"TikTok trends or the pandemic? What’s behind the rise in ADHD diagnoses"

[flashbac]

"The striking overlap between ADHD symptoms and garden variety “pandemic brain” only compounds common misunderstandings of the former. Simply, ADHD symptoms can look and sound a whole lot like the struggles that define many people’s everyday workflows, which are so often fragmented by push notifications and digital dopamine hits. Who doesn’t have trouble multitasking or following through with tasks? And who isn’t fighting the urge to impulse-scroll social media during the particularly dull moments of any given afternoon? In the past two years, these difficulties have only become more pronounced."

www.theguardian.com/society/2022/jun/02/tiktok-trends-or-the-pandemic-whats-behind-the-rise-in-adhd-diagnoses

What do you think?

I find this very irritating as someone recently diagnosed with ADHD.

Yes, all humans have small aspects of their lives that are like extremely mild versions.

You might be forgetful sometimes, you might be distracted a little or find it hard to multi-task or zone out and think of your holiday from time to time.

I, on the other hand...

• Have a very, very hard time remembering to clean my teeth to the point that I have gum disease and may lose them

• Am in a serious situation where I may get a criminal prosecution because I cannot remember to do some paperwork to do with a business I had

• Can't remember to attend appointments or complete paperwork to the point that I have a 50/50 chance of having the BRACA cancer gene and have still forgotten to return a form to get genetic testing for four years

And I'm the kind of person who has a successful well paid job and who's friends and colleagues openly question my diagnosis because to them I don't 'seem like I have a problem'.

They have no idea what it's like and I'm too ashamed to confess any of the above which might actually persuade them.

Having ADHD is not being 'a bit forgetful' or a 'little distracted' and articles (and people) that suggest it is are basically offensive.

I didn't read the whole thing because it was boring and I got distracted. But I get the gist, and so what? If some people get some accommodations that help them get things done, or some meds that tickle the process along a bit, so what? As long as the accommodations are done properly so that other people aren't expected to go above their own capacity threshold to compensate, and the drugs are doing more good than harm medically, then why not let people get on with it?

Author - who has ADHD herself - is getting some flack on Twitter for writing the piece.

Not even to the of page one and there is already bullshit about it being trendy or a fashion accessory.

It's a neurodevelopment disability. Just look at the attitudes on this thread, between that and the difficulties involved in living with ADHD, do you think anyone is claiming it for fun?

I have a dp and a child with ADHD, both diagnosed, but yes self diagnosing as being neurodivergent is definitely a trend on TikTok, it’s everywhere and only takes away from those genuinely suffering

That’s deeply fucking offensive.

I was diagnosed last year after a lifetime of struggling but not knowing why. In order to get a diagnosis and proper support, there needs to be evidence of sustained negative impact to your life, dating back to childhood. The psychiatrist spoke to multiple family members, including my mum and husband.

They don’t just hand it out like sweets and the implication that I somehow want to be ‘special’ is so insulting. What an ignorant, arseholish opinion.

I have adhd and honestly, this thread is so fucking offensive.

Annoying as I have recently been diagnosed. Have suspected I have it for approx 12 years and just kept forgetting to actually do anything about it. Several years ago I got as far as telling my gp, they sent me a referral letter where I had to call to arrange an appointment within 30 days of the receipt of the letter and obviously I forgot to do this and was too embarrassed to ask again.

I was forced to ask again when things got totally unmanageable again and I suspect this has happened with a lot of people. They could just about manage in a structured environment but working from home will have thrown that out of the window.

I do find the tiktoks annoying though as it makes it seem fun / silly/ quirky and not the reality of sitting crying because you've forgotten to pay your bills, turned up to an appointment on the wrong day, cannot make yourself do tedious work despite knowing you might be fired, living in total mess because getting started is so overwhelming. The anxiety, depression, feeling hopeless 'why am I like this'.

There's nothing fun or special about it, it's just shit. I would much rather have a normal brain thanks to those who think it's 'trendy'.

Author comment:

"ADHD is real, wildly misunderstood, and one of the most annoying disorders to talk about or hear people discussing. I would know; I have it, too.

For The Guardian, I wrote about why the ADHD landscape is such a big old mess, aka capitalism and bad faith"

Can you please - and I mean this with absolutely no respect - fuck all the way off?

Keep your bullshit opinions and passive-aggressive emojis to yourself.

It's not just my opinion.
www.drjuliescheiner.co.uk/blog-dr-julie-scheiner/31-renowned-harvard-psychologist-says-adhd-is-largely-a-fraud

She kind of lost me at the phrase 'identifying as having adhd'
I was diagnosed in my early 40s. My son was suicidal. I wasn’t coping. I needed some help. I just happened to be referred to a therapist who specialized in looking at family pattern in therapy. I had never ever considered that I might have adhd.
i have family members with dyslexia (possibly autism and now I think adhd). After quite a few sessions and talking about how different family members were and my role in my family she suggested I do a questionnaire.
The diagnosis had made so many thing clear to me from my past. Why at University is just couldn’t get the grades I knew I was capable of getting - I was like the was an invisible wall in front of me. Many many things in my marriage, obsessions about hobbies/topics and then randomly losing interests. I could go on and on. It is so so much more than not being able to pay attention.
I decided to try medication and one of the most wonderful things about it is that the constant internal chat in my mind is quieter. No more inner usually critical thoughts. It’s such a Relief.
So yes it’s so much more than not being able to follow a meeting/tv program/read a book.

@amusedbush

No. I’ll stay and have my opinion on the matter. I suspect it won’t be the last time this is debated on mumsnet what with the recent trend exploding on TikTok.

Again: so what if it's a "fraud"? If a few simple accommodations, some coaching and technique sharing, and some drugs that they've agreed to the risks of, mean that a group of adults who are struggling are able to function better, what's it to anyone else?

Try not to be so disablist then, labelling it as "opinion" doesn't make it any less disgusting.

@ClumpingBambooIsALie

The overuse of labels throughout history has been quite damaging to women over the years.

It’s not just a case of oh here’s a label and some pills have a gooden. It has long lasting ramifications for people, particularly women when they are over pathologised.

Those generally weren't ones people applied to themselves and/or sought out.

Maybe so. But if you have the symptoms of adhd you have it. You need the appropriate assistance and treatments. It doesn't matter what caused the symptoms.

By 'fraud,' the author means that traits that would have, in the past, been defined as a facet of someone's personality, are now labelled as ADHD.

As to 'what is it to anyone else?' you could say that about a million other things. The OP was asking for people's opinions, and that implies that people will hold different views.

Right and you think doing nothing about it helps how exactly? We should just suffer through it whole lives never achieving anything, feeling miserable and useless because heaven forbid it gets 'labelled'

It's a lifelong condition - starting from birth, not from when a person starts using the internet. The fact that people aren't getting diagnosed until later in life is a reflection on the underfunding of NHS diagnostic services.