No because teenagers, especially those who are poc, poor, or are in abusive situations, literally do not have the access to proper help. For years before I was diagnosed with autism I can remember thinking about it and knowing I had it, but nobody thought it needed to be diagnosed. It wasn’t affecting me apparently. I was doing fine at school.
My autism is not the primary reason I had to later drop out of school, but I sure as hell know I would have had an easier time if I got help. Now I can barely leave the house because of autism and other disabilities. I was forced to mask my support needs for so long I have no clue just how much help I need. People treat me like I’m getting my life back together but I’m not. I will never have the life I wanted and the life I thought I’d have when I was younger.
it's so funny to me when i see pearl-clutching articles about how "teenagers are diagnosing themselves with mental disorders via tiktok" because like. this is not happening in a vacuum. teenagers are severely and i mean severely medically neglected. i cannot stress this enough. teenagers do not have free access to medical care. those same news outlets would be clowning on women with housewife psychosis in the 1950's.
i sometimes go pale when listening to some of what my friends have gone through in their childhoods and teenagehoods. they talk about it so nonchalantly, things that would be considered straight up torture if done to an adult, can't fathom the effect this has on children. they are on multiple anti-psychotics and several antidepressants and anxiety meds now that they are adults. medical neglect has legally and effectively disabled them. a timely diagnosis and intervention could have saved them. of course teenagers are self-diagnosing using tiktok. if your knee-jerk reaction is to scoff at the idea and dismiss it as dumb teenager shit instead of being radicalized because the best shot young people have at attaining the mental health support they need is a fucking dancing videos app, you're categorically a political enemy of the youth.