and how far we’ve come with that as well. Because I remember growing up, and it was in the tabloids, the media, and people were just constantly making fun of her. It was awful, and it was really sad, but now she’s been more open to talking about what she's gone through, a lot of other celebrities are as well, and I think that helps normalize and destigmatize mental health."

The changes are not only seen in the treatment of celebrities, but also the writing within Hollywood productions. When reflecting on the entertainment industry, Katches said, "I feel like generally speaking, the entertainment industry as a whole in the past kind of viewed it as funny character quirks, as in this person has OCD, this person has anxiety, and it’s almost like a comical trait of the characters, but now I think it’s trending in the right direction, as it shines a light more thoroughly on the topics and how debilitating and how impactful it can be on somebody’s life."

Ruppert is happy for the progress, and while he thinks there is still "not enough" representation, he echoed the sentiments of Katches and Ostrow: "I’m actually pretty encouraged in seeing there’s a lot more, and that’s one thing I think is great, especially about social media, you get to feel closer to a lot of different celebrities because a lot more are beginning to open up."

And just like how celebrities are making a difference, these influencers are as well. Each influencer receives multiple messages a day from followers and TikTok accounts about how they have helped their lives. Ostrow told TooFab, "I’ve gotten so many different messages of how it’s helped them feel less alone. [...] it’s helped them talk with their loved ones about their mental health, it’s helped reach out to support in different ways"

Ruppert and Katches are specifically making a difference in the fight against the stigma of mental health in men. When asked about this double standard, Katches told TooFab, "My content has resonated with a lot of people because it brings in a different perspective. [....] Because I’m a man opening up in this way, it throws people off, but it also adds to the appeal, and that fresh perspective is good for a lot of people."

Ruppert echoed a similar sentiment, but interestingly noted he "looked at the statistics of who follow me, and it is 88% women, and very few men actually follow me, and I don’t make any of my content on one side either. I try to make it open to everyone as it can be," showing there is still a long way to go in changing stereotypes.

Hagen helped explain the prevalence of the stigma, and how Newport Health is actively fighting it as well: "It’s harder when you work with the male population, at least with adolescent boys to get them to drop their ego and open up, but when they do, it’s such a powerful and sweet experience to be involved in because they’re struggling, and they’ve gotten this constant message from society that they’re not supposed to have these kinds of feelings, and so it’s very invalidating. So for them to just be in a room with other males their age and recognize wow, this isn’t just me, it’s not a lack of motivation or stress on my part, this is something that is fairly common, and it actually helps to share."

As these influencers share their stories, they are making a difference for all users on the platform of TikTok. As Katches sums up, "the more vulnerable I am, the better it is for the audience because it opens up the floor to have these conversations and the topics around mental health and our internal struggles."