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.
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I thought that was the outdated bullshit definition that was used to push pills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.
Which part of that are you saying is outdated?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’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.
If only they didn’t make it so fucking difficult to actually get.
Ah, another interesting book I can recommend is called Crazy Like Us, about the globalization of the Western concept of mental health. They talk about execs at GlaxoSmithKline trying to figure out how to market antidepressants in Japan. In Japanese culture sadness and depression were seen as a normal part of the human experience. Like you said, the pharma guys had to get clever to convince their Japanese market that depression is an illness, and they had the treatment.
I mostly disagree that diagnoses are helpful to therapists. Or rather, most diagnoses are not helpful to me. I can look at them as shorthand, so if a client has MDD in their chart I have a broad sense of some of the symptoms they’re experiencing. But I can just as easily, you know, ask the client what’s going on. There are a small few (ASD, bipolar, schizophrenia, OCD) whose symptoms are so discrete and disruptive that specialized treatment can be life-changing. Outside of those few, if insurance didn’t require it, I would never assign a diagnosis again.
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.
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.
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.
If you test more, you detect more.
two more possibilities:
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a systematic change in environment
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or systematic change diets of pregnant mothers or young children
You forgot the /s.
These are also possibilities that i would be interested in seeing research cover.
no /s
Research has been done, and no.
May I see this research please?
Saying environmental factors or dietary factors CANNOT have a influence on ADHD is a very strong statement.
“Having an influence” and “causing” are two different things. You seem to imply that what mum eats during pregnancy might directly cause the kid to have ADHD.
We know smoking and drug use during pregnancy can impact child intelligence and brain issues.
There could also be more subtle confounders we haven’t identified.
Influence and cause are completely different things. If you cannot distinguish between those two things then linking you to research is pointless.
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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.
Going through this with ASD now after my surprise adult ADHD diagnosis a few years ago lol
Depends on who does the diagnosis and for what reason.
First of all, self-diagnosis specifically linked to TikTok trends or other social media is a very dumb way of claiming to have ADHD or any defining trait of some kind. Enough users do this to make it an issue of general perception of the actual state of things.
So while I’d say that detection has increased, the alleged “brainrot” has followed as well - for the duration of the trend’s popularity.
Self-diagnosing in general is dumb. That’s why Depression, ADHD, Anxiety, PTSD even and even Autism are seemingly record levels.
It’s discrediting actual sufferers and once again putting them under the rug. It pisses me off when I see bodycam videos, right away, the person arrested immediately starts going over a laundry list of mental issues that they have. All the while screaming, resisting arrest and shit.
Then we got armchair psychologists and therapists on the internet who practice without a license (or knowledge) that actually “grants” people these issues after just sitting down and having a conversation with someone.
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.
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
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.
Jesus. STFU.
Do us all a favour and take your own advice instead of picking on people.
Easy diagnosis. Take speed. Calms you down? ADHD. Speeds you up? No ADHD.
Sorry but it is not that simple, lol. It does give a hint to things, but it isn’t the end-all be-all.
There add widely varying reasons that people have different [dose-response relationships.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dose–response_relationship
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hormesis
If your methodology worked, you’d have diagnosed me to have ADHD with 100% certainty. I always maintained I don’t. Got tested by clinical psychologist and psychiatrist. No ADHD ADD or any other attention disorder.
The dose-response relationship, hermesis in action, is easiest to see with weed, probably. When you go to have a smoke at friend’s house, you don’t smoke often, they do. You smoke a little, you get tired, they start perking up. However if they also smoked a fuckton more, they’d also get tired. Low doses of THC stimulate high ones sedate. Similar with alcohol, which is why youre energetic early and then suddenly pass out. So because you’ve no tolerances like the weeder, the same amount smoked is a light dose for them and heavy for you, you get sedation, they stimulation.
This is essentially what is happening with you and your friends. You’re taking same size lines and due to your personal differences, have different responses to the same dose.
It MAY be a sign yes, but not “easy diagnosis, ADHD 100%”
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 opining 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.
I wonder if adhd should even be considered something that you get diagnosed with.
What are you on about? It sounds like you don’t know what ADHD actually is and should stop talking as if you do.
I have a add myself so i have some idea, even if it isnt exactly the same.
Same.
Since medication and therapy can help, getting a diagnosis makes sense. ADHD is unfortunately not just a different way to think.
Hmm, might have mixed it up with something else in my head. Either way, society should be much more accommodating towards those with adhd. Tiktok is basically preying on those who have it.
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.
The rates are also increasing. Not just better detection.
RCCX Theory.
The increase in rates is contributed by people having children later. Lots of peopld have kids later in life compared to decades ago. Like ASD there is a link between parental age at the time of having the child and an increase in non-normative conditions. It’s not the only cause, just a factor that increases risk.
I agree that is a factor. As are many other things. But we’re also seeing the rates of diagnosis of all the other rccx connected disorders like t1d.
Ok, maybe aging parental DNA affects RCCX more? Who knows. Also overweight parents are more likely to have kids with diabetes, and being overweight is rampant in the US.
Could be a different mechanism but yeah it is a stress vulnerability.
Type1, so the autoimmune version. As well as Crohns, MS, etc
https://me-pedia.org/wiki/RCCX_Genetic_Module_Theory#Conditions_associated_with_RCCX_gene_mutations
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.
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.
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
Obviously because of the dopamine rush, this isn’t new information.
Well yes, that’s what’s happening in the brain. I was more talking about the reason why kids might feel the need to passively consume for hours in the first place.
Because they need the stimulation.
