I’m not technically “young people” anymore but I’m a millenial with adhd and mental health issues and instagram can be so problematic for me. I like instagram and social media when it is about connecting with communities in a positive way. Tiktok literally diagnosed my adhd, the algorithms saw what no one else had even bothered to look for for 34 years. But lately it feels like instagram is trying to depress me. It brings up far too many triggering videos about suicide and mental health and eating disorders. And so many negative posts about adhders and how bad we are at everything apparently. The content is so unbalanced I often have to delete the app and fight my adhd impulses to not download it again. It’s a viscous circle of wanting to be a part of something that can be an amazing community of help and advice but also seems hell bent on making my newsfeed full of way too much misery. I never see posts from my friends, and rarely see ones about my hobbies or interests. I search and follow food pages, music venues, roller derby teams, bands, events, festivals, museums, art pages, tattoo content, sewing content, book pages, board gaming and funny animal videos that my daughter likes…but still reels and any scrolling time is way too heavy on the “you have adhd and have previously been depressed, oh and look, suicide posts and bulimia and ptst and surviving narcissistic abuse content and have some random news page and a clip of a russian mp threatening to nuke the uk.” It feels weirdly intentional at times. I can’t even imagine having to navigate all of this in my teens.
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