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.
A theory I really appreciated that I heard recently was that there’s definitely an uptick in female diagnoses of ADHD because, until fairly recently, doctors didn’t even believe women could have ADHD. So now it’s more out there and there’s an uptick in adult women getting tested and being recognized with a diagnosis.
Along with that, yeah just more awareness in general causes more people to go get tested causing more diagnoses. So I’d say things like tiktok contribute to that but only in that they bring awareness to the symptoms people might’ve not realized were related to ADHD before, not that they cause it.
Not better detection and not tiktok in particular, better information available and less stigma allowing more people to out themselves. Same with LGBTQ+ and many other non-apparent, but taboo traits throughout history. As they become more widely aceptable, people can be out or at least people can better understand that these traits are not them being broken, lazy, evil, or selfish.
It’s 100% better detection. ADHD is not something you develop, just like autism or type 1 diabetes. It is measurable (it’s visible on MRIs as an underdeveloped prefrontal cortex) and some of the symptoms can be treated with drugs, but the person’s body will never not need them (just like type 1 diabetes).
Suggesting that TikTok causes ADHD is similar to suggesting that sodas cause type 1 diabetes, the rise of one correlates with the other because if every kid is consuming soda/TikTok it’s easier to spot the ones with Diabetes/ADHD, not because of a cause-effect relationship but because some of them will react differently.
Do you think there could be different types of ADHD, similar to how diabetes has type I & II?
Sure, a person who gets shot in the head and loses part of their prefrontal cortex functionality could have “type 2 ADHD”, and I suppose that if you otherwise similarly physically harm your brain using some chemicals in the same way that excessive sugar harms your pancreas you could develop the same condition. In fact I think meth usage would probably create a similar condition in the brain since long use of it causes you to be unable to produce serotonin/dopamine in the appropriate levels. But I seriously doubt that watching videos on your phone can cause it, any more than it can cause diabetes.
There are various attempts at categorizing ADHD, of various levels of scientific credibility.
The one I hear most often are “predominantly inattentive” and “predominantly hyperactive”.
There are also quack psychology tests that break it down into basically zodiac signs.
Such distinctions can have their uses for clearer diagnostic pictures or educating people who need to handle others’ ADHDs, but they’re not nearly as important as they are in diabetes. They’re arbitrary and they don’t completely change the mechanism of the condition, as far as we’re aware. It just doesn’t affect much.
In short, there aren’t really formal distinctions because it wouldn’t be very practically useful to have them, and because it would be hard to agree on universal types.
I struggled in school despite being smart. I was tested but they said I didn’t have it.
Then as an adult, I re-tested. They updated the things they look for and are more aware of how people can try to mask and deal with their symptoms, which in the past made it difficult to diagnose. I was diagnosed then.
actual diagnoses are likely due to better detection, self diagnoses are likely due to the Internet.
It’s probably better detection.
As for internet brain rot, I suspect that’s due to the idolization of swiftly delivered entertainment over everything else.
People don’t read anymore because it takes time and effort to get into the book. It takes commitment and thought. People would rather have entertainment fed to us in thousands of smaller doses. Get those micro dopamine hits with each swipe of your phone.
I suspect it’s also a form of escapism. The world is turning to shit and TikTok brain rot works much in the same way as abusing drugs.
Easy diagnosis. Take speed. Calms you down? ADHD. Speeds you up? No ADHD.
My best friend is ADHD. Dated a long-time friend that was ADHD. My daughter is ADHD.
Give 'em speed, they chill. Give me speed, I bounce off the walls. Many of the same symptoms.
I see tons of young people online, “I want to be special. I have ADHD! Also, I’m trans and gay!”
STFU. You’re young, wildly horny and figuring life out. We all went through that.
“But I’m SPECIAL!!!”
No, odds are you aren’t. Stop taking away from people who actually have these conditions/problems/lives.
“OK. But I’m OCD!”
Jesus. STFU.
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
If everyone is disordered, then what’s normal anymore? How is that helpful?
It is helpful to therapists and pharmacuetical drug manfucaturers.
I’m not saying psychology and psychiatry are complete bullshit.
I’m saying that if you can manufacture a problem, you can sell a solution.
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
Which part of that are you saying is outdated?
It’s just a chemical misbalance
Yes. “Just” a misbalance in dopamine levels in the brain. Dopamine reuptake is too quick, there’s too little dopamine available, so the brain’s reward centre doesn’t activate properly. That’s pretty much what they’re saying. Drugs can inhibit the reuptake, making more dopamine available longer.
If true, why is non drug treatment more effective than drug treatment in the long term?
I’m not a medical professional but based on what I’ve read (and experienced), I don’t agree that it is. Both usually work best in tandem.
When drugs are stopped, no benefit persists long term
I did say it was a shitty, distantly earned degree - the proviso stands.
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 was diagnosed in my 20s but didn’t believe the psychiatrist. She didn’t do extensive testing or anything, just named it and prescribed for it given what I told her about myself and what she observed. I thought she was so wrong.
But the content about it over the past 5 or so years has made me realize how right she was. I understand myself so much better now that I believe that diagnosis and I’m better able to handle the challenges that come with it.
I’m grateful that my generation has become outspoken about mental health and neurodivergence.
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.
The average age for women to be diagnosed with ADHD used to be 44 years old. It is declining due to better diagnosis tools.
A criteria for ADHD is hyperactivity. But 25% of children exhibit hyperactivity regardless of whether or not they have ADHD. This led to a lot of misdiagnosis.
ADHD untreated can result in it being harder to treat. The brain falls behind in it’s development of the frontal lobe. Early treatment in the form of psychoeducation and sometimes medication, reduces ADHD problems later in life. In some cases to the point of no longer needing the addition of medication.
While it isn’t possible to develop ADHD, the enviroment can greatly impact the brain’s development throughout childhood and adolesence. Influencing the severity of ADHD.
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.
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.
https://www.cdc.gov/adhd/diagnosis/index.html
Diagnostic Criteria of ADHD as per DSM 5: (Must persist for 6 months, 6 of these if 16 or younger, 5 of these if 17 or older)
(1) Often fails to give close attention to details or makes careless mistakes in schoolwork, at work, or with other activities.
(2) Often has trouble holding attention on tasks or play activities.
(3) Often does not seem to listen when spoken to directly.
(4) Often does not follow through on instructions and fails to finish schoolwork, chores, or duties in the workplace (e.g., loses focus, side-tracked).
(5) Often has trouble organizing tasks and activities.
(6) Often avoids, dislikes, or is reluctant to do tasks that require mental effort over a long period of time (such as schoolwork or homework).
(7) Often loses things necessary for tasks and activities (e.g. school materials, pencils, books, tools, wallets, keys, paperwork, eyeglasses, mobile telephones).
(8) Is often easily distracted.
(9) Is often forgetful in daily activities.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10756502/
Results revealed that short-form video addiction not only directly impacted academic procrastination but also placed indirect effect on academic procrastination through attentional control.
Academic Procrastination:
Arguably 1, 4 and 6
Lower Ability to Retain Attention:
Arguably 2, 3, 6 and 8
…
That’s just one study.
You can rather easily find dozens of studies that conclude that significant TikTok usage lowers your attention span, lowers your ability to maintain attention/focus, lowers your academic performance, is distracting in and of itself, is even more distracting because TikTok is addictive via dopamine reinforcement conditioning.
Tiktok recently got very angry when documents were made public showing that they know their product is addictive, and that this is done by design.
https://www.npr.org/2024/10/11/g-s1-27676/tiktok-redacted-documents-in-teen-safety-lawsuit-revealed
TikTok determined the precise amount of viewing it takes for someone to form a habit: 260 videos. After that, according to state investigators, a user “is likely to become addicted to the platform.”
TikTok’s own research states that “compulsive usage correlates with a slew of negative mental health effects like loss of analytical skills, memory formation, contextual thinking, conversational depth, empathy, and increased anxiety,” according to the suit.
In addition, the documents show that TikTok was aware that “compulsive usage also interferes with essential personal responsibilities like sufficient sleep, work/school responsibilities, and connecting with loved ones.”
…
I am not going to say that nature, ie genetics, plays absolutely no factor in the likelihood of developing ADHD. It certainly plays a significant role.
But to say you cannot cause and/or exacerbate ADHD via nurture, ie the activities you engage in and the environment you are a part of … that’s absolutely ludicrous, just empirically false.
ADHD diagnoses are on the rise, significant TikTok use exacerbates many of the behavior patterns which literally are the diagnostic criteria for ADHD, thus increased usage of TikTok is causally connected to increasing levels of ADHD in the population.
Do you have a source on it being purely 100% genetic? Because my understanding is that environment is a huge predisposing factor.
No, they don’t, because no such source exists.
The genetics studies on heritability of ADHD literally just look for heritability of inattentiveness and hyperactivity… which are well known to be exacerbated by significant TikTok usage…
There obviously is a hereditary component, ranging from 60% to possibly as high as 80%…
But, there are 0 mental health disorders / conditions / diagnoses that are understood to be 100% hereditary, the way sickle cell anemia or muscular dystrophy or cystic fibrosis are.
Maybe for it manifesting. There are certainly very lucky people who grow up and live in environments that just so happen to not clash with them and who never even think they may have a neurodivergence.
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.
This was me as well. Literally hiding other books inside school books in 4th grade because the class reading went way to slow. Didn’t realize myself until I was 26. Would have been great to learn earlier and maybe avoid the college burnout
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.
or “tiktok”?
I have ADHD. I have never used tiktok.
Case proven? :)
Same. It just screams “feed me ALL your time!”
I avoid it out of self preservation
Same, and I limit short video scrolling on Instagram to doing it for a set amount of time with my partner, since it’s like a little comedy break for us. I know myself well enough to avoid that shit like the plague, otherwise.
Have you tried screen maxing?
What’s that?
You mean putting Subway Surfers on the side?
Ehhhhhh, I think it’s a little of column A and a little of column B.
I think the biggest tik tok contributor is people now hear about ADHD and decide because they get bored in schoo sometimes they must have it etc. (As someone who struggles not to chew through their own gums as a form of fidgeting, I find this really irritating.) But let’s put that aside because I don’t think that’s what you’re asking about. I’ll also ignore the fact that more people are walking into therapists having read all the symptoms and knowing essentially what to say to receive a “diagnosis.”
To the actual question, I do think TikTok/smartphones/internet are definitely rewiring our brains in ways that mirror a lot of symptoms of ADD/ADHD. There’s a depressingly good book about it called the Shallows but the basic thesis is that the financial incentives of the internet are geared to keep you clicking and moving through things (so you see more new ads) which habituated people to very short term impulses/reward structures. In other words, impulse control and trouble focusing long term.
