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A quick scroll on TikTok will have you thinking, “Maybe I do have ADHD?”, or “Should I look into whether I’m autistic?”.
There’s been a huge rise in videos talking about mental health conditions. The hashtag #adhdtiktok has received 8 billion views over the last 3 years, with some videos claiming to be able to ‘diagnose’ ADHD through how a sound makes you feel.
But, things like ADHD, autism and OCD can’t be easily diagnosed, and are often nuanced and personal to each individual person.
Psychologist Dr Gayle Watts at Turning Tides Psychology agrees: “An individual might place a high amount of importance on things being clean, tidy, and organised but this doesn’t mean they have OCD.
“Often people describe having ‘a bit’ of something – e.g. ‘I am a bit OCD’, or ‘I am a bit ADHD’. This is not how diagnoses work – you either have them or you don’t (although of course there can be variations in severity if you do have a diagnosis).”
She says she’s seen a huge increase in the number of people questioning whether they have mental health issues or could be neurodivergent based on what they’ve seen online, but explains that these videos don’t often offer wider context of what could be going on.
“For example, people often attribute attention difficulties to ADHD but attention can be affected greatly by other things like depression, anxiety, sleep difficulties or trauma.”
Dr Watts says that “a self-diagnosis could lead an individual to seek inappropriate treatment either via health services or by self-medicating.”
“For example, people may try certain over-the-counter medications, herbal remedies, things like CBD, or even illegal drugs if they have heard that they can help with symptom management. Incorrect treatment may even further exacerbate unwanted symptoms,” she adds.
Dr Watts says that “there are videos on social media suggesting that if you have a messy side table in your house then this might be a sign that you have ADHD.”
This trivialises what it is actually like to live with ADHD and the impact that it can have on all aspects of people’s lives.
“In order to obtain a diagnosis, you have to meet a number of different diagnostic criteria but sometimes people recognise just one trait or characteristic within themselves and think that this means they have ‘a bit’ of a particular condition,” she explains.
If you think you might have a health condition that you’ve learned about online, it’s always best to speak to your GP first about a potential referral.
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