TikTok videos about conditions such as ADHD overstretch the diagnosis, UG research shows. Many young people recognise themselves in the symptoms mentioned, and then mistakenly think they have ADHD themselves.
Many TikTok videos about attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) mention behaviours that do not match the official diagnosis as laid down in the DSM-5 psychiatric manual. This concerns 55 of the hundred most popular TikTok videos on ADHD that PhD student in orthopaedagogy Wietske de Vries watched for her research.
Because of the overly broad definition, people quickly think they have ADHD. ‘We also see this in the comments under the videos’, says De Vries. ‘There are many people who say: “Hey, I have ADHD myself”’. And we hear it back in conversations with GPs, for example. They see more people who have made this diagnosis themselves.’
And that is even harmful, she argues. ‘Because of this self-diagnosis, people mistakenly think there is something wrong with them. That has a big impact on your self-image.’
Incomplete picture
Partly it has to do with how TikTok works, says De Vries. ‘The videos are short, so it’s hard to give a complete picture.’ On the one hand, it is nice that there are videos that share information about these kinds of conditions, such as problems you run into, she feels. ‘That can create a sense of “this is where I belong”, a club. But we have to be careful to diagnose just like that.’
In the training courses De Vries works on alongside her research, she ensures that pedagogical staff, teachers and parents know better how to deal with behaviour that fits ADHD: the behaviour is normalised. ‘Then diagnoses are often not even necessary,’ she says.
‘It would be nice if for certain topics, such as mental health, you get a warning on TikTok: this information may not be correct,’ she says. She does not like the idea of banning the videos altogether, however. ‘Then there is a chance you will get one-sided information. And I also don’t expect TikTok will remove such videos.’