The Viral Crashout That May Change TikTok for the Better

The TikToker who fell in love with her psychiatrist made headlines for all the wrong reasons—but more and more, I saw a growing chorus of content creators who were asking people to stop, think, and scroll away.

By Alise Morales | August 22, 2025 | 10:45am

Photo: iStockphoto In Depth

The Viral Crashout That May Change TikTok for the Better

Earlier this month, on TikTok, an alarming yet familiar story began to unfold. “I fell in love with my psychiatrist, and he knew and he kept me until I had the strength to leave after four years,” 36-year-old Kendra Hilty began in a video that would eventually become the viral “I Fell in Love with My Psychiatrist” series. Almost immediately, viewers clocked that Hilty was in the middle of a crashout.

Hitly’s emotional, public breakdown—in which she misinterpreted a normal therapeutic relationship as dripping in romantic subtext—was quickly labeled as “delusional.” But, even though she was very clearly posting through a mental health crisis, and possibly experiencing symptoms of AI-induced psychosis (as evidenced by her AI Chatbot Henry gassing her up as some kind of messiah), TikTokers were happy to go along for the 34-part ride.

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Until they weren’t.

@sarahmsiegelThe woman in love with her psychiatrist is not well. don’t know how this isn’t clear.♬ original sound – sarah siegel 🇨🇦

As someone who covers internet culture here and on my podcast, I admit, I watched Kendra’s story from the beginning. But what interested me most wasn’t that someone’s mental health was falling apart in real time, but that, as Kendra’s story progressed, TikTok started talking about it differently. “It is very clear that Kendra is not OK mentally,” creator Cindy Noir said in one video, “and I refuse to use my platform to egg on a clear mental health episode.” As always, some content creators tried to capitalize on Kendra for themselves, with “explainer” videos, POV characters, or, in one particularly gross case, a roundup of her “most delusional moments.” But more and more, I watched a growing chorus of content creators who were asking people to stop, think, and, perhaps most powerfully, scroll away.

@thecindynoirI don’t think the I fell in love with my psychiatrist saga should’ve gotten as big as it has.♬ original sound – Cindy Noir✨

Of course, this is far from the first time a mental health episode has played out on social media, and conversations around the ethics of turning this type of behavior into entertainment go back even longer. It’s hard not to see something like “I Fell in Love with My Psychiatrist” as a DIY reality show with somehow even less protections in place for its star. There was no casting process, there’s no production team, and there’s certainly no insurance company waiting in the wings to pull the plug if something goes really, really wrong.

In 2022, YouTuber Gabbi Hanna’s 2022 had a similar episode on TikTok that led to an IRL wellness check, and earlier this year, Onijah Robinson, also known as the “American Woman in Pakistan,” who flew to Karachi and refused to leave after being married in an online ceremony to a 19-year-old she’d never met, was safely returned to the U.S.—only after being detained in Dubai. In both those instances, the women in question suffered from bipolar disorder, and, in both instances, while many people in the comments expressed concern for their mental health, none were so concerned that they would stop watching.

But the conversations around Hilty’s crashout seem to quickly morph from “Oh my god, I can’t look away” to “What is it saying about us that we can’t look away?” I started to feel like maybe her story could signal a turning point. “[The Kendra Hilty Saga] is also a Black Mirror episode because it calls into question the audience participation in the saga itself,” creator @tayyy.jpeg said in her own viral video. Over time, I began to see videos like this one, where the focus wasn’t on Kendra and her crashout, but the viewing public and our own complicity in propping up someone who is clearly unwell.

@tayyy.jpeg “I fell in love with my psychiatrist” is a black mirror episode #fyp ♬ original sound – It’s Tay

On social media, engagement is currency. Views, likes, shares, comments, and stitches fuel the algorithm, boost narratives, and create conversation. @Tayyy.jpeg’s video got over 200,000 views, 37,000 likes, and 800 comments full of sentiments like, “The people who livestream their reactions to her livestreams need some ethical awareness,” and “She would absolutely not be where she is right now if her first video has [sic] tanked. The views are fueling her more than AI is.” Currently, TikTok’s “Top Liked” video on the subject isn’t one of the hundreds still up making fun of her, but rather this video by psychiatrist Agam Dhawan breaking down the situation from a medical perspective. His video has 6.5 million views, 492,000 likes, and over 6,000 comments.

@agamdhawanmdI’m a psychiatrist, here’s my thoughts on this viral video series♬ original sound – Agam Dhawan, MD

Maybe I’m naive, but the shifting conversation around this viral mental health episode gives me hope that this form of online entertainment could be on its way out the door. We often look back at early 2000s reality shows like The Swan or There’s Something About Miriam with horror, and early America’s Next Top Model episodes are constantly revisited and analyzed by modern standards. And while there are some disturbing signs we may be regressing in that regard (Nick Viall’s new age gap dating show–I’m looking at you), the overton window on what we as a society think is acceptable to put reality TV stars through has shifted, however slowly, for the better. Mental health services are provided, alcohol intake is monitored, and abusive men like Jax Taylor are–eventually–removed from our screens.

If you search “I Fell in Love with My Psychiatrist” on TikTok today, you’ll find no shortage of crass voyeurism and desperate “hot takes,” but you won’t have to look too hard to find the push back, either. I believe that if that chorus grows louder and the pushback harder, maybe it will be enough for people to finally, mercifully, scroll away.

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