The real clues you have ADHD – as TikTok misinformation blamed for surging cases

SOCIAL media platforms like TikTok are teaming with advice about ADHD, from day-in-the-life videos, to subtle signs of the condition and quick tests for spotting it.

But experts argue that videos don't necessarily reflect the reality of having ADHD – and may encourage some to “trivialise” or “invalidate” the often-debilitating condition.

ADHD – which stands for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder – affects people's behaviour, causing trouble with concentration, restlessness and impulse control.

A recent study found just 49 per cent of TikTok videos about the condition contained accurate information.

Henry Shelford CEO and co-founder of ADHD UK, told Sun Health: “ADHD can only be diagnosed by a specialist, it certainly can't be diagnosed in a 30 second TikTok video.

“I think there is a danger of trivialising ADHD through those ‘X signs you've got ADHD' videos.”

It comes as diagnoses and prescriptions for the condition surge.

Prescriptions for ADHD drugs have risen by 18 per cent since the pandemic, a recent study showed.

Study authors reckoned increased awareness about ADHD on social media is at the root of rising case numbers, as it's convincing people they have the condition.

Meanwhile, a shortage of vital ADHD drugs has left Brits struggling to get hold of their medication.

Here, we ask the experts what the real signs of the condition are, and whether there is any truth in those viral videos people are using to self-diagnose...

A recent study sought to analyse how reliable TikTok content about the condition is, asking two licensed psychologists to judge its accuracy based on criteria mental health professionals use to make a diagnosis.

They watched the top 100 most-viewed videos shared under the ADHD hashtag, which had amassed nearly half a billion views combined, finding half were not accurate.

But the psychologists found that only 49 per cent of the videos contained accurate information.

They noted that creators – many of whom weren't licensed psychologists, psychiatrists or doctors – tended to oversimplify symptoms of ADHD or didn't explain how ADHD can vary from person to person.

Vasileia Karasavva, the study's lead author and PhD student at the University of British Columbia, told ABC News: “Some behaviours were better described by different mental illnesses, some could be related to ADHD but were not diagnostic criteria, and some were not related to ADHD or other mental illnesses at all.”

Were you to type ADHD into your TikTok search bar, you'd find many clips listing subtle signs of the condition you might encounter in your everyday life.

According to one creator, these might include dissociating and picking at your skin for hours on end, interrupting others while talking, daydreaming and impulsive spending.

Another mentioned losing motivation halfway through tasks, having a ‘floordrobe' instead of putting clothes away and getting frustrated at minor inconveniences.

While people with ADHD might indeed fall into these kinds of behaviours, they shouldn't be used as symptoms through which to self-diagnose the condition, Henry argued.

“What social media does really well is talk to ADHD and other health conditions in a relatable way and that's really powerful and really important.

“But it is not all trained specialists talking about it and some of it is wrong.

“You've got people thinking ‘I think I've got ADHD, but actually I'm not that troubled by it' [after coming across content on social media].

“Well, most likely then you don't have ADHD, because it has to be having a debilitating impact on your life for you to have it.

“That trivialisation can make it much harder because then people aren't recognising how hard living with ADHD really is.”

As study author Dr Karasavv pointed out: “Anecdotes and personal experiences are powerful, but when they lack context they can lead to misunderstandings.”;

Henry pointed to recent research, which found that people with the condition have an increased risk of self harm and suicide.

“This can be a really tough condition to live with and people trivialising it is frustrating,” Henry said.

A UCL study published earlier this year also showed that having ADHD could also reduce your life expectancy by up to 11 years.

Senior author Professor Josh Stott said:“People with ADHD have many strengths and can thrive with the right support and treatment.

“However, they often lack support and are more likely to experience stressful life events and social exclusion, negatively impacting their health and self-esteem.”;

Positives and negatives of social media

Henry said: “There are massive positives to the social media conversation on ADHD, from introducing ADHD to people, to providing a community for people who are really struggling.

“But there are also less good aspects of it and the trivialisation is a problem.

“The knock on issue is that people unaffected by ADHD see those videos and recognise that they're not valid and then make a leap to conclude that people with ADHD aren't valid.

“You've got people who then use those weak videos to disbelieve ADHD entirely.”

But Henry also pointed out that the misinformation around ADHD on TikTok is “much more a social media problem rather than it is an ADHD problem.”

“There's similar research talking about issues of quality of information on thyroid cancer, on breast cancer, on prostate cancer, on autism and on depression.

“I think these short videos are great leaping off points if there's an area you want to learn more about.

“Having said that, there's a massive societal change happening right now,” Henry went on, pointing out that younger generations tend to use social media as way to learn more about conditions like ADHD.

“It's important to recognise that people are starting to learn in different ways and there is a need for people to have confidence in what they're learning.”

The ADHD UK CEO suggested that social media content should be better at directing people who are struggling with ADHD symptoms to authoritative resources where they can get more detail on the condition.

The charity has a self screening tool, which can tell adults who think they might have ADHD whether they might benefit from further analysis from a clinician.

Is social media leading to an increase in diagnoses?

Prescriptions for ADHD drugs have risen by 18 per cent since the pandemic, driven by increased awareness on social media, the University of Huddersfield said last week.

Study author Dr Syed Shahzad Hasan said: “Increased public and professional awareness, partly driven by social media platforms likeTikTokandInstagram, has likely encouraged more people to seek assessment, diagnosis and treatment.

“They have become new hubs for ADHDcampaigns, with thousands of people sharing their experiences, coping strategies and journey to diagnosis.”

But Henry stressed that the condition still remains heavily under-diagnosed.

In fact, research has shown that just one in nine people with ADHD in the UK actually have a formal diagnosis.

The study – published to the British Journal of Psychiatry in January this year – combed through the health records of 9 million people, showing that just 0.32 per cent had a diagnosis of ADHD.

It's estimated that 2.6 million children and adults are living with the condition in the UK.

But many areas have such long backlogs for adult ADHD assessments that it would take at least eight years to clear them, a BBC investigation found last year.

It suggested there are at least 196,000 adults on waiting lists across the UK.