social media is convincing all our kids they are nd?

This is very accurate except just to add that society has a tendency to think that what we have now, or what we think we know now, or what we think is the situation now, is the final position on the matter. About anything

Criteria for lots of conditions, ND is just one of them, has changed over the decades. It will change again. Theories about what it is and how it comes about and how it manifests and what support can be offered will change. People talk about the current situation as if we know it all now

There is lots of concern that other disorders, such as EUPD, is wrongly diagnosed in some, women in particular, some women, and that actually their diagnosis is ND

Over time that will change again, perhaps a new name or condition will be considered as the thing that people/women with ASD have instead

Men are primarily diagnosed with ASPD, not many women are, that might also be said to be a misdiagnosis. Perhaps its not.

It’s a classic social contagion.

i think the problem is that historically ND has been very poorly understood

appallingly under recognised / under diagnosed and under resourced

currently there is an explosion of awareness and recognition of ND which is good

AND at the same time we have people who are self defining as ND who may or may not be,

this is great but can also undermine actual ND experience when it becomes just a thrown about diagnosis’

AND we are seeing a huge rise in symptoms particularly in children that LOOK like ND but are due to screen addiction and related behaviours

it is a complex area. That is not black and white / straightforward and we cannot do the issue justice when people just get defensive

but given the history of ND ignorance I understand it

Yup, my DH, DS and DD are all on Elvanse and think I should be too! It’s nuts!!

Yes it's terrifying. Every personality trait is no pathologised rather than just being considered the normal diversity of people

However, the other week I saw a poster destroyed for daring to question her teenage child's questionable diagnosis!

I'm a lawyer and of the 12 people I have managed over the past approx 5 years, 4 of them (i.e. a third) have been given an ADHD diagnosis. These are all people who would by any normal standard be seen as very high achievers (Oxbridge degrees etc) carrying out incredibly complex work. I have not seen any of them improve post-medication - indeed one had such a bad reaction to the medication that they were off work for 6 months.

I do think ADHD is a real condition but I have grown incredibly suspicious of private healthcare.

@CiffHang3r I’m not sure what you’re asking but this individual has no diagnosis. They are still claiming to be autistic. How is that helpful for anyone?

they did and both now have “ADHD” when they’re actually just too lazy to apply themselves and now cop out with that as an excuse. I genuinely think it takes away from people that actually have it as they get taken much less seriously. Same with those who say they have OCD because they like things a certain way when really the impacts of OCD are much more serious

Totally agree! My son has ADHD in every possible way and is liked to his dyslexia. My friend has said she wants to get assessed as she’s so scatty. I said maybe that’s down to having 3 kids, a full on job and probably being perimenopausal but she’s adamant she has ADHD…. Trying to explain it’s more than just hyper focusing or being scatty which surely all of us do at different times

My dd got enhanced mobility. She’s on full PIP.

If you read the very recent government report on ADHD it is underdiagnosed on this country. We have a 3.something %. Under diagnosis is costing the NHS and prison service a lot of money.

Spain and Denmark have rates of 7. Something %

Well on every other thread there is someone saying, usually about an abusive male, never it seems about an abusive female, that they must be ND. Then others who say they're fed up of hearing people make excuses for anti social or criminal behaviour by saying that their condition affects how they behave and how they manage social norms and personal interactions.

There is a really high rate of prisoners with ND (not sure about the female prison population actually) so either ADHD and ASD conditions are more likely to make you act like an arsehole or they're nothing to do with it at all. Which is it?

I’m sure your psychiatrist is very competent -
what psychiatry and psychology are noticing is that they can assess the presenting symptoms and as ever it is critical to be able to differentiate between ND and trauma and / or social factors and more recently they are having to factor in what is ND and what is the consequences of screen addiction and associated behavioural / cognitive / neurological changes and clinical presentations,

I’m sure your psychiatrist won’t be sparing his clinical time to update you on all this that is happening behind the scenes in nhs ND assessment services so I understand your oblivion

How unkind. Autism, ADHD, dyslexia etc are very real and also rather common. People with these conditions need help and suppor6, not sneering. According to my psychiatrist 1 in 25 of the population has ADHD but most of them are undiagnosed.

My brother and close friend did exactly this…

Such as? Behaviour like that is not the norm amongst the ND community.

20 years ago it was much less common for women and girls to get diagnosed due to ignorance in how it presents . Why shouldn’t women who have been unfairly ignored earlier in life get their diagnosis later?

Oh praise the Lord someone finally has the guts to say it because if you dare to question anyone in real life you get treated as if you are an arsehole.

I have a friend who casually dropped into the conversation that she’s dyslexic. Ok, news to me but not impossible. Then not long after she mentions she’s Autistic. No formal diagnosis for either condition. Managed to make her way through school, college, University and work for 20 years but apparently now she is neurodivergent.

It makes a mockery of the conditions and the people who actually have them.

It’s probably best not to get me started on the people who use neurodivergence as an excuse for their wholly inappropriate or unacceptable behaviour (Gregg Wallace et al).

I’m sure my psychiatrist who has decades of experience with diagnosing autism and ADHD can tell the difference.

I have a very similar experience.

Do you know anything about formal diagnosis for autism or ADHD?

Do you know that for an adult you need to have a family member or long term friend with you at the assessment to basically corroborate the fact that you’ve struggled your whole life. And you have to drag up every shit memory in your life to appease the person assessing you.

No one, absolutely fucking no one, walks into an assessment and says ‘yeah I don’t concentrate very well and I’m always a bit late’ and is given an ADHD diagnosis.

The amount of bullshit on this thread is astounding.

This it’s just awful.

What an absolutely thoroughly shit thread. Just unbelievable that in 2025 people still have these atrocious attitudes to people with a disability.

Ableism at its finest, dressed up as ‘concern’ that too many people are being diagnosed. Most contributors on this thread should be ashamed of themselves.

Most people seem to want something to blame instead of taking responsibility for their own actions and face that the things they’re unhappy with are under their own control

That's been my perception too. I can't recall a single male client with a BPD diagnosis.

That's why I'm so dubious about my niece's diagnosis.

Someone should make a bingo card for these threads, honestly.