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/
27.8k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

1.3k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

71

u/Chained_Wanderlust 16d ago edited 16d ago

I did the same with both ADHD subs. As a woman who was diagnosed with ADHD in elementary school, I felt like I was being gaslit because I did show symptoms early, struggled in school, and never hyper-focused my way to straight A’s. They don’t ever want to here that the people they claim don’t exist do, and get incredibly defensive because they see you as opposition. I’m all for more people getting diagnosed, I could do without the antagonism they have towards the early childhood diagnosed.

16

u/Miro_the_Dragon 16d ago

That's so stupid, shouldn't people be happy for you that you got diagnosed early?

14

u/Chained_Wanderlust 16d ago

From what I can’t tell, they think we had it easier because it was caught early. Its just a different type of struggle where your perpetually underestimated or excluded, but you know why. Medications and school accommodations are not the magic bullet people think they were.

2

u/fornostalone 16d ago edited 16d ago

One of the defining criteria for diagnosing adult ADHD in the UK is a childhood diagnosis of ADHD. Without being able to determine ADHD presence in formative years, it /generally/ won't be diagnosed as such in adulthood.

Obviously most people didn't go the full doctor route as kids, but even a preliminary school report will do. One of the big problems with the private ADHD clinics is they'll ask very leading questions when building a childhood history, so basically anyone that comes to them will "pass" that part.

As far as I am aware (and this is only personal experience/explanations from my doctors) if you have ADHD as an adult but were perfectly fine and normal as a kid - you have something else going on.

21

u/Miro_the_Dragon 16d ago

There is a significant group of people who were struggling with typical ADHD symptoms from early childhood but were never diagnosed by anyone because the adults in their life overlooked their struggles. Are you saying all those people stand no chance of ever getting diagnosed in the UK?

6

u/fornostalone 16d ago edited 15d ago

No, I'm saying the literal definition of ADHD is as a developmental disorder so if you have it as an adult, you had it as a kid. If you had no symptoms of ADHD as a child, it's exceedingly unlikely to have it as an adult.

Not having an official diagnosis as a kid is fine, when you go in for a diagnostic session you'll be asked about any known symptoms of childhood ADHD. If you have a preliminary or official diagnosis then neat, if not you'll go through your childhood with the diagnostician piece by piece to figure out if you showed symptoms early on in life and go from there.

2

u/Miro_the_Dragon 15d ago

Ah okay, then that's way better than what I initially thought based on your first comment. That's basically what my therapist did with me, then.

2

u/fornostalone 15d ago

My phrasing was poor, my apologies :>

2

u/Miro_the_Dragon 15d ago

All good, happens :)

1

u/[deleted] 15d ago

This is the same in Canada, at least in my province. I had to:

  • fill out forms rating my symptoms throughout childhood (and in adulthood), and how impairing they are in daily life
  • have my parents fill out forms rating my symptoms in childhood from their perspective
  • get my older sibling to write an extensive narrative of what growing up with me was like and what symptoms i showed throughout and how severe
  • had to collect all of my report cards and IEPs for checking teacher comments related to my behaviours (IEP = individual education plan - i was in the gifted program).

if there was any doubt in the presence of my symptoms in childhood (thankfully, there was no doubt), getting diagnosed as an adult would have been significantly harder

ETA some additional minor info

12

u/theHoopty 16d ago edited 16d ago

As you saying this as your opinion?

That if you weren’t diagnosed as a child but you are as an adult that it’s something else? Or that this is just how it seems to be in the UK.

My cousins and I are all extremely close in age.

All the boys were diagnosed with ADHD in elementary school.

The girls got diagnosed with anxiety and depression in our late teens and early twenties.

Once my children started getting tested, I asked for a test myself.

ADHD and Autistic.

I’m all for combatting misinformation because it’s rampant online. But if that is your opinion, you’re simply furthering the same misinformation you’re decrying.

ETA: autocorrect were to weren’t*

6

u/ArtificialTalent 16d ago

I dont believe that’s what they are saying. they seem to be saying that for an adult to be diagnosed with adhd there should be evidence that the behavior was always there and didn’t just suddenly manifest as an adult. Judging by their second paragraph where they mention a school report, an official diagnosis is not the only criteria looked for.

6

u/theHoopty 16d ago

Hopefully. That’s why I’m was asking for clarification.

I’m in the states and can only speak to that experience. There is no record of behavioral issues from my childhood that a doctor could even access, save for my own reporting. It has been the same for friends and family who pursued diagnosis in adulthood.

I’m fully willing to admit that the political climate has got me incredibly on edge and maybe I’m being far less charitable and reading things with a much more negative spin. Thanks for the gentle correction.

u/fortnostalone My apologies if I am coming off bitchy, honestly.

2

u/fornostalone 16d ago

The NHS website (which I checked before making the comment) and my own doctors when I was being diagnosed with ADHD stated that childhood ADHD is required for an adult diagnosis as it's a developmental disorder. I just added the caveat as I'm not a developmental psychiatrist myself so I don't know all the ins and outs.

When you're being diagnosed you would have had to describe your childhood yes? How were you in school, could you sit still on chairs, how often did you lose things - that sort of deal. The difference I was poorly attempting to explain with NHS vs private is that NHS you're kinda just asked to describe a typical day as a kid in a relatively neutral tone, then expanded on from there. Whereas the (for profit) private clinics some of my friends have gone through lterally just chuck leading questions at you to say yes to like mine a little bit up.

It's a bit of a bugger at the moment because am I happy way more people are being diagnosed and treated? Absolutely! Do I think (and this is 100% my opinion) some people are being diagnosed incorrectly as adults due to sloppy private practices? Also yes. Maybe it's just the universe overcorrecting for a chronically undertreated problem in previous years.

3

u/theserthefables 16d ago

this seems like an easy way for women to miss out on a diagnosis as women/girls display different symptoms to boys/men. women are also more likely to be either the inattentive type of ADHD or the combined inattentive & hyperactive type which has different symptoms to the hyperactive only type.

I’m relieved I’m not in the UK as I possibly wouldn’t have received what’s been for me a life changing diagnosis. I was mostly good at school, though I always struggled with getting assignments done at home on time, because I’m a fast reader, have a good memory & enjoyed learning. still have ADHD, just my first major breakdowns came in university instead of school.

1

u/fornostalone 15d ago

I imagine (or rather I live in hope) if you are a woman going through the NHS system you would likely be asked more relevant questions to gender biases. A friend of mine was also diagnosed ADHD through the NHS system and she's a woman. Mileage may vary with the private services.

I, for example, have a listed diagnosis of ICD 6A05.2 - Combined presentation, so there is likely a systemic effort put into differentiating and recognising what your symptoms actually are.

5

u/Hyronious 16d ago

This is one of the things that worried me when I got diagnosed (not UK but private clinic) - while I definitely had some examples of most of the symptoms affecting my quality of life in my childhood...I wasn't sure how much I was lead into it. The questions I was asked clearly lined up with the diagnostic criteria and I answered as honestly as I could but if someone told me I was exaggerating then I wouldn't be able to say that I definitely wasn't.

Still, I got the diagnosis and started meds (as well as a variety of lifestyle changes now I understood what was likely causing a lot of the difficulties I was having) and now I'm doing a lot better so at this point I'm just going with it.

2

u/smugbox 15d ago

I was trying to explain this to a friend of mine the other day. I wasn’t diagnosed until “adulthood” (I was 20, I’m 38 now) but even I no longer feel welcome in ADHD spaces that used to be so helpful to me. There are no longer helpful strategies and there is no longer helpful advice. It’s all about RSD and “unmasking” and finding their true identity now. If I mention I failed out of college or I can’t drive I’m treated like a low-IQ idiot who doesn’t belong.

“But women present differently! The DSM-V was written for hyperactive little boys!” No, not really.

2

u/pl233 16d ago

Doing well in school doesn't always turn into doing well after school, and those kids want to feel special again. Being able to claim a disorder makes them feel special, so it messes with their sense of self importance when somebody else's experience doesn't reinforce theirs. I think that's most of what drives this TikTok fake mental health garbage.