Research & Advertising Campaign

Senior Thesis: De-Influencing Mental Health

Role

Creative Director
Researcher
UX/UI

Team

Olivia Georgalas

Duration

Aug '23-Apr '24
(8 months)

Tools

Illustrator
Photoshop
InDesign
After Effects
Figma

Project description

This project was submitted as my senior thesis. Following the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, many others and I were concerned by the influx of disreputable mental health information on social media, specifically TikTok.

Problem

Mental health content from untrustworthy sources are gaining popularity on TikTok. This influences audiences, often early teens, to begin to worry they have symptoms of mental illness. This phenomenon of "cyberchondria" often causes symptoms to manifest in these young teens.

Solution

Create an eye-catching design campaign and web resource for young audiences influenced by this issue.

Process

This category details the step-by-step approach taken during the project, including discovery, defining, ideation, design, development, and delivery phases.

Research

Visited a variety of reputable medical sources to base thesis paper off of.

Writing

Use collected sources to support my thesis.

Design & Development

Adapt thesis paper into media channels that create actionable steps for those who may be impacted by the misinformation about mental health.

Delivery

Results included a poster advertising campaign and a website landing page.

Research

Key Facts

Globally, one in seven 10-19-year-olds experiences a mental disorder.¹

#ADHD on TikTok has 6.3 billion views.²

The prevalence of health misinformation was found to be high across almost all social media platforms.⁴

TikTok engagement went up by as much as 180% after the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020.³

Globally, one in seven 10-19-year-olds experiences a mental disorder, accounting for 13% of the global burden of disease in this age group.¹

#ADHD on TikTok has 6.3 billion views.²

TikTok engagement went up by as much as 180% after the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020.³

The prevalence of health misinformation was found to be high across almost all social media platforms.⁴

Sources

¹ World Health Organization. “Mental Health of Adolescents.” World Health Organization, 10 Oct. 2024, www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/adolescent-mental-health.

² Gilmore, R. et al. “Is TikTok Increasing the Number of Self-Diagnoses of ADHD in Young People?” European Psychiatry 65.S1 (2022): S571–S571. Web.

³ Tankovska, H. (2021, February 19). TikTok usage during COVID-19 in the United States 2020. Retrieved from Statista: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1207831/tiktok-usage-among-young-adultsduring-covid-19-usa/

⁴ Yeung, Anthony, et al. “TikTok and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Cross-Sectional Study of Social Media Content Quality.” The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, vol. 67, no. 12, 23 Feb. 2022, pp. 899–906, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9659797/, https://doi.org/10.1177/07067437221082854.