Psychologists urge parents to watch out for ‘sadfishing’ practices on social media

Although social media have been accused of overemphasizing idealized lifestyles and looks, psychologists are now cautioning against the opposite extreme: users exaggerating negative emotions to gain sympathy.

It’s called “sadfishing,” and it’s a trend that’s especially concerning for children and teenagers whose self-image is only budding and whose mental health is most at risk, according to Kristina Behr for Parents.com.

Behr cited a 2023 study published in the BMC Psychology journal in which participants in sadfishing showed symptoms of anxiety and depression.

“This type of behavior signifies feeling isolated from peers and family members emotionally and not having an outlet to express their frustrations,” said Liz Nissim-Matheis, Ph.D. and owner of Psychological & Educational Consulting in Livingston, New Jersey.

“It comes off as attention seeking, and sometimes it is, but I don’t think it comes from a place of feeling content and happy.”

‘Emotional problems to hook an audience’ 

The term “sadfishing” arose after celebrity Kris Jenner posted a video of her daughter, Kendall Jenner, on Instagram in 2019 describing her “most raw story,” which turned out to be a struggle with acne. 

When people learned the post was part of Jenner’s skincare partnership with Proactiv, journalist Rebecca Reid called it sadfishing, or using “emotional problems to hook an audience on the internet.” 

“I can’t help wondering if in our attempts to normalize sadness, we might accidentally have incentivized it, and ended up making our lives a little bit worse,” Reid wrote in an article for the Metro, a tabloid newspaper in the U.K. 

Researchers agree. A 2024 study showed sadfishing tends to occur among undergraduate college students “who had trouble coping with complicated issues or used social media while intoxicated.” 

“We all may be guilty of posting something vulnerable and emotional on social media from time to time, which isn’t a bad thing,” Behr writes. “But excessive posting could be a sign of a larger mental health issue in teens or a cry for help.” 

Potential consequences of excessive social media posting include exposing children to predatory behavior, online bullying and privacy violations. 

Parents should provide ‘safe space’ for teens, limit screen time 

Psychologists advise parents to emphasize the importance of in-person interactions and communities to their children, while limiting their time on screens. 

“Offering a safe space for kids to open up without judgment of their feelings is incredibly important during these formative years,” said Reena B. Patel, a licensed educational psychologist and board-certified behavior analyst. 

Instead of pointing out any negative posts, parents could try a more indirect approach to help their children feel comfortable sharing details, Nissim-Matheis suggests, such as saying something like “I can see you’re hurting. I’m here to listen if there is something on your mind that you want to talk about or brainstorm about.”