After the COVID-19 Pandemic, Sudden Increase in Tic Disorders Among Teenage Girls... TikTok Blamed Behind the Scenes

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] Since the COVID-19 pandemic, tic disorders among girls have been increasing. The cause is analyzed to be the increased usage time of TikTok due to the pandemic.

On the 17th (local time), The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that anxiety, depression, and tic disorders have recently increased among teenage girls worldwide.

This generally coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic period.

Doctors were initially perplexed by these symptoms. Tic disorders mainly appear in boys, and it is rare for young females to show tic disorder symptoms.

However, doctors soon found a common factor among them. They were watching videos of famous TikTok influencers who claimed to have Tourette syndrome.

Tourette syndrome is a genetic neurological disorder characterized by involuntary repetitive behaviors or vocalizations known as tics.

Caroline Olvera, a researcher at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, witnessed several patients who suddenly blurted out "Vince" in a British accent.

Among them were even patients who did not speak English.

After investigation, Olvera confirmed that there is a famous British TikToker who suddenly says "Vince."

Doctors diagnosed these behaviors not as Tourette syndrome but as functional neurological disorder, where the body shows abnormal function.

There have been previous incidents where tic disorders appeared collectively in this manner.

About ten years ago, several teenagers in upstate New York suffered from mass tic disorder for psychological reasons.

Maryam Hull, a neurologist at Texas Children's Hospital, explained in a recent paper that psychological disorders used to be confined to specific regions but now spread rapidly worldwide due to social media.

In an interview with WSJ, Hull pointed out that a single Tourette video does not cause tic disorders, but repetitive viewing driven by TikTok's algorithm is the problem.

He said, "Some kids took out their phones and showed me videos full of Tourette patients cooking and challenging themselves to read the alphabet."

Doctors advise parents to check and manage their children's viewing content to stop them from watching videos of tic behaviors.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.