To say “anxiety” is just low self esteem and confidence.

Because ADHD affecting driving is documented, and your personal unfamiliarity with something isn’t evidence against it. An attention disorder affecting an activity that requires sustained attention—yes, truly an astonishing connection. I can see why you needed to challenge it. “Why can’t you just be a terrible driver?” Because I’m explaining the difficulties I have and how I manage them, rather than submitting a character reference for you to stamp “just useless” across. You don’t have to understand my diagnosis, but being this condescending while knowing this little is certainly a choice.

And how exactly do you propose I find out whether I’d drive better without it? Leave it in the glove compartment? Arrange a test drive with my neurologically different stunt double? I’m American, my parents had me assessed, and my diagnosis goes back decades. It predates TikTok and whatever point you think you’re making about people mentioning ADHD. I’ve had rather more time to understand how it affects me than you’ve spent reading my post. But please, explain why your first uninformed impression should take precedence. Apparently the actual assessment was unnecessary; we should’ve just waited for someone on Mumsnet to weigh in.

I see you’re back being incredibly ignorant

That’s like saying it’s stupid you can’t go running because you’ve got shin splits, it’s not a broken leg.

Like anything there’s levels and ranges.

Not all all. I don't see how every failing we have as human beings has to be diagnosed or have a label.

I'm clumsy and forgetful.

I don't need a diagnosis or label.

Its just being human.

I think you’re confusing normal human flaws which don’t disrupt every day life to an extent that it has a detrimental effect on the individuals ability to live a normal life, with actual conditions which do fit the criteria I’ve just set out about as a mental health issue.

I work with young adults who report anxiety about getting on a bus for the first time, or starting a new job, or taking a test.

That's not anxiety (in general) that's usual nervousness which is to be expected around myriad experiences in life. It's NORMAL to feel heightened doing these sorts of things - weren't we all nervous on the first day at school/work etc?

There are absolutely some people for whom anxiety is a crippling condition but in the deepening of understanding about mental health conditions I'm worried that young folk are misrepresenting normal nerves and relabeling it as anxiety.

I agree with this.
One of my children recently joined a sixth form and immediately they wanted to know if she had anxiety or would feel anxious in a college environment.

It's great that they wanted to be supportive and my experience across 3 children is that colleges on the whole are much better at supporting individuals and not just people with a diagnosis, but this felt very pre-emptive,

I think a bigger issue is the boomers and older generation who have little to no understanding or respect for mental health conditions and frequently subjugate those with them in schools, hospitals and workplaces.

No it isn't that.

We don't catastrophise normal emotions
We don't label every event as traumatic
We don't expect adjustments for every slight inconvenience
We accept our failings without blaming others

Why are you claiming to speak for everyone of that age group? I know quite a few boomers who do indeed blame others for their misfortune and frequently catastrophise. I work with them unfortunately and they’re exhausting to be around.

Your comment started " boomers amd older generations " why are you speaking for a whole generation?

I am a boomer, and IME we tend to distinguish MH conditions by their severity. I had a great uncle who was medicated for his very fragile temperament from the 1940s onward. He was clever, kind, funny and artistic, and coped with work as a draughtsman in an engineering company, but his more robust, practical wife was his essential buffer when emotional demands became too much for him. I see threads of his condition inherited down the generations, although thankfully the genes have been diluted a lot.