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/CactiDye 16d ago

The first time I tried Ritalin, I got up and did the dishes one day without even thinking about it. Straight from, "I should do the dishes," to doing the dishes.

I cried when I realized what had happened. I used to torture myself about doing chores. I didn't understand why I couldn't make myself do what I wanted to, so to just stand up and start was incredible.

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u/AnRealDinosaur 16d ago

I had the same experience. Part of the problem is that it's so not relatable. How do you explain to someone who doesn't experience it why you are physically unable to do a simple task that you deeply want to do? Before medication, I used to have to make insane checklists that included things like "1) open the drawer. 2) take socks out. 3)..." and I had to check off each stupid tiny step and sometimes that didn't even work. I have been paralyzed on the couch because I had to put a dish in the sink. It sounds insane. I will die before I go back.

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u/CactiDye 16d ago

I worked with a therapist for a while who was great, but once we moved beyond the big grief/trauma/mom stuff that I initially started seeing her for... not so great. She didn't understand the ADHD stuff at all.

I remember her telling me to "start with one dish". No, man, once I start I am usually pretty good for a while. The hyper focus takes over and I can get the dishes done. Starting was the problem.

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u/batmessiah 16d ago

"Why don't you just do it?"
BECAUSE IT'S NOT THAT EASY.

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u/Billwillbob 16d ago

A therapist who doesn’t understand or treat adhd can make the ptsd from it worse in my experience. Spent hours talking to a therapist about how I felt guilty because I lived in filth but couldn’t clean, that I would spend months “stuck” at work, had all these random failures in my life, the emotional regulation issues leading to toddler meltdowns at the worst times, etc.. The fix was to think more how I should fix these issues. Dude, I’m here because I’m thinking about these issues.

If these researchers don’t want the info getting out in this uncontrolled and often unscientific way, the fix isn’t for social media to stop people taking about their possible adhd. Mental health professionals need to learn more so maybe they all know as much about adhd as depression (mine didn’t). Also, the mental health community needs to really fix the whole general perception that adhd is just hyper kids that get no discipline and rules from mom and dad. Cause as a kid, I got plenty of discipline and adhd impacted me in way more negative ways than hyperactivity.

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u/redditorisa 16d ago

Mine was when I went to the mall for the first time after taking Vyvanse and could do my shopping without the extreme overwhelm of sensory overload. I could just go in, remember what I wanted, get exactly that, and weave through all the people without feeling super irritated or confused. I wanted to cry from anger realizing that most people just went about their days like this without a problem, but also from relief that I was finally able to.

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u/CROMAGZ 15d ago

This hits especially hard because I both remember that feeling and do not recognise it now. I seem to build up a tolerance very quickly to stimulants and after accelerating through the different doses of both types, and trying non-stimulants, they seem to have just given up on me finding a lasting medication

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u/slimethecold 16d ago

For me, the "oh my god" experience was being able to walk through the hallway and noticing that someone had put their shoes somewhere i would trip on them with me bumping them with my feet first. I never thought that my clumsiness was able to be medicated.

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u/Pay08 16d ago

Is that possible? I was diagnosed with Aspergers when I was 13 but have never been on any medication.

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u/slimethecold 15d ago

I'm sorry, did you mean to respond to my comment or someone else's?