"I refuse to believe this is a real planet": Internet reacts to experts warning TikTok ban could cause withdrawal symptoms

The latest thing about the TikTok ban is that experts are sounding the alarm. Apparently, if TikTok gets the boot in the U.S., users could face withdrawal symptoms.

Dr. Anna Lembke, a psychiatrist at Stanford University, revealed this in an interview with The Post. So, if you stop TikTok cold turkey, brace yourselves for anxiety, irritability, insomnia, and depression.

And, because nothing’s ever simple, there’s also the cravings—intense, desperate, can’t-sleep-without-checking cravings.

We can already hear the internet typing its defenses at the speed of light. One X user declared: "I refuse to believe this is a real planet."

Another user added: “They treating TikTok like it’s crack now 😭”

A user highlighted: “men used to go to war.”

Meanwhile, a user reacted with a hilarious meme.

A user suggested: “Touching grass cures those symptoms.”

“This generation 🙃”, a user commented.

A comment read: “Bro TikTok is rotting our brains imagine getting a withdrawal symptom because you can't scroll on TikTok 💀💀”

---

Psychological impact of a TikTok ban

Experts in psychology and social media addiction have now taken the stage, explaining what losing access to TikTok could do to society. Dr. Anna Lembke told The Post:

“The universal symptoms of withdrawal from any addictive substance are extreme anxiety, irritability, insomnia, depression and cravings – and people who are addicted to TikTok, if they stop using it abruptly, may experience any or all of these symptoms.”

Dr. Victoria Dunckley, a child psychiatrist, added:

“TikTok is really a stimulation addiction, so to not have that constant dopamine input people get from scrolling, they may feel listless, like they don’t know what to do with themselves, and they could physically feel tired, like they’re crashing from that lack of stimulation input.”

“If someone is really psychologically entrenched in TikTok, they also might feel lost, and like their ego has been fractured, because the app kind of created a scaffolding around their persona, and formed the ways they think and live and interact.”

In a universe where cat videos and dank memes no longer exist, humans are depressed.

But don’t take their word for it—users are also sharing their concerns. One high school student absolutely couldn’t even imagine life without TikTok.

She told The New York Times that her day is basically just one big TikTok binge on repeat. Her “instant gratification” addiction is real.

One user told the media outlet that they wouldn’t even know how to cope without their daily TikTok fix of humor and entertainment.

It's a dark place, people.

---

Background on the TikTok ban

The U.S. Supreme Court decided in January 2025 that TikTok’s days in the U.S. might be numbered. The federal government had the green light to pull the plug unless TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, cuts its ties.

It followed the bipartisan legislation aimed at tackling national security concerns. Apparently, Uncle Sam wasn’t too keen on the idea of personal data allegedly making its way to China.

ByteDance had a very tight deadline to figure things out: either sell TikTok or risk a full-blown U.S. ban. Enforcement of this TikTok ultimatum was set to kick off on January 19, 2025.

---

Donald Trump's executive order

Just when everyone thought the TikTok saga was hitting its final season, President Trump, on January 20, 2025, came up with an executive order. Instead of shutting things down immediately, the order hit the pause button on the TikTok ban for 75 days.

So, for now, TikTok users can keep scrolling like it’s business as usual, while negotiations for a potential sale play out behind the scenes.

Now, if TikTok doesn’t manage to divest from ByteDance within the extended grace period, it’s over … again.

Even tech titans like Apple and Google could be in hot water. Hosting the app post-ban could land them in legal trouble, and nobody wants to see Tim Cook or Sundar Pichai getting dragged into court because you wanted to watch a dog learn to skateboard.

---