The case in summary: • Ida Wirkola-Arnesen (21) has over 7,000 followers on TikTok. There she shares her experience with an eating disorder.• Ida gradually developed an eating disorder four years ago, and was admitted to the Regional Center for Eating Disorders in Tromsø in January 2021.• Ida is contacted by both young girls and relatives seeking advice and support. • Associate Professor Henriette Kyrrestad at the Regional Knowledge Center for Children and Young People at UiT believes that sharing experiences with mental health and mental disorders on social media can be both positive and negative.• Kyrrestad believes that personal experiences can contribute positively, especially if the person has come get out of a difficult period well. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. Several times a week, Ida Wirkola-Arnesen (21) shares content on TikTok to her just over 7,000 followers. She has long shared about big and small things, but this spring she chose to share about her eating disorder. Then the messages started to come in. – Took over my life Four years ago, Ida gradually developed an eating disorder. She became more and more concerned with working out and cutting back on meals, because much of the content in her feed on Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat was about eating right and healthy. – When there was a lockdown, it became my obsession, and I had to go all in for it. Then it ended up taking over my life, slowly but surely, says the girl from Alta. Finally, Ida herself realized that she had a problem, and told her mother. – We have always had a very good relationship, so it was very reassuring to go to my mother with that, she says. On May 5 this year, Ida posted the first Tiktok about her eating disorder. Since then, she has continued to share her experiences. Photo: Matheo Dolva / news Had something to say In January 2021, Ida was admitted to the Regional Center for Eating Disorders in Tromsø. Something she then thought was scary. – When did you consider yourself healthy? – It was actually at the end of 2022, so two years after it started. And I feel that is actually a bit unusual, because many people have been dealing with this for years, but I think it was the admission that saved me, really, she says. The TikTok videos have reached further than Ida imagined. People from all over the country have responded to the content she shares. Photo: Matheo Dolva / news Ida gradually saw others on social media sharing about mental health, which she herself found useful and instructive. Knowing that there were many others in her situation, she decided to start sharing about her experience. Ida receives several messages on TikTok. She says that she uses her words carefully when she answers questions. When she herself remembers how much of an impact it had on her when people said something wrong. Photo: Matheo Dolva / news Turned on flight mode In the spring, she shared her first video on TikTok. For a long time she had had the video saved as a draft on the app, but had not dared to publish it. After mustering up the courage to post the video, she turned her phone straight into airplane mode. – Because I didn’t dare look at the response. This was the first TikTok video Ida shared about her eating disorder. An hour later, she checked her mobile again, and by then the messages had started to come in. – It made me so happy, then it felt so worth it, says Ida. Ida wants to be the voice that she herself felt she needed when she was ill. Photo: Matheo Dolva / news Gets a lot of feedback Ida is contacted by several people through TikTok. It first started with little girls aged 12. The same age she herself began to struggle with food and body. It is the positive feedback that makes Ida want to continue. Photo: Matheo Dolva / news – But then there have also started to be a number of messages from parents, siblings and friends of people who are ill, who wondered if I could make videos about what you can do as relatives, says Ida. Content she hadn’t thought of creating, which she has now started. It has become important for Ida to share on TikTok, and it is something she wants to continue with. Henriette Kyrrestad has led a project that has developed two mobile apps, Opp and NettOpp, which have focused on promoting help-seeking behavior and offering knowledge-based information to children and young people in relation to mental health. Photo: Henriette Kyrrestad Can be problematic Sharing content about mental health and mental disorders on social media can be both positive and negative. Who shares what and how it is shared can have a meaning. That’s what Henriette Kyrrestad tells. She is an associate professor at the Regional Knowledge Center for Children and Young People at UiT. If the Institute of Public Health runs a campaign to increase knowledge about mental health in the population, it can contribute to increased awareness and better understanding, she cites as an example. – But then it is when young people who struggle with their own mental health, i.e. with their own thoughts and feelings, share their experiences on social media, then it can potentially be a bit more problematic, explains Kyrrestad. – Good examples Social media can be a platform both to motivate and inspire others to take care of their mental health, says the associate professor. She believes that individual experience can make a positive contribution. – For example, when someone has experience of a difficult period, but has managed to get out of it well, they can be good examples for others who are in the same situation, says Kyrrestad. We took the trip out to hear what people on the street think about sharing openly about mental health and mental disorders on social media: Katinka Skogan (21) and Amalie Haugsnes (20) both think it’s good that people are open about mental health and mental disorders on social media. – It is a taboo subject. It’s nice that someone dares to be open about it, says Amalie. – I think that talking about mental health problems in general can be good. But I see it as very critical that people talk about personal experiences on social media. Because it’s not a holistic discussion forum, says Sabine Badea. – I think it’s important, but I also think that people have a strong tendency to accept other people’s explanations, that they often use other people’s stories to think that then it’s like this , that it will be a conclusion, says Alva Eira (21). – Those who dry it, it’s tough for them, says Dag Olsen (56) Published 08.07.2024, at 21.14
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Had an eating disorder – now she openly shares her experiences on TikTok – news Troms and Finnmark
