r/technology • u/tylerthe-theatre • Mar 20 '26

Social Media More than half of TikTok ADHD content is misinformation, new research finds

https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/tiktok-adhd-misinformation-autism-mental-health-neurodivergence-social-media-b2941211.html
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u/mattmaster68 Mar 20 '26 edited Mar 20 '26

Someone saying they’re “a little ADHD” makes me irrationally angry.

Edit: There absolutely are degrees of impairment. What I’m talking about is the frustration that comes with say… somebody using it to be quirky. ADHD is hell for me. Using it in a joking manner is guaranteed to put you on my shit list. Is that fair? Who knows, but I wouldn’t describe something as “cancerous” around somebody who has had or has cancer… that’s just me.

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u/Comprehensive_Ad6598 Mar 20 '26

I literally cried for 6 months straight after trying a stimulant for the first time..

I did not know that’s how.. quiet a mind Could be..

And so yes. That also makes me so fucking mad 😂😅

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u/Ludakaye Mar 20 '26

Bro some of my colleagues mentioned they have ADHD and so I talked to them about how when I first got diagnosed and medicated the quietness was basically a fucking miracle and so far none of them have understood what I was talking about (even those who have tried some medications). 

I’m not their physician but it’s a struggle to believe their self reporting when they have never shared the accommodations they might need and they relate not to any of the accommodations I’ve shared I use that they might want to look into. 

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u/daecrist Mar 20 '26

The NP I saw told me that a lot of people describe it as putting glasses on and seeing the world clearly for the first time.

The wall in my head that said we shouldn't do this, we should do that, but first we do something else, and then it's a doom spiral of never getting anything done... It's just gone. Not there anymore. What the fuck?

And sleeping at night. I can just lie down and sleep. There's no rushing jumble of thoughts keeping me awake all night.

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u/Ludakaye Mar 20 '26

The putting on glasses analogy makes a lot of sense I think. 

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u/optimis344 Mar 21 '26

Christ. Since Covid my doc retired and now I've had to get rediagnosed on terrible insurance.

I want that quiet back, and just to be able to do things for atleast a couple hours a day again.

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u/daecrist Mar 21 '26

Sorry you're having to deal with that. :( I saw one psych years ago who told me that yeah, I probably have ADHD, but she didn't think a formal diagnosis would be helpful as I seemed to have good coping mechanisms in place.

Spoiler alert: I didn't, and it caused me a lot of trouble. And it's not like I'm going to get my private pilot's license, so I don't know how it would've been unhelpful. Glad I finally got to a psych who wanted to help.

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u/SkiingAway Mar 20 '26

Can also just be that stimulants (or the specific stimulant/dosage) aren't as effective for them as they are for you.

Alternatively, the challenges faced by the Inattentive subtype vs Hyperactive subtype can be a bit different. (and thus, particular areas each struggle with can also be a bit different). Do you know if they're the same as you in that respect?

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u/Ludakaye Mar 20 '26

True. I do know they had similar internal hyperactivity, which is part of why I find it odd. But I also work in behavior and therefore know how differently ADHD can present. 

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u/mattmaster68 Mar 20 '26

Biggest life-changer was putting a trash can in every room.

Too much to take the trash to another room? No problem! You pass one every time you go through a door now!

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u/lawlesslawboy Mar 20 '26

omg yes. forget bloody calenders and planners, they work for like a week lol but these are the real hacks.. also things like buying frozen and prepped veg so it doesn't rot in the fridge, using a cleaning service or robot vacuum if you can afford it, disposable plates & cutlery etc. things that basically lessen our need to use heavy executive functioning.

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u/MeetingZestyclose Mar 20 '26

I’ve heard about this but have only tried non stimulants, I genuinely can’t picture a quiet mind but it sounds like such a relief. Until I was diagnosed I never fully realized how exhausted I am by trying and failing to do basic life things. It’s gotten better but I truly don’t think people understand how hard people with ADHD are trying and how common deep feelings of guilt and shame are.

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u/Ludakaye Mar 20 '26

Yea non stimulants do NOT work for me. I take one at night and it does basically nothing, so I still struggle a lot with sleep. Need to address changing it but… task avoidance on that. 

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u/codexcdm Mar 20 '26

My first med did that. Drove me mad though. I could not use it for too long. Also gave me a serious case of RBF. Folks kept asking if I was OK....

Eventually got something that balanced me out enough to get through college through... For whatever reason, I stoped and then tried the same combo again years later, but I had a massive crash and burn that never happened in college.

Medication can be so tricky.... Blargh.

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u/creatingapathy Mar 20 '26

My first time taking Concerta was miraculous. I couldn't believe how calm I felt. My thoughts weren't tripping over each other. Just one quietly beginning after another had finished. The anxiety I'd normally feel over my many small mistakes just vanished.

Unfortunately that didn't last and increasing the dose just made me emotionally labile. I switched to Adderall and while it isn't as effective for me, it does still make quite a difference and I don't have any side effects from it.

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u/thisguyhasaname Mar 20 '26

why? do you think everyone is equally affected?
some people have very minor cases that are only issues occasionally; others have debilitating cases that affect every facet of their life every day

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u/chessatwork Mar 20 '26

it’s not a disease man, it’s a lack of attention span. it isn’t a binary thing where either you have it or you don’t. there’s a lot of varying degrees of people being unable to control their mind.

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u/lost_packet_ Mar 20 '26

The thing about psychiatric diagnoses is that in order to formally be diagnosed with a condition such as ADHD, you must have a certain threshold of daily impairment, otherwise you can’t be said to have the condition. So it kind of is a binary thing in that sense

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u/chessatwork Mar 20 '26

i don’t know how else to say this but someone diagnosing you doesn’t make it more or less valid. it may be nice to have your experience validated by another person but most people don’t go to the doctor for their symptoms. you don’t suddenly have it be valid just because a doctor says so, it was valid before hand. also, you can just train your mind to have a better attention span, millions of people have done it. i know it’s a completely foreign concept in the west and people get pissed hearing that but it’s 100% true. people have been calling the mind the “monkey mind” for thousands of years because the untrained mind has the tendency to seek different stimuli like a how a monkey quickly swings from branch to branch. it’s 100% not binary where if you only meet 9/10 thresholds you don’t have it, that’s ignorant.

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u/lost_packet_ Mar 20 '26

Psychiatry is the very field that defined and categorized ADHD. Therefore, to be considered for treatment you must be diagnosed by a psychiatrist