While some may consider their deep and dark feelings as sadness, others experience such feelings in an amplified manner, causing them to become depressed. By not having the motivation to get out of bed, eat, complete simple hygiene tasks such as a shower or brushing one’s teeth, most significantly not being motivated to attend work or school, depression can take over the lives of those who experience the symptoms. When one is feeling as though they are drowning in sorrow and desolation, it can impact their life in significant ways, causing them to eat too much or not enough, fail to get out of bed, lose interest in normal activity, impact their sleep schedule- causing too much or too little sleep, and even make them feel as though they are unable to leave their home. In extreme cases, depression can lead to suicidal thoughts or actions, causing a person to harm themselves or even end their life due to the melancholy that consumes their being. It is of critical importance that anyone struggling with depression gets the help they need, through therapy, or another positive outlet which they feel comfortable indulging in to cope with the sad thoughts that consume one’s mind. When consulting the correct form of therapy, one is able to move past their depressive state and resume normal behaviors and life activities. The outlet in which one chooses to consult may differ depending on the person. While some people choose to turn to a therapist, close friend or family member, others choose to find a community on social media who becomes their rock during that period of time.
Throughout history, the stigma behind mental health, more importantly depression, has changed dramatically from generation to generation. While some generations considered any depressive or sorrowful feelings to be a hoax, others found them to be extremely important. Within recent years, the concept of a “mental health day” from school or work in order to cure the depressive episode one may be suffering from at the time has been normalized. Not only has the mindset and acceptance level regarding depression changed over time, the way in which sufferers choose to cope with their sadness does as well. Several decades ago, the mood disorder would have been overlooked and those who had fallen into the deep dark hole of depression would have been told to “toughen up”, at least those of whom chose to make their sadness known. Over the past several years, depression awareness has been on the rise, allowing those who feel as though they are drowning in sadness to use necessary resources to gain relief. Not only has the societal acceptance and recognition of depression evolved over time, the ways in which folks choose to cope with their symptoms has as well. Some choose to attend regularly scheduled therapy sessions, whereas others turn to online communities made up of members who share their same struggle and sorrow to find relief.
With the never ending growth of social media platforms, it is extremely common for teens to spend a majority of their time online. Through the increased time spent on platforms such as TikTok, it is easy for the platform to be accused of causing a decline in the mental health of teens. Sources claim that TikTok increases viewer’s levels of depression by seeing the so-called “perfect lives” of content creators, when in reality the viewers’ lives look completely different, making the app out to be extremely unrealistic. In reality, the platform is perceived to be helpful to teens, causing them to experience joy and happiness, as they are able to connect with others who feel similarly to themselves within a dark time. By viewing videos on the app created by other content creators who have fought the dark feelings of depression, teen viewers are able to understand the way in which someone who has experienced a similar form of adversity has managed and survived the deep, dark, feelings of depression. With the help of content creators sharing their encounter with depressive thoughts and feelings, more awareness is able to be spread throughout the platform, reaching those who need it most. By an influx of videos being posted on the app, a stronger community is able to be formed, allowing each and every viewer to find a content creator whose circumstance they relate to most, serving as a companion for the viewer.
The TikTok algorithm contains a component that is similar to that of therapy, as it caters to the interest of the viewer, and what they find to be most interesting and helpful for their experience with the app. With this as a built-in feature of the app since its creation, some users may turn to the online platform to cure their depression, rather than a therapist or another form. Through the help of the creators on the app, the users are able to gain strategies which will help them overcome the grueling feelings of their depression, which contribute to the recovery of the individual. With the guidance and first hand experience of the creator, who may be an age close to that of a viewer, who went through the same or similar struggles, it allows the short video of the creator to serve as therapy for the depressed user. If the user feels extremely impacted by the advice and first hand account of the content creator who struggled with depression, then they may continue to reference and follow along with that specific creator’s journey within the recovery of depression, providing consistent relief for the now follower of the content. In extreme cases, one may even comment on a video or message a creator to speak more about the way in which they may have coped with their depression and lack of motivation, allowing them to form a community and find a friend and confidant on the app which serves as their theoretical therapy. Through the comment section on videos, a user may find others who have struggled with their battle with depression, allowing the community to consistently grow, reaching a larger audience who will be impacted by the testimonies of others.
References
Avella, H. (2023). “TikTok ≠ therapy”: Mediating mental health and algorithmic mood disorders. New Media & Society, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/14614448221147284Tang X, Ding X and Zhou Z. (2023).
Towards Equitable Online Participation: A Case of Older Adult Content Creators’ Role Transition on Short-form Video Sharing Platforms. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction. 7:CSCW2. (1-22). Online publication date: 28-Sep-2023.
Counterintuitive Fall 2024 
Sunflower, the bold sections below, which ZeroGPT suspects are AI-generated, don’t actually appear particularly useful, and aren’t nearly the best writing in this essay. In this first section, “awareness” of depression is “on the rise,” supposedly leading to . . . sufferers seeking “necessary resources”? I assume your mention of “therapy sessions” and “online communities” later in the same paragraph resolves the mystery of “resources,” but the “necessary” and the “awareness” claim are peculiar, as if depression didn’t need amelioration before awareness. Is it possible you mean SUFFERERS didn’t know what they were suffering, or that it could be treated, until THEY became aware of the condition? Before it had a name and was widely recognized? You could try that fix. Here’s the section at issue:
Over the past several years, depression awareness has been on the rise, allowing those who feel as though they are drowning in sadness to use necessary resources to gain relief. Not only has the societal acceptance and recognition of depression evolved over time, the ways in which folks choose to cope with their symptoms has as well. Some choose to attend regularly scheduled therapy sessions, whereas others turn to online communities made up of members who share their same struggle and sorrow to find relief.
In the two sentences below, the claim appears to be that TikTok is an easy target because it’s a common teenage passion. You’ll need more than that to make that claim that anybody should be emboldened to draw the connection on the basis of time spent. WHAT THEY DO on TikTok or what TikTok does to them would be the causal agents; how much time they spend on the platform would contribute only to the strength of the effect. Right? Here’s the section at issue:
With the never ending growth of social media platforms, it is extremely common for teens to spend a majority of their time online. Through the increased time spent on platforms such as TikTok, it is easy for the platform to be accused of causing a decline in the mental health of teens.
Yes, I’m ridiculously critical of these claims, but I wouldn’t have spent so much time on them if they hadn’t been flagged. If ZeroGPT is wrong about the source, the critique stands. But if it’s right, my advice is to be very wary of anything AI suggests as good argument. It doesn’t know what it’s saying.
Now on to a looser examination of the remaining 80% of your work. 🙂
I’m unsure why it was flagged as I wrote all of that myself. I have never used AI or Chat GPT considering it scares me that technology is able to generate and formulate an essay. I don’t even know how to use it or where I even access it because I always do my own work. I apologize for the confusion, but I appreciate your comments and feedback!
It’s hard not to sound accusatory in these cases, Sunflower828, but the availability of the technology has created an extra burden of verification for your overworked professors. In this case, you have to take responsibility for all those fuzzy claims I was blaming Chat for. 🙂
For the record, AI is nothing to be afraid of for students. I think it’s incredibly powerful at gathering noise on any subject. It doesn’t know what it’s saying, but YOU might, and it can kick up some clever insights even if by accident. Just don’t quote it; it’s a moron.
I completely understand and I will fix what I wrote so it sounds much better. Thank you.
I can’t get too far into your essay without wanting to help you with some grammar/syntax blemishes on your otherwise capable writing, Sunflower826.
I hope you’re OK with that. You didn’t specify what sort of Feedback you want.
Below is your Introduction with bold to indicate problem areas (some are hard to highlight).
While some may consider their deep and dark feelings as sadness, others experience such feelings in an amplified manner, causing them to become depressed. By not having the motivation to get out of bed, eat, complete simple hygiene tasks such as a shower or brushing one’s teeth, most significantly not being motivated to attend work or school, depression can take over the lives of those who experience the symptoms. When one is feeling as though they are drowning in sorrow and desolation, it can impact their life in significant ways, causing them to eat too much or not enough, fail to get out of bed, lose interest in normal activity, impact their sleep schedule—causing too much or too little sleep, and even make them feel as though they are unable to leave their home. In extreme cases, depression can lead to suicidal thoughts or actions, causing a person to harm themselves or even end their life due to the melancholy that consumes their being. It is of critical importance that anyone struggling with depression gets the help they need, through therapy, or another positive outlet which they feel comfortable indulging in to cope with the sad thoughts that consume one’s mind. When consulting the correct form of therapy, one is able to move past their depressive state and resume normal behaviors and life activities. The outlet in which one chooses to consult may differ depending on the person. While some people choose to turn to a therapist, close friend or family member, others choose to find a community on social media who becomes their rock during that period of time.
Below is a revised version with the bold items revised for clarity and correctness. The predominant problem is a Pronoun Disagreement in Number. You consistently mix singulars like “a person” with “their problems.” It’s increasingly OK in conversation but not so acceptable in formal writing.
While some may consider their deep and dark feelings as sadness, others experience such feelings in an amplified manner, causing them to become depressed. By ROBBING SUFFERERS OF the motivation to get out of bed, eat, complete simple hygiene tasks such as a shower or brushing one’s teeth, depression can take over the lives of those who experience the symptoms. Other significant impacts are the lack of motivation to attend work or school, the feeling of drowning in sorrow and desolation, that cause overeating, undereating, oversleeping, under-sleeping, loss of interest in normal activity, even the inability to leave the home. In extreme cases, the melancholy that consumes their being can lead to suicidal thoughts or actions, causing sufferers to harm themselves or even end their life. It is of critical importance that depressed individuals get therapy, or any compatible outlet to cope with the all-consuming sadness. The correct form of therapy, moves sufferers past their depressive state and helps them resume normal behaviors and life activities. While some people turn to a therapist, close friend or family member, others find a communities on social media that become their rock.
Admittedly, I did a little more than just change pronouns. The other blemish on your work is the failure to write “parallel” phrases in series. Your sentences are very long, stringy, and lose their way. If you start saying:
. . . you’re writing a series about the SUFFERERS. You can’t move forward with a new list about DEPRESSION in the same series . . .
Thank you so much for this comment, I recognize what you are saying and I need to fix it ASAP as it is now bothering me to read my own writing! Thanks again!
You are such a joy.
It’s also easy, when writing long sentences, to lose track of what’s the subject, as you do in this sentence that starts with the always-dangerous “By verbing . . . ” construction.
By not having the motivation to get out of bed, eat, complete simple hygiene tasks such as a shower or brushing one’s teeth, most significantly not being motivated to attend work or school, depression can take over the lives of those who experience the symptoms.
You certainly didn’t intend to claim that depression doesn’t have the motivation to get out of bed, but, because there’s no other subject to attach to all those verbs, your sentence says depression oversleeps.
I understand what you mean here and I will fix it, thank you.
This may not be the feedback you yearned for, Sunflower828, but you left me to my own devices. I’ll need to see significant revisions before I come back to you with more (if you can take it). When you return, please advise me if you want help with something different.
For the moment, Sunflower, you may feel you need to overwrite to ACHIEVE a MINIMUM of 1000 words. I hope over the next weeks, you’ll know so much you’ll have to work as hard to REDUCE your language to a MAXIMUM of 1000 words.
If you say this in your Introduction:
No reader will fail to hear the near-match echo in your second paragraph:
Thank you so much for all of your feedback! I have taken your revisions and applied them to my definition argument hoping to improve it. I was wondering if you could please give me feedback on the argument and mechanics portion of my essay? Thank you very much, I appreciate all of the time you spend providing feedback to better my work.
The first thing I’ll do is check your paragraphs for unity. They seem overlong. Every paragraph should have a topic sentence (like a thesis, but for a paragraph) and develop that main idea to the exclusion of other business.
If I find a natural break inside your paragraphs, I’ll add a line space temporarily so you can see where the next paragraph might begin.
You should know in 15 minutes whether your paragraphs develop a single main idea, or whether they might actually be two paragraphs.
I inserted just one line break. Your paragraphs are long because they’re wordy, not because you’re developing two main ideas. We’ll work on that when we get to the Rhetoric feedback. I’ll come back soon to help with Argument. We’ve already addressed several Mechanical problems with sentence construction, parallelism, stringy sentences. There’s still plenty of that. But for Rhetoric, I want to concentrate on how to populate your essay with some people. Every time you resort to a passive verb construction, you take people out of the story. This is a story that could really sing if we had some characters to care about. And yes, that can still qualify as an academic paper. A very nice academic paper. I’ll be back as soon as I can.