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/fornostalone 16d ago edited 16d 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.

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u/Miro_the_Dragon 16d 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.

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u/fornostalone 16d ago

My phrasing was poor, my apologies :>

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u/Miro_the_Dragon 16d ago

All good, happens :)

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u/[deleted] 16d 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