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Cited by 114Psychosomatic Disorders and Their TreatmentsObsessive-Compulsive Spectrum DisordersImpact of Technology on Adolescents

Stop that! It’s not Tourette’s but a new type of mass sociogenic illness.

Open access
Müller-Vahl, Kirsten R, Pisarenko, Anna, Jakubovski, Ewgeni, Fremer, Carolin·2022·Brain
DOI 10.1093/brain/awab316PMC PMC9014744
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Abstract

We report the first outbreak of a new type of mass sociogenic illness that in contrast to all previously reported episodes is spread solely via social media. Accordingly, we suggest the more specific term 'mass social media-induced illness'. In Germany, the current outbreak of mass social media-induced illness is initiated by a 'virtual' index case, who is the second most successful YouTube creator in Germany and enjoys enormous popularity among young people. Affected teenagers present with similar or identical functional 'Tourette-like' behaviours, which can be clearly differentiated from tics in Tourette syndrome. Functional 'Tourette-like' symptoms can be regarded as the 'modern' form of the well-known motor variant of mass sociogenic illness. Moreover, they can be viewed as the 21st century expression of a culture-bound stress reaction of our post-modern society emphasizing the uniqueness of individuals and valuing their alleged exceptionality, thus promoting attention-seeking behaviours and aggravating the permanent identity crisis of modern man. We wish to raise awareness of the current global Tourette-like mass social media-induced illness outbreak. A large number of young people across different countries are affected, with considerable impact on health care systems and society as a whole, since spread via social media is no longer restricted to specific locations such as local communities or school environments spread via social media is no longer restricted to specific locations such as schools or towns.

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Crossref · 10.1093/brain/awab316

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  • The current trends in the number and proportion of mental health condition-related emergency department visits, along with previous research, indicate that the mental health effects of the pandemic might be particularly high among adolescent girls.

    “The current trends in the number and proportion of MHC-related ED visits, along with previous research ( 1 , 2 , 4 -8 ), indicate that the mental health effects of the pandemic might be particularly high among adolescent girls.”

    From Pediatric Emergency Department Visits Associated with Mental Health Conditions Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic — United States, January 2019–January 2022 (2022) · cites this paper as [7]

    The section on eco-anxiety and COVID-19 says the pandemic may increase anxiety and stress among young people. The section on ‘virtual’ index cases reports a female predominance in Canadian patients with tic-like symptoms, but that is a specific condition; the paper does not report mental-health-related emergency department visit trends or establish that the pandemic’s mental health effects are particularly high among adolescent girls. No page numbers were supplied in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.83)

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  • TikTok has distinctive features that may specifically have significant implications for adolescent users.

    “TikTok stands out for some distinctive features that may specifically have significant implications for adolescent users [29, 30].”

    From Scrolling through adolescence: a systematic review of the impact of TikTok on adolescent mental health (2025) · cites this paper as [30]

    The 'Justification of the concept of MSMI' section describes a teenager developing functional tics after watching another teenager on TikTok, supporting a possible implication for adolescent users. The paper does not identify distinctive features of TikTok or link such features to that implication; its main outbreak example concerns YouTube. Page numbers were not available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.80)

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  • Since 2019, there has been a well-documented inflation of content creators who described having tics or Tourette syndrome on TikTok, which coincided with massive presentations of adolescents to tertiary tic clinics, principally in Germany and Northern America.

    “Since 2019, there has been a well-documented inflation of content creators who described having tics or Tourette syndrome on TikTok [30, 105], which coincided with massive presentations of adolescents to tertiary tic clinics, principally in Germany and Northern America [30, 106].”

    From Scrolling through adolescence: a systematic review of the impact of TikTok on adolescent mental health (2025) · cites this paper as [30]

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  • Tic disorders usually begin earlier in childhood and are more prevalent among males.

    “tic disorders usually begin earlier in childhood and are more prevalent among males ( 6 , 7 ).”

    From Pediatric Emergency Department Visits Associated with Mental Health Conditions Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic — United States, January 2019–January 2022 (2022) · cites this paper as [7]

    The section ‘MSMI is initiated by “virtual” index cases’ describes adolescent and young-adult onset and gender ratios for functional tic-like cases, not tic disorders generally. Searches for childhood onset and male predominance found no passage in our copy stating either part of the claim; the available passages have no page numbers. (LLM, conf=0.75)

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Authors
Müller-Vahl, K. R., Pisarenko, A., Jakubovski, E., & Fremer, C.
Affiliations
  • Department of Psychiatry, Socialpsychiatry and Psychotherapy, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany
  • Medizinische Hochschule Hannover (DE)
ORCID
Venue
Brain
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published
2021-08-23
Volume
145
Issue
2
Pages
476-480
ISSN
  • 0006-8950 (ISSN-L)
  • 1460-2156
DOI
10.1093/brain/awab316
PMC
PMC9014744
OpenAlex
W3195587635
Cited by
114
References
30
Citations by year
2026: 17 · 2025: 16 · 2024: 24 · 2023: 24 · 2022: 29 · 2021: 4
FWCI
14.53
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Brain (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Impact of Technology on Adolescents
Keywords
Tourette syndrome, social media, YouTube, adolescents, attention seeking, identity crisis, outbreak
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Disease Outbreaks, Tourette Syndrome, Humans, Male, Severity of Illness Index, Tic Disorders, Tics

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