isability or borderline intellectual functioning
- Medications with cognitive side effects
Because ADHD symptoms frequently superficially resemble normal variability in attention and behavior, and that there is considerable overlap between ADHD symptoms and other factors like fatigue, stress, or psychiatric symptoms, many clinicians are tempted to label these symptoms as ADHD when in reality the cause is far more benign.
Why do people seek diagnoses of ADHD?
Even among people without any form of developmental evidence of ADHD or any other developmental condition that causes significant barriers or functional impairment in achievement or functioning, many will aggressively seek ADHD diagnoses, and recruit parents, friends, therapists, and physicians on their path. Why to these individuals seek an ADHD diagnosis so tenaciously? Some reasons may include:
- Redefining life experiences following trauma
- Explanation for behavioral health treatment non-response
- Relief of personal responsibility for change
- Avoidance of punishment or culpability
- Access to benefits, accommodations, or compensation
- Access to controlled substances
- Permission to be different
- Social contagion and recent impact of social media
Societal and Cultural Factors
In the United States of America, there is a strong cultural expectation in many communities for high achievement in school, social or work settings. Such high expectations can pull for a desire for a "quick fix" among parents, therapists, workers or students to address perceived shortcomings in achievement, performance, or progress in therapy. Additionally, an aversion to being labeled as "normal" or "average" may pose as a strong motivator in some communities to pursue a diagnosis that identifies them as unusual, special, different, exceptional, or even "neurodivergent," as a way to explain perceived underperformance in school, social, or work settings. While the term "neurodivergent" has traditionally been used to refer to individuals along the autism spectrum, people seeking diagnoses of various developmental disorder like ADHD have come to appropriate this label and use it to refer to anyone who subjectively feels different or like an outsider in their community.
ADHD is not viewed as a completely cultural or societal construct, but rather as a real and significant neurodevelopmental disorder. While ADHD may certainly present with different phenotypes and appearances in different communities in this country, there is little debate in the field of developmental psychology that ADHD presents significant functional challenges regardless of cultural origin.
In this age of social media, there is an abundance of information on the Internet about a wide range of health topics, including neurodevelopmental disorders and psychiatric disorders. While this insertion of social media into the behavioral healthcare space has served as an important vehicle for destigmatization, normalization, and community among people confronted with behavioral health symptoms, it has also introduced a high degree of misinformation, predatory online marketing, clickbait, and snake oil salesman eager to cash in on the fears, hopes, or desires of people researching their content. Unscrupulous online marketers, influencers, or content creators often exploit a phenomenon called the Barnum Effect which they use to establish credibility, recruit followers, and generate likes and comments.
The Barnum Effect
The Barnum Effect (AKA the Forer Effect) is a social psychology phenomenon in which people perceive that vague and general information about their life, personality, or circumstances applies uniquely to them even though the information readily applies to many people in the general population. For example, let's say you watch a TikTok video where someone says "I have ADHD and I often start too many projects and then I can't finish them." While you might strongly identify with this statement, in reality, everyone in the world has had experiences of being too busy to get everything done that they need to, whether they ha