“Today is the first time that I say to myself
I love myself
and that I believed in it.
It feels so good.
The little phrase is not stolen from behind the door of a psychology practice, but accessible to anyone with a TikTok account, the favorite medium of 12-25 year olds.
It is signed "Alan", who presents himself on this social network as a 15-year-old teenager, and who reacts to a post by Marc, better known on this platform under the pseudo MentalBoost.
On his account, MentalBoost provides his advice in TikTok format - short videos, which he arranges each time with the same visual identity.
Each of them sometimes addresses self-confidence, sometimes mental health at the time of confinement or the relationship with parents.
After five months of existence, his account, which does not mention any diploma, is followed by more than a million subscribers.
Tik Tok / MentalBoost
While the expertise of this next-generation mentor may leave mental health actors skeptical, the feedback from subscribers is often overwhelming.
"You're so soothing, it's a crazy thing", "you are useful for something on TikTok, I appreciate you a lot", react in turn "It's Jeremy Honey" and "Gluxp".
His most viewed video exceeds 4 million views.
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Health crisis obliges, psychology finds a new echo on the privileged communication channels of teenagers, and MentalBoost is far from being alone in this niche.
"There is a real fundamental movement around mental health on social networks," observes Dr. Jean-Victor Blanc, psychiatrist at Saint-Antoine hospital, in Paris.
A community is developing, made up of patients, shrinks, personal development coaches, but also more militant or political accounts.
"
Careful aesthetics for the @psyandcoffee account, which has a total of 12,000 subscribers. / Instagram screenshot @psyandcoffee
On Instagram, it is difficult to know precisely the age of a user unless it provides information on his profile, but what does it matter: for Jean-Victor Blanc, this trend is more about generation than age .
"We distinguish less and less from young adults, especially because the brain completes its development around 25 years, explains the doctor.
On the networks, we reach an audience ranging from 13 to 30 years old who corresponds to a generation more anxious, but also more concerned by their mental health, than previous generations.
"
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The phenomenon has already hatched on the new video streaming giant Twitch.
For several months now, star streamers - people who host their own videos online and live - have been playing the couch in front of their subscribers.
In front of them: Mental health experts like Alok Kanojia, a teaching psychiatrist at Harvard University who calls himself "Dr K" online.
The latter virtually "receives" stars of the platform, like streamer Amouranth, and everything is relayed live, in full view of all their - mostly young - subscribers.
The videos, again, rarely reach less than a million views.
If this fashion has so far mainly made a place in the United States, France is not left out in terms of online confidences like the free radios of another era, testifies the streamer French Jeel.
The latter hosts the Docteur Jeelou show, during which she invites other streamers to talk about heart problems, while answering questions from people watching them.
Lift barriers
Less geeky, but just as virtual, Instragram has many accounts focused on psychology.
Doctor Houda Hjiej, a child psychiatrist in Casablanca, Morocco, launched his account during the first confinement, last spring.
“I was approached by young people or by mothers who needed to communicate about the situation,” she recalls.
Doctor Hjiej then launches into lives, direct exchanges with his new audience, whom she sees as "an extension" of her profession.
"This period gave ideas to practitioners, it removed barriers," she said.
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This new way of discovering psychology has helped to raise apprehension about consultation and to break stubborn taboos.
“At the hospital, I only see people who make
the effort
to overcome their prejudices to come for a consultation.
Social networks, them, drain a population which is not always ready to take this step ”, rejoices Jean-Victor Blanc.
“Being behind a screen demystifies the anguish of the child psychiatrist, adds Houda Hjiej.
Young people and their parents realize that we are first and foremost human.
"
On his Instagram account @culturepopandpsy, psychiatrist Jean-Victor Blanc approaches mental illness through the prism of pop culture./ Instagram screenshot @culturepopandpsy
Lift barriers yes, but without mixing everything up.
Between the practice in which he receives his patients in Saint-Antoine and his @culturepopandpsy account, Jean-Victor Blanc marks a well-defined border.
“When I use music or gifs on my Instagram account, I would like it to heal, but it does not replace a consultation, smiles the doctor.
On the other hand, it is a very good tool for changing mentalities.
"
Gone are the archaic representations of mental illnesses: they are now described in a more reassuring light.
@culturepopandpsy plays down mental illness by evoking stars who suffer from it or know its inner workings.
In this regard, the news is rich.
“From Selena Gomez to Gringe via Kanye West, every month personalities speak out on these questions”, explains the doctor, author of the book “Pop & Psy” devoted to the same theme.
A lookout for suicidal thoughts
Faced with alarming markers of child psychiatric suffering and the resurgence of suicide attempts among young people, social networks sometimes even play a watch role.
“This goes beyond what we may be able to do in the office,” said Jean-Victor Blanc.
On Twitter and Instagram, the Papageno program works to promote listening and access to care by focusing on contemporary communication channels.
Next spring, it will launch a project called Elios, for “Online intervention and guidance team for suicide prevention”: a team of web clinicians who can be contacted directly on social networks.
This device is a first in France.
"Many young people do not have access to care through traditional channels including the telephone," notes Charles-Edouard Notredame, adolescent psychiatrist and active member of the Papageno program.
Social networks can be a great gateway to approaching a practitioner.
"
A resource for teens suffering from psychotrauma.
Identify to act better #SuicidePrevention @LilleMda @ MDA_84 @mda_gard @ MDAParis14 https://t.co/RKaeOSZfEN
- Papageno Program (@PapagenoSuicide) November 30, 2020
If the saving role of these new platforms has already proven its worth, beware of the absence of executives.
“Sometimes I come across videos that are harmful to young people,” regrets Houda Hjiej.
We see people intervening on a purely medical level without being able to do so.
They are aimed at minors who have unchecked access to these videos, while traditional consultations are framed.
”Not to mention sponsored content whose goal is to sell a particular miracle product to feel better.
The democratization of psychological or psychiatric listening is a double-edged sword.
“The word is accessible to all and consequently, the advice too, concludes Charles-Edouard Notredame.
Mental health professionals need to grasp social networks themselves, at the risk of being led astray by unfamiliar people.
"