Misinformation on TikTok can lead to misunderstanding of ADHD, inaccurate self-diagnosis
Key takeaways:
- Psychologists said fewer than half of the ADHD-symptom claims in the analyzed TikTok videos were accurate.
- The level of ADHD-related content viewed was linked to perceptions of ADHD prevalence and struggles.
ADHD-related TikTok content shapes viewer perceptions of the condition, but experts found that the videos often make inaccurate claims regarding symptoms and treatment, according to a study published in PLOS ONE.
More specifically, ADHD-related TikTok content may lead to inaccurate self-diagnosis and overestimation of ADHD prevalence, according to the study.
#ADHD is one of the 10 most-viewed health-related hashtags on TikTok, according to the researchers, who noted that previous research shows that mental health experts and young adults disagree concerning the psychoeducational quality of ADHD content on TikTok.
“TikTok can be an incredible tool for raising awareness and reducing stigma, but it also has a downside,” Vasileia Karasavva, a PhD student in clinical psychology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, said in a related press release. “Anecdotes and personal experiences are powerful, but when they lack context, they can lead to misunderstandings about ADHD and mental health in general.”
Accuracy of claims
Karasavva and colleagues performed two analyses to evaluate ADHD-related TikTok content. The first focused on the popularity of this content and how creators’ claims about ADHD align with the opinions of experts.
Two of the study authors independently assessed the psychoeducational accuracy, nuance and quality of the claims made in 98 of the top 100 #ADHD TikTok videos.
They found that the 90 top videos with a recorded view count amassed over 495 million views, with an average of 5.47 million views (standard deviation [SD], 6,410,138) per video.
In most of the videos (93.9%), the creators did not refer to any source regarding their claims about ADHD.
Ninety-two of the 98 total videos made claims about ADHD symptoms. The two psychologists rated fewer than half (48.7%) of the symptom claims in the videos as accurate and considered 4.1% of the symptom videos as nuanced, meaning the creator acknowledged that the claims made in the video may not apply to all people with ADHD.
Of the 18 claims about ADHD treatment made in six videos, the researchers judged 55.6% as accurate and none as nuanced.
The researchers also gave each video a global score based on whether they would recommend it to others as a source of ADHD psychoeducation, with one signifying absolutely would not recommend and five signifying would definitely recommend. The average global score for the ADHD videos was 1.78 (SD, 0.82).
Content consumption
In the second analysis, 843 undergraduate students (79.4% women; 54.3% Asian) in Western Canada completed questionnaires about their frequency of viewing ADHD-related TikTok content and their perceptions of ADHD between January 2024 and March 2024. Of the students, 224 reported that they did not have ADHD, 421 reported self-diagnosed ADHD and 198 had a formal ADHD diagnosis.
First, the researchers found that participants with a self-diagnosis of ADHD viewed significantly more ADHD-related content than participants without ADHD (P < .001) but significantly less content than participants with a formal ADHD diagnosis (P = .002).
After controlling for demographics, the researchers found that participants were more likely to perceive the content as helpful and accurate if they reported greater content engagement (P < .001) or were self-diagnosed (P = .04) compared with those without ADHD.
Further, the researchers asked the students to rank the top five and bottom five psychologist-rated videos from the first analysis. The participants found the top five videos less worthy of recommendation than the psychologists (global score, 2.82 vs. 3.6) but they deemed the bottom five videos more worthy of recommendation than the psychologists (global score: 2.3 vs. 1.1; P < .001 for both).
After controlling for demographics, Karasavva and colleagues found that self-diagnosed participants estimated a greater prevalence of ADHD in the general population compared with the other groups (both P < .001). As ADHD-related content consumption increased, so did estimated ADHD prevalence rates and the perception than the average person with ADHD struggles more with their symptoms.
The researchers noted that both analyses may have limited generalizability to less popular ADHD content or beyond graduate students.
Ultimately, addressing the disparity between TikTok content and psychologists’ perceptions may help to better serve this population, according to the researchers.
Reference:
- ADHD misinformation on TikTok is shaping young adults’ perceptions. https://psych.ubc.ca/news/adhd-misinformation-on-tiktok-is-shaping-young-adults-perceptions/. Published Mar. 19, 2025. Accessed Mar. 21, 2025.
Perspective
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This comprehensive study delves into the profound influence of social media on information dissemination, public opinion formation and the increasing tendency of individuals to seek comprehensive psychiatric evaluations.
In general, the public has difficulty accessing medical and psychiatric information from qualified sources. Any communication vehicle that disseminates information so broadly that is easily accessible at no cost will be quickly adapted as a source of information. However, without oversight of the accuracy of the information, the obvious difficulty is that people will seek the information that resonates with them.
The upside is that people have access to information to better evaluate their own physical symptoms or mental experiences. The downside is that they will self-diagnose with inaccurate information and without adequate training.
If patients review these videos and come to the conclusion that they have ADHD, clinicians may be challenged during the clinical interview to discern how wedded the person is to their self-diagnosis. If the patient isn’t satisfied when the provider says they don’t have ADHD, they may believe that the health provider is not knowledgeable about ADHD and discount their conclusion. In the clinical interview, how do you educate the person to neutralize the self-diagnosis without embarrassing them?
Results of a survey published in 2024 showed that one in four adults believes they have ADHD. In fact, the prevalence of ADHD is only one in 15 to one in 17. This discrepancy in prevalence highlights the powerful influence of misinformation creating misperceptions.
Why is that a problem? It leaves people thinking they have a disorder they don’t. Such misperceptions can lead individuals to seek confirmation from health care providers who might inaccurately validate these self-diagnoses and prescribe unnecessary medications.
Individuals without ADHD will report that their mood, cognition and energy are better on ADHD stimulant medication. With this response, the patient and provider believe they have ADHD, when in fact this is the response a person without ADHD will experience with these medications. As a result, people may receive medication for a disorder they don’t really have. Additionally, these unnecessary prescriptions increase the supply of controlled drugs in the community.
How do we penetrate the misinformation and direct people to accurate information? Although halting misinformation entirely is unfeasible, the reader/viewer has to critically think about the source and accuracy of the information. We need to educate folks who are going to TikTok on how to critically review the source of the information, the accuracy of the information and how that information translates into what distinguishes a diagnostic disorder from the normal fluctuations in and attention and distractibility.
ADHD is a disorder whose symptoms and impairments start in childhood or early teens and continue into adulthood for up to 90% of the children. We want people who are accurately diagnosed and appropriately treated. Equally, those who truly don’t have ADHD ought not be prescribed unnecessary medications.
Reference:
Survey finds 25% of adults suspect they have undiagnosed ADHD. https://wexnermedical.osu.edu/mediaroom/pressreleaselisting/survey-finds-25-percent-of-adults-suspect-they-have-undiagnosed-adhd. Published Oct. 14, 2024. Accessed March 26, 2025.
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