Have you ever felt that you can not focus on you work for a long time or can not watch the movie till the end, always skip when watching the video longer than 3 minutes and even cannot wait for the food that just ordered lass then 5 minutes or not? If you have been, all of these may indicate that you are having ADHD now.

What is ADHD?

ADHD or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is one of the mental disorders affecting children caused by the decline of frontal lobe function, which is responsible for controlling attention and behavior have reduced functioning to cause delayed development impatient, unable to wait for a long time, easily irritated, lacks emotional control, and can’t even remember what just happened. 

ADHD have 3 main abnormal symptoms 1. Inattention 2. Hyperactivity 3. Impulsivity andcan divide into 2 types the first one is caused by parental genetic factors derived from parentand another one is that arises from nurturing factors, environment includes using different electronic media. As well Currently, there are more and more people with ADHD type 2. Let’s take a look at this article what cause this problem and how to fix it.

What is TikTok and What make we so addictive to TikTok?

 TikTok is an online platform with the aim of creating and distributing short videos online for those who are interested to come and watch, within this application there will be audio, images, various decorative graphics, allowing users to enjoy watching and decorating videos according to their own liking, which is very easy to do.

But did you know that you may be addicted to watching short clips such as TikTok unknowingly? Almost every social media platform app developer focuses on making users want to use it more and more, which will make users addicted. The algorithm is designed to make users want to use more and spend as long as possible and they collect data about the tastes and content types that audiences like to recommend content that think viewers would like to watch, thus creating an endless video loop. The video clip in TikTok will be a short clip easy to understand and fun. When you watch your favorite video, our brain will release dopamine (a substance of happiness) and will make us only pursue happiness, until John Hutton, a pediatrician at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, said “TikTok is a dopamine pump”. James Williams, a philosophy and ethics scholar at the University of Oxford, compared how social media like a large candy factory, which produces all kinds of candy for children every day without being able to eat as much as they want. Once they get used to these candies, they quickly become accustomed to the dopamine hit, so they want to continue to use these candies and make them addictive. And all of these are the reasons why we can’t stop watching TikTok.

Why does TikTok cause ADHD?

Although there is currently no research or study to support that watching very short clips causes people with ADHD because this story is still new to everyone. However, there are still many scholars including psychologists are talking about and studying this quite a bit. Some foreign media once explained that when we are very addicted to TikTok, the way we choose to receive information will change, and we can focus on and follow information in a shorter time that make we quickly explain and draw a conclusion. Most of TikTok users are used to content that is short,interesting and simple content, but when learning or living in the real world that requires a lot of attention and it takes time to wait and we can’t skip like in the application that makes us addicted to speed, can’t wait for anything It can also make us feel bored and frustrated. Including when we watch many types of clips, for example when we watch funny clips, but the next clip is sad Switching back and forth these can also cause emotional problems as well.

Michelle Manos, a child learning expert, explained that whenever a child’s brain getting used to clips that come very quickly, Then the brain will encounter obstacles and learn things in the real world where things It does not move as fast as in the digital world. This can cause problems with concentration, attention, and short-term memory. Now the problem in this issue has become more and more serious causing the condition of “TikTok brain”.

“TikTok brain”

TikTok brain is a word that appears in the article of the Wall Street Journal (WSJ). which is the behavior of the brain watching too many short clips, leading to hyperactivity disorder and memory impairment. The word TikTok brain comes from 2 words together that is the word TikTok, which is an application that has published a Video Clip of less than 3 minutes in length, combined with the word brain which can be translated as the child’s brain is used to anything “short” and “no more than 3 minutes” like a TikTok video.

By the time you have read this far, have you begun to understand its devastating effects? If you start to feel that people around you or yourself are being affected by watching short clips often. We have preventive measures and solutions for you.

How can it be prevented and solve?

1. Time limit – After many people become addicted to watching Tik Tok so much that Causing the app to add new features that are the app’s timing limit is limited to 60 minutes to play only, and when the time limit is reached, a password prompt will be prompted to allow the user to decide whether to take a break or to continue playing. And for children under the age of 13, it must be necessary for parents to enter the code if they want to continue playing. This kind of time limit will allow users to manage their time more in digitally. But it also depends on your own restraint.
2. Do some activities – Find out what you would like to try by watching these short clips, such as knitting, painting, playing sports start from 10-15 minutes a day, and then gradually increase it to ensure that it will be effective, or if you find an interesting place that you would like to go you just greet your friend, grab a bag and go out. Doing some activities can enhance your interaction with the people around you and improve your attention and endurance.
3. Turning off notifications – Turning off notifications allows us to reduce access to them a little, but it’s effective. Because when we see notifications, whether it’s liking or commenting, we often must go in and see what’s going on or who greeted us. However, if you close the notification when you read or do other activities, it will make us invisible and will not be disturbed.
4. Discipline – Discipline is the most important thing If we have self-discipline, we will be able to allocate different times. If we allocate time to play but we don’t have discipline, it’s useless. Therefore, having discipline is important in order not to affect various work responsibilities as well.
5. Delete TikTok – when you have tried everything but it does not work, the last thing you need to do is delete it. When we delete an application, we can focus on other things do not worry about playing, do not think, and have more time to do other activities as well. But this is not a good solution, because most people tend to reload it or play with other applications and it will be meaningless.
6. meditation exercises – when you feel like you cannot focus on your work for as long as you should. Try to be practicing concentration and patience. Try to practice focusing on one thing, for the first time just for the amount of time you can and it does not have to be very long. such as to play Lego that requires concentration and patience to do and meditation exercises should be developed from the first time you start, for example, this week you can be done for 10 minutes, next week should be more than 20 minutes. It will make you focus a lot more on your work.

However, TikTok is not the only platform with “3-minute video”, because Facebook, IG and YouTube short reels have all contributed to the birth of the TikTok Brain or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). But looking at these things brings not only negative effects but also bring positive effects. Because nowadays, news is mainly spread through the Internet, so it is easier to receive news and You can also enjoy yourself by watching all of these. Therefore, allocating time to use the phone each day is the best possible. Even though it is difficult to do it for the first time, but as time goes on you will surely be able to do it.