Channel 4 ADHD documentary

[crackerjackbaby]

Totally totally one sided. And very dangerous as a result of that. AIBU to think this?

Can you give a bit more info, for those of us who haven't seen it?

Is it not more about the private companies that provide a diagnosis for cash and how this is exploiting people?

A documentary called ‘The Great ADHD Myth’. A completely one sided show with an agenda; selective claims, misinformation, one case study with zero control/exposed thinking, not one single counter thought/argument.

Apparently ADHD doesn’t exist, it’s a social construct, meds are terrible. Likened ADHD meds to meds given to gay people to turn them straight, likened the meds to ‘slow release cocaine’.

Made me feel incredibly sad and worried for the issues and struggles that people will now face when confronted with a family member, colleague, friend who thinks they’re procrastinating/poorly behaved/lazy and they now have this biased documentary informing them they are right.

That was a part of it, yes. But the majority of the show was that ADHD simply doesn't exist, and that meds - often a last option for people, often absolutely transformative in the best and only way- are terrible.

I'm surprised at the amount voting yabu since it's very clearly one sided and such one sided views with no balance are never a good thing imo.

It was absolutely appalling and so many people are rightfully making complaints. It was totally irresponsible with hugely questionable ethics. Levels of impulsivity and suicidal idealisation are high in the ADHD community.Did they not bother to think what their irresponsibility in the name of click bait will do to to people like that.The online abuse and abelism that ND people are subjected to needs to stop.

https://adhduk.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/ADHD-UK-Open-Letter-to-Channel-4.pdf

https://www.amnesty.org.uk/get-involved/join-the-movement/join-a-group-or-network/disabled-peoples-hr-network/disabled-peoples-human-rights-network-blog/i-cant-see-anything-in-this-letter-that-d/

https://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/news/clinical-areas/neurology/rcgp-responds-after-former-president-quoted-as-saying-adhd-is-not-a-medical-condition/

https://www.globaladhdnetwork.com/post/the-great-adhd-myth-statement

In the words of Matt Haig
Dear @channel4,
You are taking one of the conditions with the most stigma and misuse around it and making it worse.
That title causes real damage.
Like most conditions ADHD is defined by society. Construct, in the way everything is.
Yet it is also biological reality. Studies of twins and families show ADHD is strongly heritable. Neuroimaging shows structural and functional difference in the brain. And, most importantly for all this kind of bullshit spreading, ADHD traits are found to exist equally across vastly different cultures.
Can it be exacerbated by cultural context? Sure. So can most physical conditions.
Is it overdiagnosed? Well, when random school and prison studies have revealed massive rates of underdiagnosis I would say no.
For people like me, branded special needs at school, but never told why, a diagnosis offered so much clarity.
I know times are hard but... Stop pandering. Stop trying to be an edgy podcast. Stop trying to create stigma just for viewers.
ADHD is not a fake construct unlike this documentary.

I agreed with much of what it said. I struggle to believe that adhd is a "real" condition that needs to be medicated out of people.

Just another lets all hate people with A.D.H.D campaign , implying that it's just the pharmaciical companies investing nhs money in stock markets is the reason why more are diagnosed and medicated . Not the fact that we have undiagnosed. It never highlight the surrounding problems like sensory processing , fatigue, depression with children trying to cope in the world!

It was trying to suggest that taking upf foods, screan time is the cause of ADHD behaviour instead of suggesting that it added to any childs problem and every child whether ellbeing would improve overall with or without A.D.H.D . There was no real research or evidence by the experts who wanted to ban the word A.D.H.D . The main narator is now convinced looking at one boy and himself necking one pill has declared hes cinvinved this is a system thst needs fixing, a socially constructed issue than neuro problem.

I think all psycologists on the show used all the witch hunt phrases that are getting circulated. I wandered were they paid for the weakest arguement against ADHD by Nigel Farage and The Daily Mail ? No statistics, credible research , just a couple of psycologists sat with a bottle of wine winging on like the mean mums in the playground, whittling about a child with A.D.H.D getting a fast track pass all coz the mum used excuse but implying couldnt be arsed to wait, clearly all A.D.H.Ders will be copping out . A step back for S.E.N for certain and a waste of airtime by channel 4 who used to have better credibility. Just another poor quality documentary that incites scapegoating a group of people in society that we can use as a reason for the crap society - that was caused least of all by people with A.D.H.D !

I stopped watching it after the "slow release cocaine" comment.

A medical diagnosis should never be something you can pay for.

So as the NHS ADHD taskforce says we really need to improve NHS wait times. ADHD is under diagnosed in this country.
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/report-of-the-independent-adhd-taskforce-part-1/

Why? Lots of people pay for assessment and diagnosis- cancer, neurological conditions, gynae conditions etc etc. is it because it’s ADHD that you think people shouldn’t?
as long as assessments are rigorous and meet the applicable standards (NICE guidelines etc) then what’s the issue?

Many neuro divergent charities released official statements to respond to this dreadful show. It’s Ch4 all over.

Ah yes. And the earth is flat too.

Isn't the drug they give the kids speed, though? I had a phase when I did speed, and I just ended up thinking there were insects crawling under my skin.

I agree with you. There are people making a lot of money off this. My friend spent thousands paying to get someone to agree either her and wanted to excuse her son’s bad behaviour because she would rather tell people he is ill then badly behaved because she has never instilled any boundaries. She excuses everything. I feel sorry for her son- any attempts by his Dad to correct bad behaviour were completely overridden.

It raised some interesting points that I think are worthy of discussion but I was surprised there was no counterbalance in the programme.

I once read "Games People Play" and I think nowadays so many people are playing "Wooden Leg"

So everybody with ADHD is just somebody who is badly behaved.

You have nailed it.

My children have never been badly behaved, neither have I.

Plenty are, yes. They are certainly not medically unwell.

More parents need to be like another friend of mine- when her son’s teacher tentatively mentioned ADHD, they laughed and made it clear the school needed to be stricter, as they had no issues at home because they had firm boundaries in place.

Some kids have big personalities, are more energetic, and more spontaneous, are high-spirited, are basically more full-on and harder for adults to manage. Nothing actually wrong with that back when adults had common sense and didn’t resort to drugging kids to make their own lives easier!

Well you are very wrong. It can be debilitating.

i wasn’t going to comment on this thread but ugh, what ignorance

She didn’t say everybody. She’s talking about one specific example. You know that.

Cancer is clinically, unequivocally diagnosable. ADHD is not.

I have two AuDHD kids and one with just ADHD. Yes medication helps with ADHD but you don’t need cash handouts for it. That’s a joke. Having payments available for ADHD drives people to seek a diagnosis where there is no condition, clogging up waiting lists and costing a fortune. It needs to end.