ADHD on TikTok has become a powerful force in the way people learn about mental health, mirroring a broader shift as hundreds of millions search online for health advice and as many younger adults turn to podcasts and influencers for wellness information. In a new book, Bad Influence: How the Internet Hijacked Our Health, journalist and author Dr. Deborah Cohen examines how recommendation algorithms elevate anxiety-inducing health content and can nudge people away from traditional care.
In this excerpt, Cohen focuses on how attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder is framed on social platforms, especially TikTok, where self-diagnosis and videos spotlighting so-called “lesser known symptoms” proliferate as entertainment. She argues the online portrayal often departs from the condition’s harsher realities.
ADHD on TikTok and what clinicians say about diagnosis
Many ADHD features exist on a continuum in the general population, and determining impairment and frequency under DSM criteria requires clinical judgment. Symptoms overlap with anxiety, depression and learning disabilities. Responsible assessment involves ruling out alternative explanations before confirming ADHD or prescribing medication.
Online, that nuance can vanish. Viral clips enumerate “common signs” and “tell-tale traits” of ADHD and describe everyday impacts. UK DJ and radio host Megan McHugh drew large audiences with a video titled “Six ADHD behaviour traits you might not have known about,” citing tendencies like overpromising, difficulty saying no, poor long-term memory and subconscious tics such as lip-pressing or nose-scrunching. Other creators frame struggles like getting out of bed, choosing food at a restaurant, missing deadlines or abandoning books as indicators of ADHD.
What research finds in top ADHD videos
Researchers led by Vasileia Karasavva at the University of British Columbia analyzed the top 100 ADHD TikTok videos on January 10, 2023. Clinical psychologists judged that only 48.7 percent of claims reflected DSM-5 symptoms. Among inaccurate claims, nearly 70 percent described experiences common among people without ADHD, about 50 percent labeled transdiagnostic symptoms as ADHD-specific, and almost 20 percent fit other conditions better. Examples included bumping into furniture, replaying songs and craving sweets, all presented as ADHD signs. Just 4 percent of videos flagged that claims might not apply broadly, and under 2 percent noted that such experiences also occur in people without ADHD.
Credential disclosures skewed toward personal narratives. Of creators who shared credentials, 84 percent cited “lived experience” and 13 percent identified as life coaches. None of the top videos came from clinical psychologists or psychiatrists. When 843 psychology students were shown the clips, they tended to rate scientifically inaccurate content more favorably than experts did and to mark down some expert-aligned material. Students who had self-diagnosed ADHD rated all videos highest overall, including those experts rejected, which researchers interpret as a preference for relatability over clinical accuracy. The student sample may limit how broadly the findings apply.
Validation, community and commerce
For people who feel dismissed in clinical settings, TikTok’s validating narratives can be compelling. Alyssa Brown said online descriptions aligned with symptoms she had tracked and that finding an ADHD community after being disregarded by conventional healthcare felt “deeply reassuring.” She and her fiancé bond over humorous creator accounts, some of which market merchandise bearing slogans like “What if you’re not a lazy useless loser” and “Caution: mid hyperfocus.”
Celebrity influence and concerns over glamorization
Mental health professionals are divided. Some welcome the destigmatizing effect of viral ADHD content. Others warn it trivializes the disorder or blurs diagnostic boundaries. High-profile disclosures have shaped perceptions, from Simone Biles stating in 2016 that treatment is nothing to be ashamed of to Jessie J describing in 2024 how her diagnosis felt both empowering and overwhelming. She called ADHD a “superpower” with the right support and credited social media with helping her connect and heal.
Oxford University psychologists Drs Lucy Foulkes and Jack Andrews caution that celebrity narratives, however well intentioned, can confer social prestige on diagnoses, making them seem desirable on platforms where status spreads quickly. That spotlight risks centering privileged stories and overlooking those who struggle without resources.
When online narratives meet real-world hardship
Professor Susan Young, a clinical psychologist who founded the first national adult ADHD service at London’s Maudsley Hospital in 1994 and co-authored the 2008 NICE guidelines, objects to the “glib” entertainment tone she sees online. Drawing on extensive work in the criminal justice system, she notes that ADHD is far more prevalent in prisons than in the general population. Her 2015 research found ADHD rates five times higher among youth in custody worldwide, at 30.1 percent, and ten times higher among adults, at 26.2 percent. Prisoners with ADHD were more likely to be involved in violent incidents, self-harm and substance misuse.
Despite that burden, ADHD often goes undiagnosed and unsupported in carceral settings, making rehabilitation harder. Young worries that upbeat tropes like “ADHD is my superpower” can undermine the seriousness of the condition and obscure the harm it inflicts on many people, particularly those from marginalized backgrounds.
US studies, echoed elsewhere, show that children from low-income families are more likely to meet ADHD criteria but are less likely to receive treatment. One interviewee, David, said the “superpower” framing bothers him. For a diagnosis, symptoms must cause impairment, he noted, yet discussions often skip what that impairment entails. People can cultivate strengths and coping strategies, he said, but that does not make the condition itself advantageous.
Navigating the fine line
Cohen concludes that mental health awareness online treads a narrow path between reducing stigma and trivializing conditions to the point of losing credibility. The risk is that those living with diagnoses question their own experiences as the internet reframes complex clinical realities into catchy narratives.
Excerpted from Bad Influence: How the Internet Hijacked Our Health, Oneworld Publications, 2026. For related coverage on how biology and behavior intersect with modern health trends, see Ozempic and the brain: clues to a hidden craving center.