r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • 16d ago

Neuroscience ADHD misinformation on TikTok is shaping young adults’ perceptions. An analysis of the 100 most-viewed TikTok videos related to ADHD revealed that fewer than half the claims about symptoms actually align with clinical guidelines for diagnosing ADHD.

https://news.ubc.ca/2025/03/adhd-misinformation-on-tiktok/
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u/ModernWarBear 16d ago

As someone who has a wife with clinically diagnosed ADHD, a lot of the videos are scary accurate but I recognize that many of them glorify it and blame every little thing on being neurodivergent.

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u/Fussel2107 16d ago edited 16d ago

I feel there is a certain disconnect between the inside and outside world of ADHD.

ADHD is a diagnosis geared towards children, and its diagnostics heavily favor the outside view, completely neglecting the inner workings of an individual. As an example: an important criteria is how together or not a person's life is. If they can hold a job, pay their bills etc. (outside view) What is NOT taken into account is how much energy a person has to expedite to achieve minimal "togetherness".

How many hours do they need to sleep after work? How many unpaid bills do they currently have? How does their apartment look, even if they look put together? How many trash bags are currently waiting for them to take outside? When was the last time they cleaned their windows? How many times a month do they do their dishes? What did they have for breakfast yesterday (and can they actually remember)? How much anxiety is connected to them "failing" bills, cleaning, punctuality? What does it cost to achieve a minimum of "togetherness"? The answer is often "everything".

Get a look inside. It's usually an absolute mess.

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u/briefs123 16d ago

How many unpaid bills do they currently have?

Thanks for reminding me to pay my gas bill.

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u/OuthouseOfWoe 16d ago

my 'system' for that so far has been to pay any open bill as soon as I see that deposit hit. Helps that I get paid weekly though and then I know immediately how much I have to play with. I leave nothing on autopay because I don't trust the accounting in my brain, I have a sneaking sus i might be mildly dislexic too but whatever, I'm 40 now.

I saw the deposit today and cried watching it go down again as the bills went out. every wednesday. like clockwork

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u/ModernWarBear 16d ago

Yeah and this is an even bigger problem for women since they don’t outwardly manifest obvious symptoms the way men do.

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u/Fussel2107 16d ago

not always. I'm actually very texbook. Highly hyperactive to this day, easily distractable and doing something else to the point it was always noted on my school reports, massive trouble paying attention. Literally the only thing missing from standard diagnostic criteria? Aggressive interruption in school. Which still almost cost me a diagnosis.

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u/purpleushi 16d ago

The only reason I got diagnosed as a kid (female) was because of the interrupting in class. And the only reason I was such a disruption in school was because I went to an all girls school and therefore wasn’t socialized like a lot of other girls are, where teachers and other kids unconsciously reward boys for that kind of behavior and punish girls. Had I gone to a co-ed school, I likely would have suffered more from gender-normative expectations and have repressed a lot of my ADHD traits earlier.

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u/catholicsluts 16d ago

I wonder if this is less a sex thing and more an introvert/extrovert thing

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u/ThatGuyinPJs 15d ago

I have to say as someone who is still exploring and questioning myself, this constant messaging of "boys with ADHD are hyperactive, and girls are introverted," legitimately makes me pause and ask myself if I'm trans because I do not present with the typical male ADHD experience but I very much resonate with the most common female experience.

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u/SqualidSquirrel 16d ago

"How many trashbags are waiting for them to take outside"

It's 6 and they have only been sitting there for like 5 days. And I might have overstuffed them so I need more bags.

Aight, time to take out the trash I think, thanks for the reminder.

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u/mangorain4 16d ago

okay but the diagnosis is dependent on whether it affects daily functioning. someone who can hold a job and have successful relationships and generally be “put together” but has some disorganized tendencies doesn’t meet criteria. that’s what people miss when they look at these videos.

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u/justtoexpressmyanger 16d ago

The problem with that is that you have people like me who are able to hold a job and sustain relationships, but my home life is an absolute disaster. Making sure I'm feeding myself and sleeping enough and keeping my space clean is a nightmare, and much of the time I'm not able to keep up with any of them. This is clearly an example of it affecting daily functioning, but the diagnostic criteria just doesn't emphasize this.

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u/mangorain4 14d ago

so many things are more likely to cause those symptoms. adhd also has to cause symptoms in more than one arena of life. only home life means it’s not adhd.

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u/justtoexpressmyanger 3d ago

I never said it's "only" causing symptoms in my home life. The fact that I'm able to hold a job does not mean that it doesn't come at an extreme cost. I often cycle through not being able to get anything done at work for weeks at a time (and certainly not for the lack of trying), but once a deadline approaches suddenly I'm able to finish the last month's worth of work in just a few days (at the expense of basically all self-care and everything else). Luckily my employer only cares that my work gets done when it's supposed to get done. You really seem to lack the understanding of what all it can take to generally appear to be "put together" on the outside. Thankfully you're not my doctor and don't get to tell me that "it's not adhd".

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u/purpleushi 16d ago

“Affects daily functioning” doesn’t require that the person is actively failing at functioning. A lot of people learn coping mechanisms over time, and learn to mask their symptoms in order to survive in society. Doesn’t mean they’re succeeding, just that they holding on by a thread. The point of a diagnosis is to try to make it easier to survive. Just because someone is outwardly holding it together doesn’t mean that it’s easy for them, or that medication wouldn’t significantly ease their burden.

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u/mangorain4 14d ago edited 14d ago

okay but that’s my point. coping mechanisms over time means it doesn’t need to be treated because it is managed conservatively.

medication and the diagnosis is for people who get in fender benders frequently, lose their jobs over and over, are late for or miss appointments, can’t maintain relationships, display impulsive behavior, etc. in more than 1 setting, and symptoms present and noticed during childhood.

everyone, literally everyone, can relate to having symptoms of adhd. every single person.

holding on by a thread and feeling hopeless are more congruent with depression.

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u/Fussel2107 16d ago

When you function badly, you don't function well. That's the point. Some people with a broken leg can hobble. their leg is still broken.

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u/PM_ME_CATS_OR_BOOBS 16d ago edited 16d ago

Thats the largest issue. Using things like the videos to wonder if you have a condition and going to get tested is perfectly fine. But issues more arise when you see people making hard judgements based of it like "ADHD people cannot do this".

Putting aside the obviously insane things like "ADHD people chemically cannot form habits" or "ADHD desire for dopamine means that they have to cheat on partners", it breaks my heart how many times I hear someone say "i wish I could do X but I have ADHD so its impossible". As if there aren't thousands of doctors and scientists and artists and whatever with ADHD.

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u/DaxFlowLyfe 15d ago edited 15d ago

Everyone wants to have a condition now.

ADHD tiktoks are like, oh I have some anxiety and I'll often not hear you talking to me. That's anxiety and just being disinterested.

So many videos of, oh look at my ADHD quirks so silly right. Nah, ADHD actually sucks. It effects relationships with people, lack of motivation to do things, more susceptible to bouts of depression. Being unable to stay focused on anything at all even when you are trying your hardest to do so.

It really sucks when my GF will tell me Im not listening to what she's talking to me about and get upset with me. Me saying, sorry I'm trying I have ADHD and if you are telling me a story for longer than 20 minutes I'm going to struggle hard to keep up with it. I literally can't keep eye contact for 20 straight minutes while someone talks.

Source - Me, clinically diagnosed by one of the doctors who invented concerta and had me in the test trials for it.