Bizarre TikTok Trend Sees Healthcare Workers Film Themselves After A Patient Dies
Doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers are taking to social video platform TikTok to share their reactions following the death of a patient.
The new TikTok trend is supposed to highlight how healthcare workers and those in the medical profession get affected in their day-to-day jobs, however it's being ripped to shreds by people online.
Twitter users have lashed out at the cringey viral trend and accused the creators of using death for 'clout'.
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One Twitter user said: "I had a lot of people die on my watch during the pandemic - like a LOT; and this type of performative garbage makes me furious on a level I can’t articulate."
A second added: "Gee, a patient died. Let me set up my cell phone, and make a video of how traumatised I am."
A third made a very harsh point: "When you are emotionally upset at the loss of a life (rightfully so) but then draw attention to yourself so others can see that you're upset, then it is no longer about the person who died or their memory, but rather about yourself. That is called narcissism."
The Daily Mail says several people on TikTok have jumped on the trend. The videos typically show a healthcare worker looking visibly distressed while either looking into the camera or looking away.
Sometimes text will accompany the video explaining what happened to the patient.
LADbible has chosen not to include the name of the TikTok accounts of those who have made videos of this trend to protect their online safety.
The backlash has been so severe on social media that some of the content creators have turned off the comments on their videos.
Others who went viral have also now deactivated their accounts entirely, likely due to criticisms over the trend.
There's no denying that working in healthcare can be incredibly difficult, especially for mental health.
Treating sick patients, manage case loads, juggle waiting times, deal with rowdy people or family members and all the rest can take its toll on people in the industry.
A 2016 study from Cardiff University found that nearly 60 per cent of doctors 'have experienced some form of mental illness and psychological problems at various stages in their career', according to CKN.
And that's just during a normal day.
Consider the mental health toll that the coronavirus pandemic had on every single person who worked in healthcare over the last two and half years.
So, it's understandable that some medics express their mental health struggles in different ways to other people.
Rachel Lang