Here is why TikTok trend on manic cleaning may be a problematic trend

It's not uncommon to pick up your cleaning tools and go on a mission to tidy up your house. The trend on manic cleaning is labeling individuals for displaying relatively 'typical' behavior. TikTokers are recording themselves while frantically cleaning, calling these bursts of energy potentially 'manic.'

Social media is a powerful tool to raise awareness about mental health issues. However, it can sometimes also become a carrier of misinformation. Mania is a mental health issue characterized by abnormally elevated energy level and needs to be handled sensitively.

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What is manic cleaning?

Manic cleaning can be a word that misinforms individuals of mental health conditions. (Image via Unsplash/Jeshoots.com)

What separates manic cleaning from normal cleaning behaviors? It's important to note that all mental health issues are disruptive in nature and affect your daily functioning. Most importantly, the associated behaviors don't stem from boredom.

Manic cleaning can either stem from mood disorders or be considered an episode of obsessive cleaning. That naturally leads to a lot of distress and anxiety if you find your room unclean. Try understanding the nature and impact of cleaning on your life. Do these sudden episodes impact your work life, relationship or self-concept?

Manic cleaning can also have biological dispositions. It means that you can have a family history of bipolar disorder or obsessive-compulsive disorder that may predispose you to developing certain symptoms.

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What is the impact of the manic cleaning trend?

What is the impact of trends like these? (Image via Vecteezy/Natalia Gdovskaia)

This trend has triggered many individuals with symptoms of mania. For them, it's disheartening to see that a trend is tossing around a psychiatric diagnosis casually. The words and labels we use to describe mental health conditions are sensitive. When they are used colloquially, it creates a wave of insensitivity and invalidation.

Mood disorders are serious conditions that cause many to experience limitations. Mania is not the same as being excited and cleaning over the weekend.

It's not the same as being bored and trying to build a cleaning hobby. Rather, it's a period of extreme energy, restlessness, impulsiveness and often poor decision-making.

To reiterate, cleaning your house with a burst of energy is not the same as a manic episode. Someone experiencing a manic episode may clean the entire house without sleeping.

They may also drop messages to everyone to come over, irrespective of their closeness. Again, it's just one way in which a manic episode may manifest. Only a licenced mental health professional can help you arrive at a diagnosis.

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While TikTok trends are here to stay, we must be aware of the potential effects of the media on us. Not all things trending are aimed at increasing our awareness. The key is to be mindful as a consumer and not use terms like manic cleaning casually.

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Janvi Kapur is a counselor with a Master's degree in applied psychology with a specialization in clinical psychology.

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