You May Have Adult ADHD, but Not Because TikTok Says So
More people are aware of adult ADHD, often thanks to videos and posts about it that they see on TikTok and Instagram. Doctors say that’s helped more people get treatment, but not everyone who feels distracted has ADHD. At St.
Charles Psychiatric Associates in St. Louis, roughly half of the adults who come in seeking help for what they believe is attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, come in because of something they’ve seen on social media. Most do turn out to have it, says Dr.
Greg Mattingly, a doctor at the practice and an associate clinical professor at Washington University in St. Louis. But “social media is a two-edged sword," says Mattingly.
“It’s helping to increase awareness but sometimes that awareness is over-identification." Long considered primarily a childhood disorder, more adults are learning they have—or suspecting they have—ADHD, which is characterized by trouble paying attention, difficulty controlling impulses or hyperactivity that interferes with daily life. Adult and childhood ADHD are treated similarly, with medications, behavioral therapy or both. People seeking help don’t always get the right diagnosis, specialists say, partly because primary care doctors aren’t always trained to detect the condition.
Is it actually ADHD? The U.S. has multiple guidelines for diagnosing and treating ADHD in children, but none exist for adults, although other countries like Australia, the U.K. and Canada do.
The American Professional Society of ADHD and Related Disorders is working on establishing guidelines. Doctors do have criteria for diagnosing adult ADHD, but the group says doctors need more specifics on how to identify symptoms of the condition. “People are self-identifying," says Dr.
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