Lately I’ve been hearing one question frequently in my clinic: “Doesn’t everyone have ADHD now?”
It’s a great question. And the answer is no. The explanation is clearer than you might think.
Every ADHD symptom, on its own, is human 🧠
ADHD is a clinical diagnosis based on a set of symptoms. Here’s the tricky part: each of those symptoms, individually, is common to some degree in most people. Everyone loses their keys sometimes. Everyone drifts off in a boring meeting. Everyone puts off a task they dread.
Social media has done a lot to raise awareness of ADHD, and that’s a real gift, especially for women and girls who were overlooked for years. But social media also delivers information in 30-second sound bites, one symptom at a time.
You’ve probably seen something like this: “Do you feel like your attention span is shorter now because you watch reels instead of reading books? You might have ADHD.”
It’s true that many of us have adapted to short-form, scroll-style attention. But that doesn’t mean we all have ADHD.
What the research shows 📊
Two recent studies looked closely at ADHD content on TikTok:
- Researchers at the University of British Columbia had ADHD-expert psychologists review the top 100 #ADHD videos, which together had nearly half a billion views. Fewer than half of the symptom claims matched diagnostic criteria. Many of the remainder simply described ordinary human experience or symptoms shared across many conditions. Only about 4% of videos acknowledged that their experience might not apply to everyone with ADHD.
- An earlier Canadian study found that 52% of popular ADHD videos were misleading, and only 21% were useful. Most of the misleading videos labeled symptoms like anxiety, mood swings, and anger as “ADHD,” and none suggested getting an assessment.
The finding that struck me most: after watching just 10 ADHD TikToks, young adults without ADHD became less confident that they didn’t have it. Frequent viewers also guessed that about a third of the population has ADHD. The actual rate in adults is closer to 3–7%.
When those same participants watched a psychologist explain what the videos got right and wrong, their confidence returned. Context matters.
What a diagnosis actually requires ✅
ADHD is a clinical diagnosis, which means it has clear, strict, evidence-based criteria that don’t apply to the whole population. A diagnosis requires:
- A pattern of symptoms, not just one or two
- Symptoms at a certain level of severity and frequency
- Symptoms present since childhood
- Clinically significant impairment in daily life, such as work, school, or relationships
A careful evaluation also checks whether something else, like anxiety, depression, or poor sleep, better explains what’s going on.
The bottom line 💡
Many of us are feeling like our attentional stamina has shrunk, and much of that comes from what we feed our brains every day. That’s real, and it’s worth paying attention to. But a diagnosis of ADHD applies only when multiple specific criteria are met.
Keep learning from trusted sources 📚
I love that so many people are curious about ADHD. Keep that curiosity going with sources grounded in research. Two of my favorites:
- Taking Charge of Adult ADHD by Russell Barkley, PhD
- How to ADHD by Jessica McCabe
You can also explore ADHD articles I’ve written here: mnneuropsychology.com/category/adhd
Wondering if it might be ADHD? 💬
If you’ve been asking yourself this question and want an answer that goes deeper and looks at data, we’re here to help. Our comprehensive, discerning ADHD evaluations look at the whole picture, so you’ll leave with clarity and a path forward.
Warmly,
Liz Adams, PhD, LP, ABPP
Board Certified Neuropsychologist
Founder & CEO
Minnesota Neuropsychology
References
Karasavva, V., Miller, C., Groves, N., Montiel, A., Canu, W., & Mikami, A. (2025). A double-edged hashtag: Evaluation of #ADHD-related TikTok content and its associations with perceptions of ADHD. PLoS ONE, 20(3), e0319335.
Yeung, A., Ng, E., & Abi-Jaoude, E. (2022). TikTok and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: A cross-sectional study of social media content quality. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 67(12), 899–906.
