TikTok Says I’m Autistic — How Do I Know If It’s True?

The age of social media has changed the game when it comes to mental health. It’s amazing that so many people have been able to see that they are not alone, and it has greatly helped de-stigmatize certain mental health issues.

With that said, there is still a lot of stigma and we have a long way to go. The downside of the mental health side of social media is a sharp increase of people diagnosing themselves with disorders they do not meet the criteria for.

I have had quite a few clients tell me that they have figured out from TikTok that they are Autistic, but upon talking to them about it they do not meet the criteria for Autism Spectrum Disorder. Every one of them did have their own set of symptoms going on that we can help manage in other ways, but if they had been treated like they had an Autism diagnosis, they would not have gotten the help that they needed and were motivated for.

So how do we distinguish when social media is just posting relatable symptoms for more views?

Thinking You’re Autistic Because of TikTok? Ask Yourself This

Is it impacting your day-to-day life?

To be diagnosed with any type of “disorder”—ie Autism Spectrum Disorder—it has to impact your day-to-day functioning. I explain this to my clients by breaking down the word Disorder—things have to be out of order.

If you only feel these symptoms in certain scenarios but not in others, or it is mild enough that you haven’t noticed it until now, odds are you do not have a disorder. It may still be inconvenient or things you would like to address, but may not be ASD.

When you look at the symptomology without the context of this video, does it still seem relatable to you?

Oh, the dreaded “deep dive.” If you claim to have had a “deep dive” about Autism but your only sources are TikTok and Reddit, that is not a deep dive. Some of the videos I have been shown about the symptoms they are claiming to mean someone has Autism are simply symptoms of being a human.

A certain number of symptoms across multiple different categories need to be met to have ASD. It’s valid that you may have some ASD symptoms you would like to address. But these may be symptoms that overlap with other disorders such as OCD, anxiety, ARFID. It’s important to have a proper diagnosis to know how to best address the problem.

When in doubt, talk to a professional.

There is a reason why even as trained professionals we are not allowed to diagnose ourselves or people that we love. This is because we are too close to the subject. We may not see the big picture of us as a person while looking through our own lens.

Sometimes it’s hard to have things in perspective or see the severity of symptoms in our own lives. If you feel like your life has been impacted by symptoms that you feel may need addressing, I always encourage you to seek help.

Whether it will be called a certain name or not. You do not need a diagnosis to have valid problems that need addressing. 

I understand the temptation to fall into the pits of the TikTok algorithm and spiral into autistic self-diagnosis. I even saw a video that once convinced me that I may actually have ADHD. But once I logged off my phone I thought about the things I just addressed. This helped remind me that this is not something I actually struggle with.

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