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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
If you test more, you detect more.
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.
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.
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
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
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.
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
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.
actual diagnoses are likely due to better detection, self diagnoses are likely due to the Internet.
One may lead to the other
Maybe, but in my experience a lot of people who self-diagnosed and claim they have adhd are actually just chronically online and want to feel special. I’ve even seen some people who got tested, were told outright by professionals that they do not have adhd (and shown proof), and decided to say the doctors were trying to oppress or alienate them.
That’s fair. I was diagnosed with ADHD after seeking help for depression, rather than YouTube, but I’m now looking into ASD because of YouTube, and so far I just got through the pre-screening and am awaiting an appointment for proper evaluation.
So, I guess it works both ways. Wild to think that someone could want ADHD, outside of maybe wanting a script for the meds.
well they don’t really want ADHD, but rather they spend too much time online and are desperately searching for something that makes them feel special.
I think it’s because a lot of people struggle to match the expectations put on them. Said expectations are too high even for neurtypical people, to the point where they seek diagnosisses to get accomdations. Late stage capitalism making everyone feel like they aren’t up to par when par is 16 swings on an 18-hole course.
Considering I’ve never used TikTok or joined it, I was diagnosed in 2022 (or so, I don’t remember), after almost 40 years of life. So much of my past, pre- and post-internet era, started to make sense when I learned that ADHD has an inattentive side that lacks the hyperactivity.
It’s not that the diagnosis of and has exploded due to “X cause,” but like autism, we have increased identification for them or categorize behaviors differently.
