I see a lot of people blaming tiktok and “brain rot” content for the increasing ADHD diagnoses, but I think its a matter of better detection, similar to how OCD and autism diagnosis have increased too.
Also as someone with ADHD, it feels like shit that it could be “my fault” or that I have brainrot.
You must log in or register to comment.
Ironically, the algorithm pushing adhd content to my boyfriend is what made him actually realize that that’s what he probably has. He just thought everyone felt the way he always has, but were better at handling their life than he was. (There might be a serious low self-esteem problem mixed in there too.)
I don’t believe that ADHD can be developed but at the same time TikTok is literally engineered to prey on the symptoms of it.
Sort of like how we didn’t start noticing that some kids had attention disorders until we shoved them in a seat in a classroom for 9 hours a day, we didn’t start noticing that a lot more kids had the same issues when we gave them a bright, shiny, feature-rich and constantly updating video app for them to use.
it may not be an actual chemical imbalance, but fuck me if 40 different doomscrolling apps won’t fuck up your focus and concentration. probably needs a new name, but it’s very clear we can’t pay attention to shit anymore, bombarded with 10 second videos, memes, etc every minute, always on our phones. even if you’re not ADHD diagnosed, you see and feel the effects due to this nature.
I had ADHD a full 20 years before tiktok was invented
I was fourteen when I first got unlimited internet access.
ADHD is something you’re born with.
People are looking for it more than they used to. NOBODY was looking for it when I was young. I was probably in high school when I first heard of ADD. (They hadn’t added the H yet) and the general understanding was that ADD = a spastic kid that can’t sit still and makes too much noise, and that medication just sedated them to the point of complacency.
I was quiet, and liked to read, so when my third and forth grade teachers said that they were concerned about my ability to pay attention, my mom got offended that they would imply there was something wrong with her smart boy.
I wonder how my life might be different if she had listened to them instead of letting me figure it out on my own 30 years later.
“The quiet girl who is clearly not stupid and reads A LOT but has trouble organising herself will be fine, she’ll be able to sort herself out, especially with the help of her parents who are both teachers - no cause for concern here, there are kids who very obviously need more help.”
- my teachers, probably, in the late 80s and 90s.
I don’t exactly blame them, there really were kids who needed all their attention so I fell through the cracks.
This is almost the story of my boyfriend’s childhood.
“My son don’t need any drugs!”
Now he’s over 40 and finally putting all the pieces together. But not before going tens of thousands of dollars into debt, which is forcing him to keep a job he hates so that he can pay rent. Have I mentioned the daily panic attacks and constant stress on his body?
But he still hasn’t seen anyone to get a proper diagnosis because “I am barely making it right now, but seeing someone is something I can’t handle right now. Seeing someone might make it worse, and I’ll just go further into debt.”
So here we are. Quickly dying, and not fixing it.
You can’t cause ADHD, you can’t prevent ADHD; it’s genetic. It’s not a result of patterns of thought, or video games, or television. You don’t have to ‘train’ your child’s attention span, nor can you destroy it.
People with adhd are naturally drawn to high-stimulation activities, so people associate the two - but that’s like saying that smoke burns the toast.
Do you have a source on it being purely 100% genetic? Because my understanding is that environment is a huge predisposing factor.
ADHD is, as I understand it with my shitty, distantly earned BS in psychology, congenital and not acquired. You can’t just “catch” ADHD, your brain was born with a neurochemical issue - not that I understand neuroscience well, but the dopamine isn’t doing its job of keeping your thoughts on target, hence why only immediately rewarding things seem to be possible sometimes.
There are a lot more diagnoses of late, but I’ve read that part of it is the war on drugs making the Rx systematically scarce so it’s just easier to blame people for seeking care rather than addressing the systemic issues. Sort of akin to blaming the consumer for climate change.
TikTok is probably not helping, and it is easy to become addicted. This is a separate matter however.
I’m a licensed mental health professional but I don’t specialize in ADHD. I’ve been diagnosed with ADHD and take stimulants every day.
ADHD is mostly genetic, but IMO the increase in diagnoses is partly due to the information overload from the digital age we’re living in. There are simply more things distracting us, more cognitive demands, such that even “normal” brains will struggle to keep up.
I want to point out, too, that the DSM has serious issues with validity and reliability. Some of the criteria are so subjective as to be useless, and two providers diagnosing the same person can arrive at very different disorders. Allen Frances, chair of the DSM-IV (we’re on DSM-5 now) wrote a book called Saving Normal where he criticizes the APA’s trend of pathologizing basic human experiences. With each DSM edition the diagnostic criteria get more broad, to the point that I can argue that any given person meets criteria for SOME disorder. If everyone is disordered, then what’s normal anymore? How is that helpful?
Most of the diagnostic criteria for ADHD describe someone who isn’t a “good student” or a “good employee.” It doesn’t consider context. If someone fucking hates their job, I’m not surprised they struggle to complete tasks that require sustained mental effort. Kids are reminded every day that the world is burning, so of course they’re distracted from their math homework. I’m not saying people aren’t suffering from what we call ADHD, I’m saying that it’s a normal human response to the state of the world right now, so why are we calling it a disorder?
Edit: a word
It’s not the first I’ve heard of professionals hating the DSM, the whole of scientific thought exists within capitalism and so its tendencies can’t ever be entirely free of capitalistic slant. Being critical minded and well educated (as you appear to be, if I may say so) is perhaps the best we can do.
I thought that was the outdated bullshit definition that was used to push pills
I did say it was a shitty, distantly earned degree - the proviso stands.
I don’t think you can become ADHD. You’re either born with it or not.
or “tiktok”?
I have ADHD. I have never used tiktok.
Case proven? :)
I avoid it out of self preservation
Same. It just screams “feed me ALL your time!”
Have you tried screen maxing?
What’s that?
Humans are the product of their environment, and the younger you are, the more affected you will be.
If I put you in the rain forest with animals and plants and shamans, you would absolutely start to calm down and start to listen to people and become much calmer with time. Since the entire energy of the place is calm.
But if you sit in front of phones and computers on social media, where you have this constant energy of consuming content you forget a day later, your brain will start to be unable to think and focus after a while. It will feel stressful to listen to someone who talks even, because it’s not fast enough.
If you test more, you detect more.
Have you been formally diagnosed by a psychiatrist or other qualified healthcare professional?
Undoubtedly ADHD (especially ADD variant) went underreported for a very long time as until only relatively recently we’d have blamed its symptoms on other things. The increase in people being diagnosed is real.
But it needs to be done by a qualified professional because some ADHD symptoms overlap with other neurodiversity or other conditions. So a portion of self diagnosed people will, in fact, not have ADHD but something else.
Have you been formally diagnosed by a psychiatrist or other qualified healthcare professional?
Would you ask that to someone who told you they have cancer?
If people claimed to have cancer without a diagnosis by a medical professional as often as people claim to have neurodivergence then I would ask them if their cancer diagnosis was from a medical doctor.
If they were worried that TikTok gave it to them then yes.
Just like video games don’t make someone a school shooter, tiktok does not make people have ADHD. Both can exacerbate existing problems and people need to be aware of this and look at WHY kids in particular seem to spend a lot of time gaming / scrolling brainless videos. But the causes are more complex and inconvenient so society jumps on easy answers.
I think doctors are diagnosing ADHD more often because it didn’t used to be a recognized thing. Awareness and detection are both rising. I also think as pharmaceutical companies make ADHD meds they can profit from, it is yet another incentive for doctors to give an ADHD diagnosis.
I think people are self-diagnosing ADHD more often because, well, I could probably write an essay on that. It’s not just tiktok because the self-diagnosis trend predates tiktok but tiktok certainly contributes.
Excessive time on TikTok is not good for a person, whether it “causes” ADHD or not.
If you have an ADHD diagnosis, have a conversation with your doctor about both meds and non-med ways to improve your life. Cutting down on TikTok may be advisable, in addition to any meds or other instructions the doctor has given you. Obligatory “Lemmy is not the place for medical advice”.
I wonder if adhd should even be considered something that you get diagnosed with. So many people have it its like diagnosing someone with having red hair or something. Instead society should just accept there are people who think in different way and accommodate. Though of course people should still be able to know if they have that variation.
both? i was diagnosed super young, and by the time i got to college some people around me spent so much time on their phones or dodged so much homework it made me feel i was on a more even playing field lol
Yes
