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/peinika 16d ago edited 15d ago

Specifically, the number was 48.7% of the claims deemed in agreement with the DSM criteria. Most of the other 51.3% were subdivided into categories like "heavily associated with ADHD but not in the DSM for ADHD" such as poor working memory (not sure why that's not a listed symptom) and "more strongly associated with other mental health disorders e.g. depression, anxiety, etc".* The thing is, depression, anxiety, etc are often comorbid with ADHD. Anecdotally, getting diagnosed and medicated reduced my other mental health issues to the point that I wouldn't be diagnosed with them today. So those claims are not exactly unrelated to ADHD.

I'm not saying anyone should self diagnose from TikTok, but the conclusion here isn't that more half the claims are false, it's that about 49% specifically aligned with the DSM (which isn't perfect by any standard).

*Note the quotes are my summarizing of the article and not necessarily the exact words they used

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u/odelay42 16d ago

I have a formal diagnosis as well, and you described my experience exactly. 

I sought mental health care to address anxiety and depression, but in so doing I was diagnosed with adhd. Treating that more or less resolved my other issues. 

Neither of those things are in the DSM, nor are they part of the formal diagnosis criteria. Especially for adults and women. 

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u/karosea 16d ago

Yep. I had counselors and psychs trying to diagnose me with dysthymia (long term severe depression) and social anxiety instead of considering ADHD because I am a white male and didn't exhibit the "classic" symptoms. My depression and anxiety are 100x better on medication for ADHD. There are still struggles for sure, but I am a firm FIRM believer that the nature of ADHD leads to depression and anxiety.

Executive dysfunction and the inability to make yourself do things that you KNOW you CAN do. Leads to a crazy amount of internal shame and guilt which will build to depression and anxiety.

Constantly living your life being told "you're just being lazy, I've seen you do it before" when you want nothing more then your brain to turn itself on and do the thing. But it won't, leads to so much anxiety. Wondering constantly if I'm gonna have my brain cooperate with wanting to do the things when I have to do them, or if I'm gonna get stuck with ridiculous amounts of executive dysfunction and things get screwed up.

But apparently psychiatrists and the DSM think this is poppycock and can't be related

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u/kani_kani_katoa 16d ago

Very similar story to mine. Medication and therapy for my ADHD have reduced my anxiety and depression a lot.

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u/Suyefuji 16d ago

On the opposite side of things, my husband is diagnosed with both ADHD and depression and his depression meds do wonders to help with his ADHD.

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u/kani_kani_katoa 16d ago

That's awesome, does he find it easier to keep up with the coping skills because his depression is managed, or is it something else? I found my anxiety and ADHD reinforced each other, so if I got into a bad place then I couldn't do the things that would help either of them.

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u/Suyefuji 16d ago

The depression meds help him process his emotions better. When his emotions are out-of-whack, his ADHD spirals.

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u/FatalisTail 16d ago

Have you ever felt the urge or gave into thoughts of dosing more often (not more but more often) and staying up, to get more stuff done cause you feel shame about how you fail so much that now you need to catch up, which then leads you to run out little early and go right back into negative patterns? The meds wearing off sucks and you go right back to the symptomatic headspace? All alone IRL and no one to relate to about it.

My friend wants to try maybe one of those non stimulant but not ssris in conjunction with the stimulant. Thinks it'll help deal with those fading moment.

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u/kani_kani_katoa 16d ago

Not recently, when I first started yeah because my dosing wasn't right. I told the doctor it was like a car with a partially flat battery, struggling to turn over. Once I got my dose right that feeling went away. I'm getting a good amount done at work most days so I don't feel the guilt. Are you in therapy as well as medicated? The drugs alone didn't solve it for me, therapy helped me work through coping strategies for it.

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u/cantgrowneckbeardAMA 16d ago

Therapy and continued personal work on coping strategies are vital in my experience. The medicine can only do so much.

This applies to both my ADHD and anxiety. Fwiw, I take stimulants and SSRIs daily without any noticeable negative effect, although I did work closely with my doc on dosing, timing, and monitoring vitals daily.

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u/El_Rey_de_Spices 16d ago

Lucky. All my symptoms just keep getting worse.

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u/kani_kani_katoa 16d ago

Sorry to hear that. Did you get diagnosed by a psychiatrist? Mine said I should go back if the medication wasn't working

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u/heygivethatback 15d ago

What kind of therapy did you do for your ADHD?

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u/WillCode4Cats 16d ago

Everyone is different, I suppose. Medication makes anxiety and depression significantly worse for me. However, I don’t have any other options, so it’s just the price I have to pay in order to function and be somewhat mildly productive.

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u/mr_potatoface 16d ago edited 16d ago

Untreated sleep apnea can also mimic ADHD-PI symptoms very closely. It is so closely overlapping that if you have sleep apnea and start treatment for ADHD without having a sleep study done, there's a decent chance it can resolve the majority of your symptoms despite not actually having ADHD. It won't resolve other sleep apnea issues like high hematocrit values, choking in your sleep, or snoring. It may actually make them worse if you take the medicine too close to bed time.

Also, one of the treatment options for people with severe sleep disorders that cannot be treated through CPAP are the same stimulants used for people with adhd.

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u/FTDisarmDynamite 16d ago

Damn, this hits close to home. I just started therapy, but that's about it as far as getting help goes. What steps did you take to get diagnosed and started on treatment, if you don't mind me asking?

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u/QCisCake 16d ago

I started by making a joke to my old therapist about being able to slam a dr pepper and then take a nap like it's nothing. She paused and told me that maybe we should take a look at some screening questions for ADHD.

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u/HottyMcDoddy 16d ago

What's the correlation between drinking caffeine and then napping right away? Because I drink coffee and will pass out for a nap right after all the time.

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u/QCisCake 16d ago

Usually people with ADHD don't react to caffeine the same way as neurotypical people. Being able to nap right after consuming caffeine is a strong indicator that you should be screened for it.

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u/odelay42 16d ago

Start by telling your therapist this and ask what to do - hopefully they can give you a psych referral. If not, ask your doctor for one, but keep your therapist in the loop.

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u/FTDisarmDynamite 16d ago

Thank you. I will ask next session!

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u/peinika 16d ago

I got diagnosed as an adult in the US, so ymmv depending on your circumstances. My insurance didn't cover the "usual" diagnosis, which is a neurophsych evaluation. However, sometimes you can get an "interview-style" diagnosis, where you will be asked questions, fill out questionnaires, and possibly have relatives or close friends do the same. Your ability to get medication from this kind of diagnosis can be difficult, so if that's your goal, you would need to find a psychiatrist who's willing to prescribe.

You can try calling around to find providers taking new patients who meet your criteria. Maybe your therapist could give recommendations? If you're worried about money, you can ask how the appointments will be billed, then call your insurance to confirm if the price is manageable.

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u/karosea 16d ago

I figured out I had it and went to my family doctor. I presented why I felt like I had it. I was lucky they had a behavioral health specialist in their office who gave me a short screening, I was off the charts and they were willing to prescribe me medication. Mine is managed by a new family doctor now as I moved back to my hometown but I am lucky that she listens to what I have to say and my explanations for what I need or don't need and has been very accommodating. Not everyone is this lucky.

For my son I had to fight like hell to get anyone to listen

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u/PaintshakerBaby 16d ago

Same! I had been struggling with debilitating depression and anxiety for as long as I can remember. It led me down the road of alcoholism TWICE. Five years of drinking, five years sober, than relapsed for four more years.

Because even during my long stint of sobriety, I suffered all the same consequences of poor executive function. My life felt out of control dead sober, and out of control drunk off my ass. Didn't matter, so I backslid into the alcoholism.

The precipitated in a divorce, and I finally dragged myself to my GP to see what the hell was wrong. They threw me on Benzos and SSRIs and it made everything 10x worse...

It killed my will to do or care about anything. I was in a super dark place, when finally my therapist, not my doctor, said I should get a ADHD workup from a specialist.

That was 3x 2 hour interviews with a specialist. They asked me questions about my childhood, all the way to the present. At the end, they concluded I had quite a severe case and prescribed me Vyvanse/adderall.

It was like a light switch! Within a couple weeks, I had hardly any symptoms of depression/anxiety, was motivated, and slept like a baby!

I could cry just thinking about it! All the GPs just dismissed me as a lazy and depressed alcoholic. I couldn't get through to any of them. Thank god my counselor was actually paying attention, and recommended a specialist. I feel like I owe her my life! I'm in a fantastic place now that I never thought possible before.

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u/Polybrene 16d ago

My PCP diagnosed me and does my medication management. I've come to learn that's pretty uncommon though. I just got lucky to have a provider who is willing to do that. Plus I had a good relationship with my PCP prior to suggesting that I think I had ADHD to her. She asked me a bunch of questions about why I thought that then she asked specific questions about how it affects me at home and at work and how it manifested as a kid vs. as an adult.

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u/ayurjake 16d ago

Heavily depends on your provider - my own experience involved me sitting on the suspicion for about a decade after my own (Asian - if you know anything about Asians and mental health you'll understand why that's significant) father nudged me to look into it, calling my insurance provider for a referral, and talking to an ARNP for about thirty minutes before getting handed diagnoses for depression, anxiety, ADHD, and autism (though that last one took another follow-up to lock in). A few days after that call I was on medication, and about a month later I was on Ritalin. Completely turned my life around, 10/10, highly recommend.

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u/Ok_Tomato7388 16d ago

This is very helpful thank you. I've tried to explain to my loved ones it's like my internal cogs and wheels literally get jammed and I'm stuck in "standby" mode.

I have been diagnosed with ADHD as an adult but I seemed to have trouble with the ADHD medication over the years. I'm hoping to have a formal evaluation soon so I can figure out what treatment will work best for me.

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u/straighttokill9 16d ago

Keep trying dude (or lady dude). It's worth it to find a medication that works for you. You can do it.

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u/karosea 16d ago

If you're in the U.S ( maybe there is an international equivalent ?) You can go through Genesight. Your family doctor can order the blood draw, it gets sent to their lab and you get a written report about what sorts of medications you're genetics are more compatible with. For example my sons came back saying that he wouldn't do well with methylphenidate

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u/Key_Let_2623 16d ago

I totally agree with this conversation, but I would also like to add that they do not involve women and girls in testing in these clinical studies on ADHD and other learning disabilities honestly in general, they don’t involve women and girls. So a lot of us are left out and miss diagnosed because of misogyny. Because women tend to not exhibit the same, “classic” diagnosis as well. So I can totally understand people turning into TikTok because they’re lame doctors saying they don’t fit the symptoms that the doctor studied in the 80s

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u/wolf_kat_books 16d ago

The shame and guilt aspect is so bound up into the lived reality of ADHD that it has a name: Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria. The structural and chemical differences that cause ADHD do not cause RSD, but it’s so common among us because as children we likely heard an average of 20,000 more negative comments about ourselves than neurotypical children.

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u/karosea 16d ago

Please come join me on the mountain tops and let's shout this to the world.

I learned about RSD a few years ago right before I started therapy. Then I figured out fear of rejection and that feeling itself drove about 95% of my general behaviors and interactions.

I wish it was more commonly known and discussed. Instead people hear it and think we just don't like being told no. Which is absolutely not the case.

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u/wolf_kat_books 15d ago

I just learned about it the other day. Seriously, so much of what I was told were character flaws are just… symptoms. I was diagnosed at thirty. I spent my life feeling like i could see all my potential right ahead but every time I went for it I kept running into what felt like a wall of cling film. I could get it to stretch a little and give me a few inches for a little while but eventually it would just recoil and toss me back into feeling worthless. I’m still deconstructing a lot of it, and it’s incredibly painful- but I am getting somewhere. I can finally do things I knew I’d be capable of but never reached. I have hope for myself and it’s world shattering.

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u/SuperBAMF007 16d ago

Stuff like this is why I’m so thankful my PCP is interested in treating symptoms, and not diagnosing disorders. I totally understand there’s risk of overtreatment, or “throwing too many things at the wall” before finding something that works, but it’s so much more reassuring having my doc interested in helping me solve the problems I’m having, and not tunnel visioning on finding a diagnosis.

Especially with something as low stakes as ADHD medication. If it was an opioid? Absolutely, be 110% sure before prescribing. But with something as hit or miss as mental health medications, it feels good being able to experiment without waiting 6 months for testing and results.

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u/PurpleFisty 16d ago

70% of people diagnosed with ADHD develop depression. So, it's important to know if you have it early on so your parents can get ahead of the curve and no what to watch out for.

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u/ObviousAnswerGuy 16d ago

I'm in my 40's and have been struggling the last few years with getting properly diagnosed for ADHD. The few "doctors" (people who talk to me on zoom for under 15 min) I've talked to are convinced its just anxiety because that's what I've been taking meds for the past couple decades. Meanwhile that's not even what I need help for. It's extremely frustrated not getting listened to.

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u/greysoul197 16d ago

Did you just say you being a white make was one of the reasons you weren’t diagnosed? ADHD has been studied exclusively in white males.

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u/karosea 16d ago

Nope. I said that I am white and because I didn't show the classic symptoms (i.e hyperactivity) it was never considered. My first comment on this thread I talk about how ADHD is based on research done on essentially your white male children and that has made irs criteria in the DSM skewed for decades to this day.

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u/YouDotty 16d ago

Yep, I have/had long term treatment resistant depression but was 'high functioning.' Eventually got an ADHD diagnosis after my boys were assessed. Executive dysfunction is a big aspect of that depression, so having Vyvanse help with that has made a huge difference to the ADHD, depression and anxiety that I was suffering from.

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u/meenie 16d ago

I'm 42 and recently got diagnosed and this is exactly my story. I'm still figuring out the meds.

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u/Take-to-the-highways 16d ago

There are still struggles for sure, but I am a firm FIRM believer that the nature of ADHD leads to depression and anxiety.

Absolutely, I got diagnosed with everything under the sun, and got put on two different antidepressants, two antipsychotics and and anti anxiety med before any of the multiple psychiatrists I had seen from ages 11-21 finally diagnosed me with anti anxiety. Medication and coping mechanisms have virtually erased my anxiety, mood swings, depression, insomnia, and suicidal ideation. Even when I book with therapists who claim to specialize in ADHD on my insurance's website they often don't know any symptoms beyond hyperactivity and inability to focus.

If there's a lot of misinformation about ADHD on tiktok, I'll reckon it's because even the actual doctors don't know what ADHD is if it isn't textbook ADHD in a male child.

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u/Fussel2107 16d ago

I third the anxiety. 99% resolved on ADHD meds.

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u/AriaOfValor 16d ago

I'm convinced that anxiety is often a way for the brain to cope with poor executive function with ADHD. As anxiety both makes it harder to forget something (since you're constantly worrying about it), and also provides more motivation to help in getting it done.

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u/odelay42 16d ago

This makes sense to me. Part of the reason I sought out solutions is because my habits like being early to everything were making me crazy. I became obsessed with controlling my environment and it was horrible. 

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u/rupee4sale 16d ago

This. After I got on Lexapro I noticed I start procrastinating more because I didn't have this ongoing anxiety about getting things done to motivate me... I've been adjusting though

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u/VirtualMatter2 16d ago

My daughter's psychiatrist said it's often caused by the stress of living with ADHD and he would treat that first then see if it still needs treatment. 

But it's rare to get the right person.

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u/txjennah 15d ago

Same. I was 40 when I was diagnosed and started medication, and I remember being upset when I realized that my lifelong anxiety was directly related to my ADHD.

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u/everydayarmadillo 15d ago

For me it was 70% adhd meds and 30% inositol. I can't believe how normal I feel right now.

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u/Cute-Expression-296 16d ago

Getting diagnosed with ADHD as a high functioning extremely anxious woman is sooooo hard, every doctors first question is “how are your grades?” And later “do you have trouble focusing at work?” If the answer is no the conversation is over.

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u/Misty_Esoterica 16d ago

Yeah, some people don't understand that one way of coping with ADHD is to obsessively hyperfocus and micromanage everything. I don't forget my keys because I have a large purse that I've organized to have everything I could ever need in it. I don't lose things because I became a minimalist and everything that remained got organized into its own special place. I'm not late to appointments because I'm super early to them and I set multiple alarms and reminders ahead of time. It takes a ton of anxiety and brain power to compensate enough to be a functioning adult but to the outside person it could seem like everything is easy.

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u/cajunbander 16d ago

I recently got diagnosed with ADHD at 38 (ironically after seeing comments on a TikTok, which I then brought up to my PCP, who discussed it with me then referred me to a psychologist) and don’t feel like I have it. Then I read this, and that’s exactly how I operate because when I was younger, like in college, I had poor time management, was completely unorganized, unfocused, etc. I’ve learned to counteract all that but it means my brain is constantly managing these things.

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u/Misty_Esoterica 16d ago

I'm the same way, I was a disaster in High School and College and it tramatized me so much that it scared me into becoming a hyperfocusing perfectionist.

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u/SamediB 16d ago

because I have a large purse that I've organized to have everything I could ever need in it.

.... side-eyes the backpack that gets taken everywhere with him

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u/bsubtilis 15d ago

Backpack ADHD user here too, it's more ergonomic and as bonus the weight works like a weighted vest that helps that part of my autism.

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u/Misty_Esoterica 15d ago

I guess it depends on why you have the backpack. In my case it's because I used to constantly forget to bring stuff I needed so eventually I failure proofed myself by basically organizing a survival purse so that it wouldn't happen again.

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u/JeffieSandBags 16d ago

But that's not JUST an ADHD thing. Legitimately, there are many reasons someone would come to these behaviors and ADHD is only one among them. None of what you mentioned is a criteria for diagnosis, but that doesn't mean it isn't evidence for ADHD. Just that we have to consider it in the context of the whole person. Diagnosis is complex and an assessment battery is designed go look at multiple potential explanations for the referral question. Something we all should do when considering labeling behaviors.

You have ADHD, but there are hundreds of people who do all these same things and do not have ADHD. I mention that to say it's more complex than discussion forums account for, and misinformation about ADHD is as or more common than accurate information. Moreover, accurate information is so complicated even PhD psychologists often specialize in diagnosis of stuff like ADHD because even a PhD doesn't give enough experience and practice in diagnosis of ADHD. Hyperfocus us a squishy concept, if you're compensating are you clinically dysfunctional (a part of most diagnostic considerations)  and so on. 

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u/[deleted] 16d ago

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u/JeffieSandBags 16d ago

I'm sorry. What were they evidence for?

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u/EfficientApricot0 16d ago

I had a doctor say I couldn’t have it because I’m a musician and he doesn’t think anyone with ADHD could have the concentration to be a professional musician. I knew me and that psych weren’t going to work after that.

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u/AzurousRain 16d ago

I have had the thought that professional musicians are in a unique position with ADHD, particularly with orchestral musicians etc where they're reading music while performing in a large ensemble. They're solely focusing on doing a particular action while following with their eyes written non-language instructions for what they're supposed to do. etc. etc.

In my experience there are professional musicians in this context that it would be very difficult to make sit down and read a page of text, but add these other elements (including pressure, teamwork, expertise) and it's no problem.

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u/key13131 16d ago

This exactly. My spouse is a professional musician. An incredible player and teacher--has been playing for 20 years and teaching the instrument for 10, has a master's degree in performance and at the peak of preparing for the master's recital was practicing 2-4 hours every day. But absolutely CANNOT read books. Has never read books. Cannot focus on the text long enough to read it. Was so fascinating and confusing until the ADHD diagnosis.

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u/TheBeckofKevin 16d ago

Its really interesting that its essentially results based diagnosing. If you have managed to some how cope with it, you don't have it, but if your life is falling apart (for any number of reasons) you probably do have it.

Lots of doctors struggle with nuance. I think doctors who have personal or close experience with adhd have a better time understanding the colossal impact it can have on lives and are more willing to take in a totality of your experience when considering a patient's diagnosis.

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u/basilicux 16d ago

Hell, if you have friends and are able to maintain relationships they consider that a mark against you having ADHD sometimes! Like, just because it’s a disability doesn’t mean that all of us are incapable of doing or achieving anything! Even worse when you’re an adult and “functional” because of all the systems you’ve had to create that leave you utterly exhausted.

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u/AbjectSilence 16d ago

Pretty much exactly my experience in my early 30s. I didn't recognize most of my ADHD symptoms until the months following my diagnosis.

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u/aurortonks 16d ago

My psychiatrist said the DSM is like a helpful guidebook for leading to diagnosis but because mental health issues are a spectrum, it's not absolute and many additional factors can exist that are not listed.

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u/ZiggyB 16d ago

This kind of happened to me as well. I had been diagnosed with depression and was trying to get help for social anxiety. Eventually end up being diagnosed with ADHD several years later and start getting treatment for it. Not just the meds, but learning about and trying to implement coping mechanisms and behaviours that helped other people. Over time the depression and anxiety eased enough that I would not call myself depressed or anxious at all. I still get sad and nervous, sometimes fall in to a bit of a slump or am an anxious wreck about something, but that happens to everyone.

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u/odelay42 15d ago

The education and skills building piece is highly underrated. 

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u/AprimeAisI 16d ago

That’s my exact experience. Started to see a therapist for death related trauma. Over time and exploration it became clear there were other issues underlying everything. I was dragged kicking and screaming get a formal diagnosis. I was reluctant to take stimulants, but from after the first week it was super clear to me. Stimulants have changed my life, and that’s not hyperbole. Jfc it’s kind of wild to think back on a a time without them, I was struggling so hard.

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u/odelay42 16d ago

Yep. Same here. Trauma related therapy, developing emotional literacy, asking questions about my state of mind, boom meds have made me a new better person with a tiny fraction of the stress. 

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u/AprimeAisI 16d ago

My bandwidth for life stuff and emotional resiliency is much higher now, thanks to medication. My family asked me point blank what was happening because the difference in my moods and ability to function as a human being were obvious to everyone.

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u/CrabZealousideal3686 16d ago

The opposite is also happening because of the popularity of ADHD, my wife got treated for ADHD for years but had bipolar disorder.

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u/odelay42 15d ago

It’s hard to get a good diagnosis when your provider has 15 minutes of time with you and 45 minutes of insurance paperwork to navigate after. 

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u/Onefuzz 16d ago

This was my exact experience I tried antidepressants for a couple months and they helped a bit but it wasn’t until I was diagnosed and treated for adhd that my anxiety and depression got under control

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u/Derwinx 16d ago

Yeah, what’s sad is we’re just barely getting older medical professionals to even acknowledge that women and adults can have adhd, and on top of that, adhd is heavily comorbid with ASD; try getting a diagnosis for that by a medical professional over 40.

Psychological science honestly feels like it’s at least 30 years behind modern medical science.

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u/odelay42 15d ago

Add yet another incredibly difficult labor onto women’s healthcare struggles. I can’t even imagine. 

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u/1829bullshit 16d ago

Similar experience. I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety after my dad passed unexpectedly, which made sense. Problem was, even after a few years of therapy and being on meds, several symptoms were still present. I found a new therapist, and after finishing the intake interview in my second session, she asked if I'd ever been assessed for ADHD, because the way I was describing my depressive episodes didn't necessarily track with clinical depression at this point but did align with adhd when taking into consideration personal history from childhood.

Got assessed and diagnosed with ADHD and Generalized Anxiety Disorder, which both the psychiatrist and my therapist believed was likely due in part to living with undiagnosed ADHD. Once I started meds to manage ADHD, my anxiety dropped significantly.

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u/undeadmanana 16d ago

That's probably why it requires a psychiatrist to diagnose you rather than allow people to diagnose themselves

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u/odelay42 16d ago

Yeah, which is great if your psych doesn’t waste months trying to treat depression and anxiety as the root cause rather than the other disorder that causes them 

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u/BoswelliaTsuga108 16d ago

Can I ask how you treated it? I need help with these issues but I don't really know what treatment path to pursue

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u/odelay42 16d ago

Very low dose (5mg) adderall xr. 

I also have a long history of nicotine and caffeine use. So when I quit those, my symptoms all got a lot worse. Stims helped me level out a TON 

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u/prontoingHorse 16d ago

So like treating anxiety and depression helped treat adhd at the same time? Asking because I'm currently thinking of paying the doc a visit.

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u/Uturuncu 16d ago

Also a lot of the things that could be considered 'broadly relatable to the general population' is like. 90% of all mental health symptoms, overall. "Everyone gets a little sad sometimes" can be a true statement even when clinical depression is an entire, significant diagnosis. It matters if 'that thing everyone experiences' is something that outright impacts your day to day life; that's when it's a disorder. Everyone's a little spacy, everyone gets a little distracted, everyone forgets a word here and there, everyone has trouble sitting still sometimes, no one likes to focus on something boring. All entirely true statements, but they're ADHD when those negatively impact your ability to function in work, or school, or relationships.

Also, like. The DSM? Not always 100% right. We're learning more and more over time. In the past, AuDHD wasn't possible. ADHD precluded an autism diagnosis and vice versa. They were believed to be unable to be comorbid, when comorbidity is actually pretty common. The change from autism to being autism spectrum disorder and the removal of Asperger's Syndrome also removed the forced 'can't have both' assessment in the DSM. I got ADHD and Asperger's formally diagnosed a good 25+ years ago, but it makes me wonder if I would have gotten a full big boy autism diagnosis if my psych hadn't been precluded from doing so by his available diagnostic criteria.

A lot of what's on TikTok is lived experience stuff, so it's not necessarily gonna match up to the DSM; some of it may be even be from undiagnosed comorbidities the person speaking is currently unaware of. And it's most likely not gonna come with intensity clarifiers to easily distinguish between 'everyone's a little' and 'actual psych disorder'. Which I expect can be confusing and probably concerning for neurotypicals who identify with it because they physically do not have our lived experience with intensity to realize that what's being described to them is not just what they experience in their day to day lives and we're just being whingy little babies about completely normal things everyone deals with.

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u/llcooldubs 16d ago

Yes, exactly. The DSM is not 100% correct. They've taken a high-dimensional continuous distribution of human behavior and attempted to project it on to a discrete or binary scale. This isn't even a realistic goal. If you've ever struggled with mental health, you know you can walk into three different therapists office and walk out with three different diagnoses. If a label helps you improve your quality of life, then great. But if it is anchoring you down, then just focusing on strategies for individual symptoms that may not perfectly align with a single diagnosis may be the more beneficial approach.

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u/UnPotat 15d ago

Last I heard they were reaching levels of 70-80%? Comorbidity between the two.

Every time I check it has been researched and revised higher

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u/False_Ad3429 16d ago

This is important. The DSM isn't exhaustive by any means. 

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u/hellomondays 16d ago edited 16d ago

Even the working group who designed the criteria seem to have some serious disagreements with what the editors went with. Iirc Barkley wanted a highly executive functioning centric disorder with a higher age of onset, based off what the working group was seeing in meta-analyses. For many reasons the APA editors for the project rejected some of the more drastic reconceptualizations. 

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u/Alternative-Potato43 16d ago edited 16d ago

Nor meant to be! Just because it isn't used in diagnosis doesn't mean it's without value to discuss in terms of population tendency!

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u/A_terrible_musician 16d ago

An exhaustive DSM is likely a bad thing, as it would lead to more false positives or false negatives.

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u/Coal_Morgan 16d ago

Yeah, you're diagnosing something specific. You want to keep the pool of traits as small as possible but necessary.

Once one Doctor has diagnosed you as likely they can hand you off to a specialist.

The specialist can walk you through comorbidities, behavioral traits an eccentricities and such.

It's like the diagnosis for Diabetes is a blood test after fasting for 12 hours and a number that your blood hits. The diagnosis doesn't look for worsening eyesight, tingling in fingers or toes, sores and other things that diabetes can cause. Do you have this number on the glucose stat after fasting for 12 hours, then you are a diabetic and you're not processing glucose properly.

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u/Efficient-Advice-294 16d ago

This exactly!! I mean cptsd doesn’t even exist in the DSM at this point.

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u/Street_Example2020 16d ago

The DSM will be looked back upon as an incredibly dangerous, pernicious problem which caused untold damage to millions of innocent victims.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6998664/

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6127747/

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u/Larry-Man 16d ago

I’m autistic. The symptoms I worry about are my depression and anxiety because I don’t work like I’m “supposed” to. I’m 37 and got my hours cut at work because apparently I was being bossy or something. No one gave me examples or even talked to me about my attitude. I had to find out that I had been a jerk on my own after getting a 17 hour work week.

There’s so much neurodivergent people deal with that we shouldn’t have to. If one person had pulled me to the side and said “hey you’re being a butthead. Here’s why” I would’ve pulled my head out of my ass. I cried when I found out I’d been making others feel bad. But instead of a simple accommodation of telling me what I’m doing wrong I’m left to just be anxious and unsure. Even when asking questions and clarification I feel judged.

I know ADHD folks also feel this pressure to be “normal” and it’s what really sets off the depression and anxiety.

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u/FardoBaggins 16d ago

that's the thing, you pass as neurotypical and people will often see you as being a jerk.

when it's really just because you like to pay attention to a lot details or have a fixation.

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u/Suyefuji 16d ago

My boss knows that I'm autistic, works with my job coach to help him understand how to work with me as an autistic employee, and then tells me that I need to work on my communication skills but he doesn't think that's because of my autism.

My dude. It is because of my autism.

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u/FardoBaggins 16d ago

It would be funny if it weren’t so common. “You just don’t have discipline/are lazy”. No, my brain doesn’t process things like a neurotypical.

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u/Suyefuji 16d ago

It's not even discipline, just sometimes I'm trying to have a conversation with a neurotypical person and we sail right past each other without actually connecting. It's very frustrating.

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u/emveevme 16d ago

Honestly, neuro-divergence aside, it's a failure of leadership in general to punish someone without really giving them any indication of why they're being punished. Like that's far more telling about management than anything else IMO

I'm not trying to be all "this happens to everyone" here, it's not like any alternative is kinder to folks like you.

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u/Larry-Man 16d ago

Oh man my /r/antiwork blood started to boil when I found out. To make it worse they just let me make other people miserable by being a jackass instead of telling me to cool it. It wasn’t even just me being impacted. It was everyone we worked with.

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u/kelcamer 16d ago

exactly this is so spot on it's not even funny

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u/StoppableHulk 16d ago

I know ADHD folks also feel this pressure to be “normal” and it’s what really sets off the depression and anxiety.

And like you mention, this pressure isn't just social or peer pressure. The pressure is we'll lose jobs or get in trouble with the law because of this disability. It is exhausting. The world is not meant for you, and if you ever forget it for a minute it grinds you up.

Not to mention the perpetual added stress of pharmacies not having or running out of the medication we require to function, which we need to follow a series of steps to get every 30 days or we run out of the medication that allows us to follow those steps to get the medication in the first place. And now added to that the constant threat of having our medication taken away and us sent to "reparenting camps" by the idiot in charge of the health department now.

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u/drunkenvalley 15d ago

And then there's also just... the personal dissatisfaction, that something you know needs to be done isn't done.

I don't need to have an outside force to remind me or anything. The room that needs renovating is entirely my own fault, and bothers no one but me, but it still deeply bothers me.

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u/StoppableHulk 15d ago

This is why I have both loved and hated home ownership. I love it, because I truly enjoy home projects and updating and changing things, painting, replacing trim, redoing rooms, etc.

I hate it because I cannot use my eyeballs inside my own house without seeing 50 new project plans explode in the HUD behind my eyeballs and Home Depot shopping lists starting to unspool as I'm just trying to make breakfast.

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u/A2Rhombus 16d ago

Oh my god seriously. Please just tell me what I'm doing wrong.

At my first job I was corrected on something early on and corrected the mistake, then my boss complimented me on how quick of a learner I was. And I just thought thanks, I just learned, do people not do that around here?

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u/Elctric 16d ago

Reading your experience reminds me of probably why I'm having trouble maintaining the last two jobs i had. I wish I didn't leave the one that really accommodated for my ADHD unintentionally. I do really good work but i can be difficult to work with. Sometimes I feel so inadequate, it's not fun being nuerodivergent.

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u/Larry-Man 16d ago

I’m literally crying in my car with suicidal thoughts because I can’t seem to find a job that accommodates me for reasonable pay. I’m stuck in fast food and can’t escape even when I know where my skills are. I’m broke and terrified and dealing with the fact that for like 70% of the population I’m extremely unlikeable.

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u/Elctric 16d ago

I know it's difficult but hang in there. There's a spot for people like us. It just takes a bit longer to find it. You'll find it keep trying! Both of us will make it

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u/Larry-Man 16d ago

I wish we didn’t have to fight so hard to find a place that let us just exist.

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u/Elctric 16d ago

I know, but since we have to fight we might as well fight with all we got

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u/MagicWishMonkey 16d ago

I’m sorry, that sucks :(

Most people tend to avoid giving negative feedback, probably because usually it isn’t received well, but your manager really should have talked to you before cutting your hours.

You should have a talk with your manager to let them know it was not your intention to be a jerk and you’ll be more careful moving forward, and that in the future you would appreciate any feedback they have that would help you be better at your job.

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u/Larry-Man 16d ago

I did mention it. Now I’m faking it for the just-above-minimum wage :D

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u/ResearchMindless6419 16d ago

Yeah this isn’t ok… I feel you and I’m sorry. I completely resonate with you here. I understand that there needs to be some conformity in the workplace, but this glazed “just be like us”, is not ok. Essentially, if I do good work, and I’m good to work with, but I’m still a problem, that’s not ok.

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u/moonskoi 15d ago

I experience the exact same issue and it’s so hard because it’s so simple to fix! Just tell me! But nobody ever does so I end up just living my life paranoid to do basic actions because I have no idea what Im actually doing right. The worst is when you do something and you can tell something abt it was wrong because people are judging you but then they refuse to clarify what exactly was wrong.

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u/Polybrene 16d ago

I have comorbid ADHD and OCD, both formally diagnosed FWIW. Its interesting that my ADHD meds (wellbutrin and adderall) are specifically contraindicated for OCD. In theory they should be making me worse. They don't. What makes my OCD worse is stress and insomnia. Both my stress levels and insomnia are MUCH worse when my ADHD is untreated. Constantly failing at everything, failing classes, getting fired from jobs, losing important items, missing appointments, being behind on my bills, forgetting important dates or events, pissing off my friends and family, that puts me under constant stress and that's when my OCD (and depression) get really bad too.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this. Mental health is complicated and there's often several moving parts which can complicate a diagnosis and treatment plan.

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u/Tarrion 16d ago

"heavily associated with ADHD but not in the DSM for ADHD" such as poor working memory (not sure why that's not a listed symptom)

Worth noting, that does appear to be in the ICD-11 criteria for ADHD ('is forgetful in daily activities') so maybe the actual point here is that DSM isn't the only useful definition of ADHD.

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u/Adjective_Noun-420 16d ago

Exactly. It’s incredibly disingenuous to call that “misinformation”

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u/OneEverHangs 16d ago

My immediate thought on seeing the title of this post. There are many profoundly glaring omissions from the DSM, e.g. no mention of heritability in autism spectrum disorder. The title is honestly just misleading when including claims “heavily associated with ADHD but not in the DSM for ADHD” would bring the rate above 50%. 

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u/RepedeTheTerrible 16d ago

The DSM has many flaws, but heritability estimates for ASD (and several other conditions) are explicitly mentioned. They are in the paragraphs that follow the diagnostic criteria, which many providers forget to look at.

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u/OneEverHangs 16d ago

True, and imprecisely put by me. But your point puts the issue with article headline’s narrow focus on diagnostic criteria into even worse light

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u/financialthrowaw2020 16d ago

Yep. The DSM is the floor, and it's not even a very good floor. I also find articles like this very condescending. Patient-led Care is the future, patient-led research is miles ahead because it doesn't result in lies like this being published.

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u/ranandtoldthat 16d ago

Indeed. Time blindness (or any difference in perception of time) isn't in the DSM. So, for a study like this anything mentioning the association of time blindness with ADHD would be tossed in one of the other buckets.

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u/financialthrowaw2020 16d ago

Yes, and even worse, those who overcompensate for time blindness are seen as not having an issue at all. It's infuriating how the field treats these conditions.

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u/lightningbadger 16d ago

Article aside, the mental illness side of tiktok/ insta is still a pit of misinformation and scamming

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u/meeps1142 16d ago

This is absolutely true, but tiktoks about inattentive ADHD symptoms actually helped me realize that I might have it, as I'd only heard about the hyperactive symptoms. Went and got diagnosed as a result

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u/lightningbadger 16d ago

Thing is I've had it my whole life and whilst some of the content is correct, a lot of it is eye Rolling inducing, and somehow always ends in someone trying to sell me a book

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u/financialthrowaw2020 16d ago

Again, that argument loses water when articles like this paint legitimate symptoms as misinformation.

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u/LittleMsSavoirFaire 16d ago

Doctors generally want you to come to them for the magic insight of diagnosis. They get exceptionally pissy when you're like, "yeah, I've got this, this and this, I just need you to sign off on it." Yeah, you went to school for 12 years bro, but I've got my lived experience and a working knowledge of the risk of confirmation bias. Come on, we've only got ten minutes for my $30 copay. Let's move this along.

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u/financialthrowaw2020 16d ago

They went to school for 12 years and yet never learned how to deal with informed patients who already know what's wrong with them. It sucks.

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u/Coal_Morgan 16d ago

I've never had that problem with my Doctor thankfully.

I walk in say I have X symptoms and think it's this. She says 'Okay, those symptoms are correct for that but could also be these 3 things. Let's test for your suspicion first since you probably dug into it. If that fails we'll move on.'

Or she says 'That could be true about your knee but this is the scary thing I'd like to eliminate first since it's time sensitive and then we'll check what you believe it is.'

Now that I'm squarely middle aged I see her a lot more and appreciatte how she does things.

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u/financialthrowaw2020 16d ago

It sounds like you hit the jackpot of doctors

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u/auroraborealis032394 16d ago

Working memory impairment not being diagnostic for ADHD is always a wild one when we know from studies with Wisconsin Card Sort tasks that folks with ADHD perform much worse than non ADHD peers on that task, some of which is related to working memory in addition to abstraction and flexibility/perseverative errors.

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u/pewqokrsf 16d ago

Working memory is effectively attention, it's absolutely wild that attention deficit isn't a symptom of attention deficit disorder.

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u/StoppableHulk 16d ago

This is where sometimes professionals do a bad job of explaining critical differences.

ADHD have a normal capacity for working memory - the potential for it is there - but in practice their memory is always clogged up by the sheer volume of thoughts they have, so they have less available working memory for self-directed tasks they attempt.

And you'll find you have an extraordinary volume of working memory - when you're doing tasks you actually enjoy. Because that's when you're not only focused, you're hyperfocused.

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u/Uturuncu 16d ago

So absolutely true. My memory is not so great, even just remembering to do basic body maintenance tasks like tooth brushing or sometimes even eating just. Don't happen sometimes.

But just the other day there was a thing I did in a video game that was essentially a low-context geography test for the video game's world and hooboy. I did so well at it I was almost embarassed. Why is my geography for a fake world so good when the other day I forgot to go pee and had an accident??

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u/Ninja333pirate 16d ago

It is more like attention dysregulation and not deficit, people with ADHD can pay attention to things, we just can't control what we pay attention to. If I try reading anything too long on a topic my brain is not interested in (even if I actually like the subject) I will get distracted extremely easily, and sometimes even just fall asleep in the middle of the task.

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u/Suyefuji 16d ago

Not entirely. When I was diagnosed with autism, I got a whole battery of neurological testing done and the tests for working memory and attention are different from each other and gave me different results. My attention is average. My working memory is dredging the absolute bottom of the "normal" range.

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u/Trasnpanda 16d ago

My drs have said that the depression and anxiety can be from adhd's functional impairments, tye problems caused by adhd. once adhd treated they go away.

Sure enough they went away for me.

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u/Healthy_Tea9479 16d ago

I was diagnosed with anxiety initially because I procrastinated (in true ADHD fashion) on getting help until I was in a near-crisis mode. Like of course I have anxiety, I’m in college and can’t retain the last sentence I read because I have ADHD. 

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u/conquer69 16d ago

By the time you get to the 4th sentence you forgot what the first says and have to start over. Then you spend like 5 minutes reading the same paragraph and still don't get it.

The next day you wake up and everything you read now makes perfect sense.

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u/fireintolight 16d ago edited 16d ago

they aren't co-morbid with adhd, they CAN be co-morbid with adhd

there is a lot of overlap between the three in terms of symptoms and affects on quality of life, but all have very different methods of action. this is the problem with people self diagnosing, it actually takes a professional to diagnose you you so you get appropriate treatment. And sometimes if you have ADHD, you might have anxiety and be depressed because of the effect ADHD has had on your life, but treating just the depression or anxiety and not the adhd might not change much 

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u/peinika 16d ago

You're right, I should've said they're often comorbid

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u/fireintolight 16d ago

wasn't trying to be too nitpicky, you said a lot of good things

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u/Digitlnoize 16d ago

Child Psychiatrist with adhd here. The DSM criteria suck and are a STARTING point, not an end point. ADHD is so much more than the DSM criteria. I see more on TikTok that’s right than wrong tbh.

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u/hellomondays 16d ago

I've really warmed up to "TikTok diagnoses" in my practice. More often than not a very helpful jumping off point, even if a new client is mistaken about their symptoms. Imo, the holistic context around people sharing their daily experiences with whatever disorder is really helpful for others to reflect on their own mental health

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u/AspiringTS 16d ago

One problem is TikTok's(and many others') algorithm is self-reinforcing. I don't believe anyone that claims to have X because they saw it on TikTok, but I would guess immediately dismissing them outright as a professional would be just as bad, biased as well, just in the opposite direction.

However, media exposure is important. I wouldn't have a sought a testing without JaidenAnimation's video AND already being primed by ADHDinos.

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u/CaphalorAlb 16d ago

Anectodally, I would have never even considered that I could have ADHD until I came across ADHD memes on reddit.

Without that initial seed I would've never researched it or brought it up with my doctor and gotten diagnosed.

To add to your point about self reflection: For me it was also a case of simply not having the right words/concepts to properly articulate my symptoms. Being able to talk about what I'm struggling with helped me a lot in then getting the right help.

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u/matthung1 16d ago

the holistic context around people sharing their daily experiences with whatever disorder is really helpful for others to reflect on their own mental health

This is how I found out I had ADHD. I was taking a class and the teacher made it a point multiple times to talk about his past struggles with ADHD/depression/bipolar disorder, and at times telling students that if they similarly struggle with mental illness, prioritize getting treated first then jump back into class later.

It didn't really sink in that I had it until the third or fourth time he talked about specific instances of how ADHD affected him. Changed my life tremendously - even when I'm not on medication, just knowing that I have to navigate life differently to minimize symptoms and how to do so makes a huge difference.

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u/mouse9001 16d ago

The DSM is also limited in scope and it is extremely conservative about changes. There are many aspects of mental health conditions that are not covered by the DSM, especially the subjective qualities and experiences of people living with those conditions.

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u/MotherSithis 16d ago

My Adderall has indirectly helped with my depression and anxiety, and I'm only on it because I saw enough TikTok videos of the ADHD side symptoms that I related with to bother bringing it up with my doctor.

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u/piclemaniscool 15d ago

So basically it sounds like people have been fairly accurately describing what it feels like to live with ADHD but technically the symptoms could be a result of a multitude of causes. 

Especially for tiktok, that seems like a fairly benign result of people socializing normally.

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u/VoilaVoilaWashington 16d ago

I 100% agree. It's like people posting that broken legs lead to obesity and the objection is that that's not a symptom.

Right, it's not.... but you can see how we get there, right?

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u/Consistent_Bee3478 16d ago

Yea this. DSM diagnosis criteria also doesn’t list all symptoms. It simply lists the disorder defining ones. You need x of the list for it be considered adhd.

That doesn’t mean depression isn’t an obvious symptom of adhd, or that typical adhs quirks aren’t adhs quirks.

Like a statement describing your experience with adhd, making jokes about how it affects you doesn’t become false or misleading, because it isn’t on the list of adhd symptoms.

That’s like saying people are spreading misinformation about BPD for reminiscing on their frequent mental hospital stays, and finding having several involuntary holds as a young adult to be typical.

Obviously staying in a psychiatric facility isn’t a diagnostic criterium for BPD. But for some funny reason,!that’s what BPD usually leads to.

Or people with schizophrenia describing the ‘character’ of their auditory hallucinations for common tropes in their culture: obviously it’s not a diagnostic criterium but it happens.

And as long as no one is misrepresenting the common sequaelae as being unique to that disorder, then no misrepresentation is happening when someone’s making a skit about walking funny around obstacles and being depressed 

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u/Cute-Ad-3829 16d ago

So glad this is the top comment. This post is meant to create stigma and cause doubt to a population who has enough self doubt to begin with. Not helpful! (kinda like the DSM)

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u/PhilosophicWax 16d ago

What is this?!? A nuanced evaluation of research beyond a posts title... How is that even possible. It's like you read that dang thing. 

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u/DoubleRah 16d ago

Yes, I think it’s disingenuous for them to only include the DSM as “non-misinformation”. Even if you took everything in the DSM as 100% fact, 100% of the time, it’s only diagnostic criteria with small snippets of what the general disorder may look like from clinician’s perspective.

Imagine if you used that same criteria to determine how much misinformation psychiatrists and therapists give to clients? I’ve worked in the social services field for over 10 years and I promise the results would not be pretty. And the advice some non-mental health professionals give out? Yikes. In fact, some of them might be the people on tiktok.

In fact, I think people are tired of trying to go to professionals for help and never getting the proper care or answers. No social media should be relied on for information, but possibly to find support or jumping off points. I don’t like that the monetization incentivizes people to keep making content that might not be true but no reason to make a weird, biased research study about it.

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u/Thunderplant 16d ago

Yeah I think it is pretty unfair to equate not being in the DSM to misinformation.

Diagnostic criteria tend to look for symptoms that are the most specific to the condition, but it will by no means cover all common symptoms or experiences associated with it. And discussions among patients are serving a fundamentally different purpose than diagnostic criteria. Like with ADHD, I don't think it would make sense to include poor self esteem/feelings of inadequacy in the diagnostic criteria, but it appears to be a very common outcome so I can see why people talk about it.

I have a genetic illness and patients and clinicians notice SO many more commonalities between patients than the short list that's in the official clinical criteria. 

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u/VirtualMatter2 16d ago

DSM is also based on research for men. But women show different symptoms. 

My psychiatrist says that likely only 1/5th of women with ADHD are actually diagnosed because of this. 

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u/DowntownRow3 15d ago

This! Instagram loves psych buzzwords but the DSM is extremely flawed

So many people with adhd experience time blindness but it’s not recognized as a symptom. There aren’t five different updated versions for no reason

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u/DwinkBexon 16d ago

I'm not saying anyone should self diagnose from TikTok

My ex did this. She's never been formally diagnosed (afaik, though I know she is going to therapy) and just sort of decided she had ADHD from watching TikToks about it.

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u/YouDotty 16d ago

Exactly, I feel this article itself is actually misleading. While I agree that no-one should be diagnosing themselves based on TikTok, there are clear gaps and vagaries in the DSM that would skew the studies results in a negative way. There are a lot of scientist who have devoted to their lives to the study of ADHD who have criticisms of the DSM criteria. 

As you mentioned, the article also downplays the co-morbidities that are very prevalent with ADHD. A majority of people with ADHD will possess traits related to anxiety, depression, substance abuse, eating disorders and many more. This doesn't make that TikTok content misinformation. It just shows a more grounded view of the day to day reality of sufferers that isnt captured well in the DSM.

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u/ornithoptercat 16d ago

It's worth noting in particular that the DSM criteria don't include RSD (Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria), which has become far more recognized as a key symptom in recent years and is a major reason for those comorbidities. IIRC, it is now part of the diagnostic criteria used in Europe.

Another big one is likely self-medicating with caffeine, in particular anyone who claims "drinking caffeine helps me go to sleep". That isn't a symptom, but it's very common, because ADHD brains handle stimulants differently (see also: many ADHD meds). It may not belong in the diagnostic criteria, but it's nonetheless highly indicative, and also highly relatable (and thus tiktok fodder).

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u/Allegorist 16d ago

You are saying you were diagnosed and medicated for ADHD and the depression/anxiety went away? Or vice versa?

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u/OUtSEL 16d ago

Thank you for posting this. I went undiagnosed until I was 26 and the only reason I got diagnosed was because I started doing the research myself and looking into how experts on ADHD diagnose it, because a lot of that criteria isn’t in the DSM but it certainly was present in me.

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u/burf 16d ago edited 16d ago

"more strongly associated with other mental health disorders e.g. depression, anxiety, etc".* The thing is, depression, anxiety, etc are often comorbid with ADHD

That's an important distinction, though. Someone with anxiety might have ADHD, but anxiety is far more common than ADHD is.

For a physical health equivalent, think of shortness of breath: Everyone gets short of breath sometimes, disordered shortness of breath can be the result of poor cardiovascular fitness, asthma, emphysema, obesity, congestive heart failure, etc. etc.

These Tik Tok diagnoses that are ADHD-adjacent or even possibly ADHD are like someone saying "short of breath? You have asthma! Come join our club!" And yeah, sometimes it'll apply to the person viewing the video, but it's still extremely irresponsible content that is broadly speaking more wrong than right. I did originally intend on giving an example that included comorbidities, but lost my train of thought along the way.

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u/BTrane93 16d ago

Same, diagnosed with anxiety and depression throughout my entire life by multiple mental health professionals. Then last year, as a near middle age man, I find one that points out I may have ADHD that's causing the depression and anxiety. Started treatment for ADHD, and magically my bouts of depression and anxiety have been far less often and far less severe.

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u/Quantum-Bot 16d ago

I imagine a significant portion of the “misinformation” they are considering here is really just people with ADHD describing their own personal experience, AKA using social media as intended. Definitely never take what you see on social media as fact but I think social media is an important tool for neurodivergent people to find community and sharing personal experiences is helpful for understanding our own experiences better.

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u/OuthouseOfWoe 16d ago

yeah I did the ringaround with my Psyc with my anxiety. The prozac and whatnot calmed me down the strength of it but the attacks weren't slowing down at all. He asked if I'd go through some screeners and first he thought depression, didn't get anywhere there, and now they have me up on 80mg Strattera for ADHD and I'm mostly functioning with an occasional antsy day. I graduated school in 03 and they weren't actively looking out for disfunctions when I was young like they do now, has said I probably had it all my life and why I had such trouble.

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u/DragonflyRemarkable3 16d ago

I am in the same boat. I was diagnosed younger but didn’t get on medication (and stay dedicated to taking them) until my 30s. My anxiety and depression are basically non existent these days.

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u/plz_callme_swarley 16d ago

the DSM isn't perfect and it has a heavy childhood bias. There are plenty of things that are clearly within the realm of ADHD that aren't official diagnosis criteria

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u/JoeSabo 16d ago

"such as poor executive function or working memory"

This is just a poorly done study tbh. That is literally the single central feature of ADHD given that ATTENTION is part of executive function ffs. They don't even report the % of cases the raters disagreed on and considered disagreements as valid ratings which make no sense.

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u/torchginger 15d ago

Hi, don't mean to be rude just a quick comment, I'm 24F and I only got my diagnose after 20 JUST because I have a somewhat above average working memory. They used that against me for so long, and idk maybe because of the diversity its not listed?

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u/peinika 15d ago

I'm sorry you had that experience. There's definitely a variety, and that's true of many symptoms. Providers really shouldn't be denying a diagnosis because of one missing symptom. Iirc the dsm says something like "exhibits x of these symptoms". But ultimately, it's impossible to make perfect diagnostic criteria from just a list of symptoms

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