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.

[u/mvea]

https://news.ubc.ca/2025/03/adhd-misinformation-on-tiktok/

[u/karosea]

My problem with this is the diagnostic criteria for ADHD is still outdated. The original data is still based on studies that examined young males, specifically young white males. Generally females go undiagnosed because their symptomolgy is different and doesn't fit into the mold provided by the DSM.

I've worked with a wide variety of families and individuals both through schools, as a CPS worker and now as a behavioral health specialist in a JDC, ADHD is still missed often. The problem is that trauma symptoms overlap with ADHD. But we also severely underestimate trauma and it's impact on us because the DSM won't even recognize developmental trauma, still being stuck on the ridiculous notion that PTSD encompasses trauma diagnosis.

Then ADHD is stigmatized to all hell by things like this, like TikTok and there becomes a public push back against it because apparently recognition and something becoming mainstream must be bad and require push back for whatever reason.

[u/merdub → u/karosea]

Despite struggling ALL through primary and secondary school (and then a few years of university) with a plethora of classic ADHD symptoms, I wasn't diagnosed until I was 23.

My brother was diagnosed and treated at age 7, so it's not like my parents didn't know about it or what the symptoms were, or how to go about getting an evaluation.

But because I wasn't disruptive in class and I was "smart," I spent my entire childhood and adolescence getting punished over and over for being "lazy" and forgetful, disorganized, impulsive, and emotional. My parents actually sent me to one of those incredibly harmful and traumatising "Troubled Teen" wilderness programs to try and "fix" me. My "therapist" in the program told me I wasn't allowed to leave until I stopped crying every day. Every "issue" that prompted my parents to send me there could be attributed directly to ADHD. When I did finally come home, I still had undiagnosed ADHD, plus a fun new added bonus of PTSD :)

I have been formally diagnosed twice now, once by an educational psychologist and once by a psychiatrist who specialises in adult ADHD. I take 40-60mg of Adderall nearly every day to be an actual functional human being. I can't help but wonder - if today's social media had been around in the 90s/early 2000s and I knew that bouncing-off-the-walls wasn't the only symptom, if I would have recognized it in myself earlier and saved myself a LOT of trauma over the years. As it is, the only reason I got tested was because all my previous mental anguish led me into a psychology degree where my first courses were in childhood psychology, adolescent psychology, and abnormal psychology. I know the first rule is "don't try to diagnose yourself" but it was such an aha moment...

[u/Kupiga → u/merdub]

I have a similar story. I was diagnosed at 39 after my new wife told me she thinks I have ADHD. Was officially diagnosed and the medicine is LIFE CHANGING.

[u/karosea → u/merdub]

That is sadly an all too uncommon story and you being able to still come out and doing well after all that is a testament to you.

The whole don't diagnose yourself thing I feel applies more for internal medical diagnosis, things like disease, cancers, etc, when it comes to mental health you're the director of your story and who better to try to understand and report symptoms then ourselves ? I know there are pitfalls to it but I never would have been diagnosed if I didn't study psych and educate myself on the subject.

[u/manicdee33 → u/karosea]

The original data is still based on studies that examined young males, specifically young white males.

And even in that population the general opinion of medical professionals was that you "grow out of it" because no adults are diagnosed with ADHD because DSM specifically limits diagnosis to children.

[u/karosea → u/manicdee33]

Which is rage inducing at best. I want to throw someone into the sun anytime I hear a professional try to tell me kids grow out of ADHD.

[u/oddmanout → u/karosea]

I was diagnosed as an adult. Apparently I grew into it.

[u/Almostlongenough2 → u/oddmanout]

I "grew out" of the hyperactivity and "grew into" was what was called ADD at the time I was originally diagnosed.

[u/oddmanout → u/Almostlongenough2]

All joking aside, that's what my therapist said, is that it was most likely missed when I was a child because I was missing the hyperactive part of it. If you're ADHD without the H, they just think you're lazy and unmotivated.

[u/ThatGuyinPJs → u/oddmanout]

I think the most common phrase on my school report cards was "needs to apply himself more."

[u/pblokhout → u/manicdee33]

I think the more modern analysis is that about 75% (iirc) lose the hyperactivity part of adhd post-adolescence.

From the perspective of society, their problem, you being annoying, is solved. You've "grown out of it".

[u/Nymanator → u/manicdee33]

This is not why medical professionals believe this. They believe it because plenty of research supports that ADHD symptoms and the impairment they cause generally improve in children (of both sexes) over the course of their maturation and development. This doesn't mean that they disappear necessarily or no longer cause any problems; just that (mostly likely) through some combination of neurological maturation and learning to manage their symptoms over time the person is no longer as affected by the disorder. This is not a justification for withholding treatment though, because research also supports that children diagnosed with ADHD who receive consistent treatment do better than children who don't, including as adults.

[u/yobeefjerky → u/Nymanator]

As an adult with ADHD, I think it's important to point out that "learning to manage symptoms" is often misconstrued from someone masking more effectively, the disorder continues to negatively affect every part of their lives, they just learned how to pretend it isn't.

I still agree with you, though, treatment is necessary, and the earlier treatment starts the better.

[u/Nymanator → u/yobeefjerky]

I'm not intending to sound disrespectful, but this is something I've genuinely struggled to understand: what is the difference between masking and learning to manage externalized symptoms? Would it be that with masking, there's a disproportionate increase in internalizing symptoms?

[u/Almostlongenough2 → u/Nymanator]

Would it be that with masking, there's a disproportionate increase in internalizing symptoms?

Pretty much this. It's like keeping the fidgeting held in vs. using a fidget toy or a stress ball.

[u/manicdee33 → u/Nymanator]

Masking is entirely about managing externalised symptoms — that's basically the definition: "the stuff we do to hide our condition from neurotypical people we have to deal with."

We get better as masking over time because of practise. We end up finding ways to cope better. For example someone with ADHD might stumble upon the Pomodoro Technique and find that it helps manage time better. With practise they find that certain blocks of time work for them, and they need to provide free time and distractions and snacks to keep going through the day. But disrupt their system and the mask falls away: if the right snacks aren't available or if distraction time gets chewed up by meetings, their coping strategy falls apart and the mask falls.

It looks to the outside observer that ADHD symptoms have "improved" (ie: reduced) but that's only because the masking (effort spent covering the symptoms) has gotten better.

Someone living with a broken leg can develop techniques for scaling stairs and moving around their home or workplace. It may look like the symptoms of a broken leg have improved (their mobility is improved at least) but they'll be far better off with getting their broken leg set.

[u/Uturuncu → u/Nymanator]

Absolutely on internalizing the symptoms, yes. The mask we wear is also extremely energy taxing. Speaking from the experience of autism+ADHD, I would say that keeping the mask on when being witnessed in person takes at least half or more of my available processing power that I could be using for whatever task it is I'm supposed to be focusing on. More when directly interacting, but even just like. Sitting at your computer at work requires you to keep track of a bunch of little social rules and norms that you wouldn't observe if you were at home alone.

The sheer amount of things that neurotypicals just know how to, can do by default, and expect everyone else to do to be treated like a human being is absolutely staggering, and with autism in particular, having to learn all those rules manually and then run mask.exe to not be seen as a repulsive weirdo or complete asshole is so, so much of the reason we tend to have anxiety, depression, and trauma as comorbidities.

[u/kuguara → u/Nymanator]

I think, usually other people aren't as affected anymore, not necessarily the person with ADHD.

[u/Nymanator → u/kuguara]

This is not how the studies are conducted. It is a combination of self-reported data as well as from other observers (parents, teachers, therapists, and psychiatrists, usually).

[u/monsantobreath → u/manicdee33]

That's medical tautology.

[u/manicdee33 → u/monsantobreath]

The issue is that many GPs won't issue a referral to a psychiatrist for ADHD because you're an adult who wasn't diagnosed with ADHD as a child. They're getting better educated over time, but even with routine "professional development" they will be stuck with the knowledge that they chose to absorb when they were studying.

[u/materialdesigner → u/karosea]

Because there were many more claims concerning ADHD symptoms relative to treatment (see Results), and because these claims were complex, each symptom claim was scored by the fifth and sixth authors, two licensed clinical psychologists, each of whom has 20 + years of expertise in diagnosing and treating ADHD. The two raters independently assessed if the claim accurately captured a core symptom of adult or adolescent ADHD as characterized in the DSM-5 (Yes/No). If it did, the raters noted which ADHD symptom was depicted, and if the severity and impairment illustrated in the video was a realistic representation of what occurs in ADHD. If the claim did not accurately capture a symptom of ADHD according to the DSM-5, the raters assessed whether the claim described a phenomenon strongly linked to ADHD more so than to other disorders (e.g., working memory deficits). They also scored whether the claim better reflected a different specific disorder (e.g., binge eating disorder), a symptom transdiagnostic across various disorders (e.g., emotional dysregulation), or the normal human experience (i.e., suggesting it could reasonably occur among many without significant psychopathology). The two psychologist raters also independently coded whether or not there was nuance, defined as if there was any acknowledgement that the symptom depicted in the video may not apply to everyone with ADHD, or may also apply to someone without ADHD. Finally, the raters gave a global score for each video, assessing whether they would recommend it to others as an example of psychoeducation to help them understand ADHD

[u/Ekyou → u/karosea]

Eh, yes and no. The DSM-5 criteria for ADHD are pretty open ended, and I think most people with ADHD, adults and women included, would meet the criteria. The hyperactivity criteria are a bit male-focused and I imagine a lot of hyperactive women are under diagnosed, but if they meet the criteria for inattentive, the treatment is the same regardless.

I think the bigger problem is that the people in the best positions to identify kids with ADHD are still not well educated on how to identify it. Hyperactivity is still the most obvious symptom, but too many people still dismiss the inattentive symptoms as laziness, being disorganized, or not having priorities in line. And that is what these social media posts and videos about ADHD hope to accomplish - but many of them try to pass off anecdotal symptoms as being actual diagnostic symptoms.

[u/karosea → u/Ekyou]

The problem with female misdiagnosis isn't that ADHD gets missed, once it's considered it seems in my experience to be identified. The problem is that gender stereotypes and misattribution of symptoms lead to it never even being considered. As a social worker I cannot tell you the number of teenage girls who get slapped with a diagnosis of bipolar or emotional dysregulation without there ever being a consideration for ADHD, when in reality it's ADHD. But the gender stereotypes of females being more emotional seems to lead professionals down this path of bipolar / personality disorder instead of neurodivergence. We still as a culture don't associate autism with females the same way we do males. Same with ADHD.

[u/rogers_tumor → u/Ekyou]

I think most people with ADHD, adults and women included, would meet the criteria.

I'm a woman, I was diagnosed at age 32. my entire life I've been what I would consider a quiet, introverted person. I assumed I was going to be diagnosed as ADHD-inattentive.

when my clinician ran through the diagnostic criteria with me, I hit 9/9 for inattentive and 6/9 for hyperactive criteria. I'm combined-type. I was absolutely floored by this.

- Fidgets with hands or feet or squirms in chair

things like constant foot jiggling are not generally recognized as disruptive by parents and teachers, because at least I was quiet!

- Has difficulty remaining seated

this one didn't really hit me until I was an adult

- Runs about or climbs excessively in children; extreme restlessness in adults

see above, extreme restlessness now but I was not hyperactive as a child, at least not excessively in comparison to other children

- Acts as if driven by a motor; adults will often feel inside as if they are driven by a motor

I feel compelled to get up and do chores because if I don't do them when I have that instance of motivation, they won't get done, even if I'm in the middle of say, watching a movie with someone, or in the middle of a conversation. luckily my partner also has ADHD and will just follow me around the house. I did not know this was an ADHD symptom.

- Blurts out answers before questions have been completed, finishes other people's sentences

it feels like other people speak so slowly and I always know what they're going to say way before they get it out, I try so hard to not do this because I know how incredibly rude and obnoxious it is, regardless whether or not it's a compulsion I have little control over.

- Interrupts or intrudes upon others

this is like the motor thing, if I don't come ask you a question RIGHT NOW I'm gonna forget. yes, throughout my life I've been perceived as rude by a lot of people and I didn't understand why. I do now.

Criteria that didn't fit me:

- Difficulty engaging in activities quietly

- Difficulty waiting or taking turns

- Talks excessively

[u/AzuleEyes → u/rogers_tumor]

I was diagnosed with ADD in the 1990s with the same kind of scale. At the time they categorized ADD and ADHD differently. I was on the hyperactivity scale but not to the degree to get the clinical diagnosis. Now everyone has ADHD according to the DSM 5. I wouldn't want to be woman with ADD. It must be a nightmare to get a diagnosis.

[u/neotheone87 → u/karosea]

I have over 12 years of experience working with ADHDers as kids, teens, and adults. I can confidently say it is still horribly underdiagnosed and often co-occurs with trauma and/or Autism.

C-PTSD definitely needs added to the next DSM. I've worked with people in crisis, adoption, and substance abuse rehab, and we horribly need to reevaluate the long-term impacts of repeated and pervasive trauma.

It gets really messy picking apart trauma vs ADHD vs Autism because oftentimes, the answer is yes, as in all of the above.

[u/karosea → u/neotheone87]

I am a firm believer that adhd, ocd, and autism all three fall under one giant umbrella that is neurodivergence. And you can have majority of symptoms of one, but also still have overlaps with the others. I don't have a lot of OCD things myself, but as I get older and look harder at myself, I have a lot of autism traits that I always thought were just me being weird or whatever it is. But nope. I think we need to stop viewing these as all individual issues and look at them as complex webs of patterns of behaviors

[u/neotheone87 → u/karosea]

I mean, yes, they already all do fall under neurodivergence along with Bipolar, chronic depression, chronic anxiety, dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, dyspraxia, intellectual disabilities C-PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injuries, et cetera.

But Autism and ADHD specifically have a very high co-occurence rate. Autism and ADHD is 50 to 70%+ of the time Autism and ADHD Comorbidity . And this is especially significant because up until the DSM 5 in 2013, you literally could not diagnose them both together. And they actively mask each other making it harder to diagnose someone with either, especially anyone who is not a white male with traditional presentation of symptoms.

[u/Quantum_McKennic → u/karosea]

I wonder what the correlation is between afab children diagnosed with ADHD and afab children who come out as trans men as adults. I’m a trans man who was diagnosed with ADHD in the 80’s (I wanna say, like, third grade) because I ticked off every box. My poor teachers had a really hard time just keeping me in my seat for more than 5 minutes at a time

[u/karosea → u/Quantum_McKennic]

Truly ADHD is a genetic thing and I think we just seriously underestimate the prevalence of it. There are some cultural variations, but the overall symptoms and everything still end up being there, it's just how people are forced to hide or mask them over time. I'd be curious if there was a correlation with gender identity, but I'd recklessly speculate that it's probably the same rate as any other population.

[u/jackofslayers → u/karosea]

Idk. As someone who has to constantly shop between pharmacies to get my meds, I would say overdiagnosis of ADHD is a pretty serious issue.

[u/Fussel2107 → u/jackofslayers]

or is it maybe intentional creation of a shortage? Here, increased diagnosis led to easier availability. When I was diagnosed, they had to order meds for me, these days they just keep them in stock.

[u/jackofslayers → u/[deleted]]

So, to be clear, your position is 1/3 of the population need daily stimulants?

[u/conquer69 → u/jackofslayers]

If it makes their life better, sure.

[u/jackofslayers → u/conquer69]

Well I disagree but that position seems consistent and reasonable.

[u/Saradoesntsleep → u/jackofslayers]

Absolutely insane. People have lost their minds on this topic.

[u/Saradoesntsleep → u/[deleted]]

So you think people are underdiagnosed because actually over a third of the population needs stimulants?

This is a wild take. Maybe the population of people with ADHD is not actually that high, and other lifestyle choices, like being glued to screens and short-form entertainment and social media addiction, are a bigger factor? Should we not be discussing this?

I am very sceptical that underdiagnosis is still a thing.

I remember being a kid with ADHD and me and this other likely ADHD kid stood out in class. It was quite notable. I don't recall over a third of my classmates sticking out like this. And I'm female, who apparently fly under the radar all the time with this.

ADHD symptoms are present from childhood. They are problematic, and they are noticeable. 30-40% of school aged children (before screen addiction!) would have made classrooms absolutely impossible.

Not buying it. Adult diagnosis is real, but the amount of diagnoses being handed out is absurd.

[u/karosea → u/[deleted]]

That is so very frustrating. I wish I had better advice for females. Have you ever searched if there is anyone around you (or online) that you can see who specializes in ADHD for women?