TikTok succumbs to the wrath of the mommies group: TikTok is working on parental control tools to protect teens from inappropriate videos, according to a statement. The popular video-sharing platform will also introduce screen time limits, with a one-hour daily limit for teens below 18. The younger users will be required to enter a passcode to continue watching videos if they want to binge beyond the limit. A 60-minute limit is also set for users under 13, with a parent needed to enter the passcode to allow access to 30 minutes of additional binge time. The new tools come amid growing criticism globally of content on the popular video-sharing platform and user data protection.

---

Psychedelic treatments could provide hope for anorexia sufferers, reports the Financial Times. Anorexics are often held captive by a powerful self-regulatory system in their prefrontal cortex which governs everything from social expectations to personal values. It leads to the reflex that makes some of us eat when we’re not hungry — because a co-worker brought cake into work for example — or in severe cases, not eat, because we’re afraid of putting on weight. It can be difficult for anorexics to distance themselves from the illness due to an overpowering system.

A journey to inner clarity? Clinical trials have integrated traditional therapy before dosings of psychedelic drugs, placing the patient in a session or “trip” that lasts six to eight hours. The trip provides successful patients with a “window of neuroplasticity,” a period of time in which they are given space from controlling thoughts that can be leveraged for behavioral change, says the FT. One patient said that following her experience, she had the mental capacity to ask herself, “Ok, now, you have a fresh start…Do you want to go back and live that way? Do you want to let that control you?”

Still, the clinical trials are not 100% successful: Why the “window” opens for some patients is currently unknown. And the results of the trials have been inconclusive, with little indication that they help patients put on weight and signs that patients may need repeat sessions. However, companies like biotech firm Compass Pathways have reported positive indicators during clinical tests for anorexia as well as depression and PTSD. Psychedelic drugs are “no magic solution” though, Compass Pathways' founder Ekaterina Malievskaia said. There is also a risk that the use of psychedelics as treatment will feed into a larger movement to “biologize” mental illnesses, ignoring cultural dynamics such as social media, which also contribute to the problem, according to Rebecca Lester, a psychological professor and anthropologist.