However, it wasn't drugs or alcohol that had a hold on her, but rather the persuasive content she encountered on the platform that convinced her she was transgender.
Eskridge, now 16, from Missoula, Montana, explained to The Post that she came across TikTok videos by influencers who claimed that transitioning had saved their lives.
Struggling with depression at the time, she saw transitioning as a way to find salvation. "I was struggling and wanted it to save my life, too," she told South West News Service.
Eskridge's experience is not unique. As part of what has been dubbed "Generation COVID," she spent a significant amount of time on social media during the pandemic.
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On TikTok alone, hashtags such as #transgender and #trans have amassed billions of views.
According to research conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2022, TikTok has a massive impact on up to 67% of teenagers aged 13 to 17. A study by the Shanghai United International School in China in 2021 found that the digital space contains "over-exaggeration content that shapes teenagers' values in a misleading way."
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The Center for Countering Digital Hate also conducted an investigation in December 2022, which revealed that TikTok's algorithm funnels harmful content, including suicide and eating disorders, to adolescents within minutes of creating a profile.
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The Post's own undercover investigation in March 2023 found that the app directed visually persuasive content to teenagers.
Eskridge believes that being transgender has become a TikTok trend, particularly among teen girls aged 12 to 14. She acknowledges that many of the trans teens on TikTok genuinely believe they are transgender and that TikTok did not cause their feelings, as she once did.
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However, she claims that only about 1% of trans teens on TikTok are actually transgender, while the rest are influenced by the platform.
Her parents, Sean and Darcy, initially had doubts about Eskridge's transgender identity. They supported her decision to live as a male but questioned her about it. "We told her we would accept her for who she is but how we didn't feel this was the right path for her," said Darcy.
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Despite their concerns, Eskridge proceeded with the gender transition. She legally changed her name to "Greysen" and began taking testosterone at the age of 16.
However, she soon realized that the changes felt unnatural to her. Her voice dropping and the growth of body hair made her uncomfortable. She admitted that she missed being a girl and found living as a male exhausting.
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Eskridge's breaking point came when she had a dream that she was a girl. This prompted her to detransition in April 2023, with the support of her parents. While they were initially shocked, they also felt a sense of relief as they had never believed it was the right path for her.
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However, detransitioning proved to be a challenging journey for Eskridge and strained some of her close relationships. Many of her friends had believed she was born male, and after detransitioning, she lost many of them.
The number of children reporting "gender dysphoria" has been on the rise in the West. In the UK, between 2009 and 2019, there was a 1,000% increase in referrals for transitioning treatment among those assigned male at birth and a 4,400% increase among those assigned female.
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In the US, the number of young people identifying as transgender has almost doubled since 2017, reaching approximately 300,000, according to research from the University of California's Williams Institute and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2022.
While detransitioning is not common, past research has shown that up to 86% of trans adults feel that transitioning was the right long-term decision for them.
A study by the Fenway Institute and Massachusetts General Hospital found that about 13% of people who underwent "gender-affirming transition" had detransitioned at some point. Of those, 82.5% cited external factors such as family pressure or difficulty finding a job as the reasons for detransitioning.
Since returning to living as a woman, Eskridge and her parents have become advocates for better mental health care for teens and are calling for an age limit of 18 for gender-affirming care.
They believe that chemical or surgical intervention should not be pursued during adolescence. Eskridge has also become a detransitioning advocate on TikTok, sharing her story and raising awareness about the potential dangers of transitioning at a young age.
In a confessional video on TikTok, which garnered over 2.2 million views, Eskridge admitted that she had made a mistake and realized she was wrong about being transgender.
She emphasized her support for transgender people but acknowledged that she had been influenced by social media. Since detransitioning, she has found relief from her mental health problems and is now happy.
Ash Eskridge's journey serves as a cautionary tale about the influence of social media, particularly on vulnerable teenagers. While TikTok and other platforms can provide a sense of community and support, they can also perpetuate misleading narratives and contribute to the rise in gender dysphoria among young people.
It is essential for parents, educators, and mental health professionals to be aware of these influences and provide appropriate guidance and support to teenagers who may be struggling with their gender identity.
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