r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • 17d 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/whitetooth86 17d ago

I am really trying to wrap my head around this - "At best, it could be people are wildly misinterpreting 'neurodiverse' to mean 'thinks and feels differently to most other people', in which case yes, about half the population would count. The options aren't 'neurodiverse' and 'neuroaverage', though, or even 'neuro-what-you've-seen-in-the-media'. Everybody is different, everybody has struggles and weaknesses, everybody's brain and emotions have weird janky bits that get in the way of real life.

But I feel like there's some major cultural or generational thing that I just don't get, that means so many people actively want a specific diagnosis, for no reason that I can tell. "

Could you explain further? No offense, but it's incredibly convoluted and to be honest, I'm not sure if you actually understand the terms neurotypical and neurodiverse and the significance of diagnoses. But again, I might just not be understanding your train of thought.

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u/RedArremer 16d ago

I also had a hard time following that comment. A clear thesis statement would help. I think that user is saying that the self-diagnosis trend chasers are hard to reason with because they're starting with a conclusion, and a desired one at that, and thus are resistant to evidence that contradicts the conclusion.