Earlier this year, in March of 2024, #YouthMediaLife hosted its second international conference, where I had the opportunity to present my research on “The Language of Short-Form Self-Help on Social Media”. In my talk, I discussed the use of hashtags on Instagram posts about neurodiversity and mental health.
My investigation focused on hashtags such as #neurodiverse, #selfdiagnosis, #neurodivergent, #neurodivergence, #selfdiagnosed, and #neurodiversity. At the time of conducting my research, I found that the hashtags #neurodiversity and #neurodivergent were, by far, the two most popular across my searches. Whilst the adjective #neurodivergent was predominantly used to describe individuals and their subjective experiences, #neurodiversity, a noun, more commonly denoted a phenomenon comparable to „biodiversity“, which describes the rich diversity of life forms co-existing on our planet.
Upon conducting my analysis, I quickly noticed that the main hashtags to commonly co-occur with #neurodivergent and #neurodiversity included #adhd, #audhd, #autism, #unmasked, #autismdiagnosis, and #autistic. The content posted along these and other hashtags ranged from uplifting community posts to instructions for self-diagnosis (e.g.: “5 Symptoms of ADHD” or “How to tell whether you’re actually autistic”). The premise that self-help content could supposedly help viewers reach a reliable self-diagnosis in a matter of seconds seemed intriguing yet concerning. Are these viral clips helping or harming the younger, more impressionable audiences? To shine a light on this perhaps controversial topic, I decided to speak to a mental health professional.
The following section contains an interview with psychologist, neurodiversity coach, and synaesthesia artist, Maike Preissing. Maike identifies as neurodivergent and experiences life through various forms of synaesthesia, including grapheme colour and pain-to-visual-synaesthesia. For our interview, I decided to ask Maike all about social media, synaesthesia, neurodiversity, and her community-centred work.
- Hello Maike. Thank you for taking the time to answer some of my questions today. To get things started, could you briefly give us some insight into your professional background and describe your forms of synaesthesia and other relevant, or perhaps related, neuro-idiosyncrasies?Hi, yes absolutely. Thank you so much! I’m Maike, I’m a psychologist, synaesthesia artist, podcaster and neurodiversity advocate. As a psychologist, I work with both individuals and groups on a weekly basis, helping them improve their quality of life and better understand their neurological makeup. My advocacy work involves giving talks, conducting awareness trainings, workshops, and interviews, specifically focusing on neurodiversity and synaesthesia. One example of this is my podcast, Let’s Talk Synaesthesia, which I launched in October 2022. Through it, I interview experts and individuals with lived experience, creating a supportive online space for learning and shared experiences. When I describe myself as a synaesthesia artist, I’m referring to how my brain, as a synaesthete, processes sensory input in unique ways—some of my senses are neurologically crossed. For instance, when I hear music or feel pain, I perceive colours in my mind’s eye. Letters and numbers also have colours, and I often see subtitles when listening to people speak.
- I’ve told you a little bit about my research on the booming self-help content on social media. As a clinical professional, what do you think of the genre of short-form self-help videos on topics related to mental health and neurodivergence?Great question. As a professional, I appreciate seeing colleagues discuss important psychological topics, offering listeners the right vocabulary and guidance to explore their struggles. However, there’s a growing trend where medical terms are misused, overused, or watered down by people without the necessary expertise. This can be uncomfortable at best and dangerous at worst.That being said, on a personal level, I am deeply grateful for the self-help content on social media — it has changed my life. Despite my psychology degree, internships, therapy, and numerous doctor’s visits, nothing provided the clarity in the same way that an Instagram post, for instance, did. In 2021, I learned about neurodiversity from creators with lived experience, and it opened my eyes to the root causes of my life-long mental and physical health struggles. It improved my relationship with my family, made me a better psychologist, and most importantly, I can now confidently say that I feel truly happy—and that’s huge.I recognize that my positive experience is partly due to the fact that by 2021, I was 27, a practising psychologist with solid clinical knowledge and the ability to think critically. I’m well aware of the potential harm self-help content can cause for those who don’t have those protective factors. This kind of content is quick, convincing, relatable, and unfortunately, also too often oversimplified, overgeneralized, and inaccurate.
- In your opinion, do popular formats like “Five signs you may be autistic” or “If you do these ten things, you might have ADHD” on Instagram or TikTok do more harm than good?I find these short-form videos more harmful than helpful. The human experience is complex, and so are neurodevelopmental conditions. While I partially blame creators, I also understand that algorithms push them toward content like this—videos under 8 seconds tend to perform better and reach more people. In contrast, well-researched carousel posts or 90-second explanation videos require far more effort and simultaneously receive less engagement. My main concern is that conditions like autism and ADHD are incredibly complex, influenced by factors such as gender, age, upbringing, and comorbidities. Reducing these nuanced topics to bite-sized content can lead to oversimplifications that do more harm than good. There are good and bad ways to approach mental health content, and while I appreciate platforms like Instagram and TikTok, I’m curious (and cautious) about where this trend will lead.
- In my research on language use on social media, I found that the hashtags #neurodivergent and #neurodiversity were quite popular on Instagram. Commonly co-occurring hashtags included variations of #autism, #adhd, and #audhd. Could this be due to the fact that autism and ADHD are amongst the most prevalent diagnoses? Or is social media partially responsible for the misconception that ADHD and autism appear to be more common than they actually are?Great question. I believe autism and ADHD are at the forefront of the conversation because they impact nearly every aspect of a person’s life and are often linked to many common struggles. Additionally, these conditions have historically been underdiagnosed in girls and women, which has only recently begun to gain more attention. While dyslexia is more common overall, I’m not aware of it being similarly underdiagnosed in girls and those assigned female at birth (AFAB), which might explain why the focus on autism and ADHD is louder right now. As for your point about social media contributing to misconceptions around the prevalence of these conditions, I agree that it can get out of hand. However, I believe that a person self-diagnosing ADHD incorrectly is far less harmful than someone going undiagnosed altogether. For example, unemployment and suicide rates are significantly higher among the autistic population, and I’m thrilled to see how this movement is already saving lives.
- Tied to my last question, I was wondering how you assess the current representation of synaesthesia on social media. Would you say it is quite under-represented in comparison to other forms of neurodivergence?That’s a tough one because, as a society, we definitely have bigger issues to tackle. However, I do believe that synaesthesia is underrepresented on social media. I’d especially like to see it included in the popular ’neurodiversity umbrella‘ graphics, as it’s a form of neurodivergence that significantly impacts how someone perceives and understands the world. For synaesthetes, this can sometimes have challenging implications. Unfortunately, synaesthesia resources are still very scattered and difficult to navigate. I started my social media accounts and the Let’s Talk Synaesthesia podcast with the goal of making resources clear, accessible, easy to understand, and rooted in scientific evidence.
- This question is potentially controversial. If the term “neurodivergent” continues to expand to describe more common or widely shared dispositions or experiences, don’t we run the risk of mis-using the term to describe the neurodiversity of life? If everyone is neurodivergent, nobody is neurodivergent, in a sense?I understand where you’re coming from, and it’s a question I’ve asked myself: Are there truly neurotypicals, aren’t we all on many different spectrums of human traits? The challenge is approaching the concept of neurodiversity with nuance, something that the internet often struggles with. The discussion around these terms has great potential to foster understanding and empathy for each other’s ‚innate brain settings,‘ as I like to call them. However, it’s also important to establish clear criteria where we can. The term ’neurodivergent‘ isn’t meant to describe every small variation in cognitive function, but rather to highlight neurotypes that diverge significantly enough to affect daily life in a clinically recognizable way, such as autism or ADHD. As we learn more, particularly about how these conditions manifest across genders, the threshold for neurodivergence might shift. Still, I believe we will always recognize a ’neuromajority,‘ or neurotypicals, in contrast to those who are neurodivergent.
- On the topic of artistic expression and community-building, I wanted to ask you about your podcast. What would you say is your main mission or vision for Let’s Talk Synaesthesia?My main mission with Let’s Talk Synaesthesia (LTS) is to help people feel less alone. I want to create a space where synaesthetes can gain the confidence to openly discuss their experiences. This happens by hearing others share their stories proudly and by learning the vocabulary to express themselves confidently. At the same time, LTS is meant to be an educational platform for everyone. The resources available on synaesthesia are still quite scattered, and I want to help bring clarity and accessibility to the conversation. What I’ve mentioned so far is more of the current mission, but if I think about the future, I’d love to expand the podcast even further. My dream would be to have famous artists and musicians like Pharrell Williams or Billie Eilish on the show, as they also experience synaesthesia. That would bring even more visibility and understanding to this unique way of perceiving the world.
- Would you say it has been harder to reach younger generations, such as GenZ, through the medium of long-form podcasts? Or can long-form content co-exist with the popular short-form clips we see on most platforms nowadays?Reaching younger generations, like Gen Z, through long-form podcasts might be a bit challenging, but I think the difficulty lies in growing a podcast audience in general! Just as there are countless books available, there are now an overwhelming number of podcasts too. However, I’m confident that Let’s Talk Synaesthesia has a unique selling point, and I’m proud of that. My hope is to see the LTS community grow organically, attracting a diverse, intergenerational audience. While Gen Z may seem more inclined toward short-form content, I’ve noticed that multitasking while consuming longer content like listening to podcasts while washing up, commuting, or shopping actually aligns with Gen Z habits. So, I do believe there is room for long-form content to co-exist with the shorter clips popular on most platforms today.
- Finally, I would love to see examples of your synaesthesia art. Can you share one or two of your favourite pieces and explain the synaesthetic experiences behind it?Absolutely! Here are two of my favourite pieces so far:
Synaesthesia art: pain visual synaesthesia (c) Maike Preissing Period Cramps / Pain Visual Synaesthesia: As someone with a uterus, I experience the same kind of pain every month. While headaches or stomach aches often appear differently, period cramps always look quite similar: dark blue and dark red dense clouds slowly and sluggishly moving through my mind’s eye. I can almost feel the pain just by visualizing it.
Synaesthesia art: Months of the year (c) Maike Preissing Months of the Year / Colour Synaesthesia: To me, each month of the year has its own distinct visual representation. This form of synesthesia is influenced by grapheme-colour synaesthesia, where colours are linked with letters or numbers. Each month is associated with specific colours and arranged in unique patterns that reflect my personal perception. You can see more of my art on my Instagram profile, @synaesthes_a or on my website, synesthesia.at.
- Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and expertise with our #YouthMediaLife readership. I wish you all the best with your artistic projects, podcast, and professional endeavours and am sure we will be reading, seeing, and hearing more of you in the future!You are more than welcome. Thank you so much for helping us raise awareness and asking such important questions.
Dr. Barbara Katharina Reschenhofer is a member of #YouthMediaLife and obtained her PhD in English and American Studies at the University of Vienna. She is currently most interested in researching well-being in academia, identity and belonging in Higher Education, multimodality, and narratives about complex human emotion in poetry and prose.
Maike Preissing is a practising psychologist, neurodiversity advocate, and synaesthesia artist with a degree from the University of Innsbruck. Over the past five years, she has worked as a neurodiversity coach and launched her podcast Let’s Talk Synaesthesia in 2021. At 30, Maike is neurodivergent and experiences over 10 forms of synaesthesia.