social media is convincing all our kids they are nd?

[AuntMarch]

I've just been sat on the bus and the tiktok videos I'm hearing almost have me seeking a diagnosis.
"ADHD TEST" Put a finger down if you've ever focused on something so much you've lost track of time/ sometimes think you talk too much or not enough.."
it's basically covered every possible behaviour and it's video after video.

it's no wonder every kid thinks they have 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?

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 %

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

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

@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?

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.

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!

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

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

It’s a classic social contagion.

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.

Yes I agree with this 100%. I've actually seen parents pushing for diagnosis for there perfectly fine NT dc because they know they'll be quids in from the benefits system if they can get a diagnosis. This actually worked for a family member of mine. absolutely nothing wrong with their dc who is now a young adult leading a completely normal life. they also qualified for a mobility vehicle so took full advantage.
meanwhile people who are genuinely in need of support are missing out.

Well I presume the way they differentiate is by ascertaining that the behaviours happen in all settings and started in early childhood.

Yep and a 50 year old such as myself who was presenting with symptoms many years before screens are going to have an awful
lot more evidence than those who’ve lived their whole lives with screens .

I haven't read the full thread - but I read enough of it to see it's full of the usual ignorant comments.

Here, have a sample, just from the first couple of pages.

"These days it really most likely means affluent and pushy mother."

"Serious disabilities are being completely trivialised by this epidemic of diagnosis"

"Far easier to have somebody tell you it isn’t your fault and give you a prescription for speed (which will make everyone, NT or not, better at focusing on things and getting stuff done)"

"The difference between my 45 yr old brother (whose life has been severely impacted by ADHD but was only formally diagnosed last year after waiting 4 years for an NHS assessment), and the 40 odd yr old women I know who are getting private diagnoses and ADHD meds within months because they're scatty and get bored easily in a job...well it's indescribable."

"Actually women in their 50s are largely suffering from shit life syndome, that should be the diagnosis....We might be falling apart but its not ND."

"This perfectly describes all the women I know who have been diagnosed in their 40s (5 of them and I don’t know many people).
All of them have been “successful” in life. Now it’s all excuses about this and that because of their ADHD."

" its either internet-enabled anxiety-wrought parents insistent the kids are ND or shit parents wanting a diagnosis to explain away difficult behaviour so they always have a fallback option to say “well he’s ND” to avoid having to parent"

The amount of these threads that appear is just sickening. Every week these appear, with loads of people weighing in to point out that neurodivergence is made-up and fictional, and that if we only just pulled our socks up, we'd be just fine. The female presentation of autism and ADHD is often very different to the stereotypical male, and it's the female presentation which is so often dismissed and ignored, as can be seen by the comments on this thread.

ADHD is just a trend given time it will pass but I worry for the long term consequences of people using ADHD for every single thing o we Johnny jumped in a puddle he has ADHD o I jumped in puddles when I was a kid i now have ADHD it getting ridiculous as every action is now put down to this latest trend

having an official diagnosis of ADHD means you are less likely to be disabled by it. These days it really most likely means affluent and pushy mother

I also work in a school, and you're talking nonsense. We have children from all socio-economic backgrounds who are diagnosed ND, including those living in poverty. Some of our diagnosed children have very high support needs, with EHCP plans in place and support from the Children's Services Disability Team. Some of them are so heavily impacted by ADHD or Autism that their traits were obvious from a very young age and picked up by Nursery/Health Visitors before they started school, hence the early diagnosis.
Of course support in school should be based on need and not just diagnosis, but for a school to openly disregard a child's diagnosis because of unfounded and misogynistic assumptions (I note there is no mention of "pushy" Dad's!) is ableist and discriminatory.

The irony of this thread attracting a bunch of NT posters who think they know better than Psychiatrists and ND people who should be afforded a diagnosis.

Riiigggjhhtttt. Brain chemistry differences are such a fashionable accessory.

The ignorance and misinformation on this thread is absolutely mind-boggling.

The anger is always at regular people too. Why not direct anger at the terrible healthcare workers that are apparently giving out these wrong diagnoses willy nilly?

My adult autism diagnosis was life changing for me. On the outside, I appear competent and well-adjusted, successful even as hold down a managerial role. On the inside it’s another matter. If I could never talk I would be happy. It’s so much effort, I have no internal or social read of my own or other people’s emotions. I struggle to use my mouth to talk and trained hard to be able to articulate. I struggle massively processing what people say let alone then process meaning or other meanings. I’m also very gullible. I toughened up due to being subject to abuse as a teen. I spent years thinking I was faulty and trying to cover for it. A stressful day at work isn’t just scattiness or tiredness, some times my head is like a brick and i need to block out anyone or anything that needs processing power. Can’t read facial expressions. Don’t know how loud or direct my voice is. Have to put a lot of effort into trying to talk like other people or tv shows. Don’t have feelings about a lot of things. Come across rude.

Also had adhd diagnosis with autism. That was more the out of sight out of mind inattentive and need to stim in evenings. I have everything out in my house or I forget eg products or medicine. Things in cupboards don’t exist. Bags have to be same things or I’m out without because I won’t remember.

So no adhd isn’t just scattiness but wanted to put my two pence out there that the publicity around neurodivergence helped me discover who I am and accept it. Accept my life with a disability. It was more than pathologising it for me.

Stupid advice that focussing on exams is hyper focus. I don’t think it’s the act of focus that’s neurodivergent, it’s the shitshow that goes with it like not being able to tell if you need a wee or knowing if your hungry or making your body ill because your brain fires all cylinders at something when only 1-2 parts of brain were needed (adhd brain scans show this is what happens).

I’ve learnt accept time is spiral not sequential for me, etc and western industrial standards are de-habilitating. It’s a whole different way of being. Stupid TikTok.

No one gets a mobility car purely because they have a diagnosis of ADHD or autism.

My dd did.

It wouldn't be based on the diagnosis though. It would be because the diagnosis caused difficulties which meet the threshold for enhanced mobility

I think there are three problems here:

1. If someone decides that they are ND, then they have endless ways they can go and research it. Now that can be helpful, but equally well, as any medic can tell you, that if you read a medical dictionary you can easily diagnose yourself with everything except housemaid's knee". It also means that someone who wants to be diagnosed can use what they find online to use when they are being diagnosed.
2. There seems to be a lot of online stuff from people who have been diagnosed who then use it as an "excuse" not to do what they don't want to do. Now it may be that the diagnosis gives them the excuse not to do something that they've always found very difficult, or to adapt, but I've seen it where it's used as a non-arguable reason why they can't be expected to do anything they don't want to.
3. If there are people who are either being misdiagnosed because they have managed to "trick" the system with what they've learnt online, or are announcing that they're ND because they've decided they are due to watching a video, then it dilutes it for the people who really are ND. There are less resources for them, less space for them, but also (in exactly the same way when people "decide" they have an allergy, but don't) it means that people take it less seriously and will think "oh yes, I know someone who says that, but isn't" and assume that all others are the same.