Madelin information on Tiktok
This disease is often shown incorrectly
Updated on March 21, 2025 – 6:29 p.m.Reading time: 3 min.
Celebrities come out, on the net it is increasingly sought for self -tests: more and more people suspect that they have ADHD. How do TikTok videos influence this trend?
According to a study, popular videos of ADHD on TikTok often contain misinformation. Of the almost 100 most viewed TIKTOK videos for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), about half contained incorrect information, as a research team in the specialist journal “Plos One” reports. Especially young people with self -diagnosed ADHD overestimate the spread of the disorder among the population – and are reinforced by the videos in their assumption that ADHD.
ADHD is related to a disturbed metabolism of the messenger dopamine in the brain, usually on childhood. Inheritance plays the greatest role according to current state of research. Characteristic of the mental disorder are three main symptoms: inattention, hyperactivity and impulsiveness. They can occur in different forms and combination.
Medicine assumes that two to three percent of the population have a constant ADHD. The number does not increase, but apparently the perception of the disease, as the increased search for self -tests on the Internet shows. Many people find out above all about social media such as Tikok, in addition to #autism #ADHD is one of the ten most frequently used health -related hashtags.
The team led by Vasileia Karasavva from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver have now taken into account 98 particularly popular Tikok videos on ADHD. On average, these were almost 40 seconds and had a total of almost half a billion views, everyone was speaking in English. Half of the video manufacturers campaigned for the purchase of certain products such as workbooks, Fidget spinners or coaching services or asked for donations-subtle advertising not yet taken into account.
- Read too: These are the most common ADHD symptoms according to age
Two psychologists gave an assessment of the correctness of the contributions. They classified 52 percent of the videos as misleading, only 21 percent as useful – and not a single one than in any case recommended. 92 of the 98 videos therefore only addressed statements about ADHD symptoms such as “My ADHD makes me do this”, but no therapy options. A good half of the information on symptoms were rated by the psychologists as not ADHD-related-mostly instead they depicted normal human experiences, some symptoms were more typical for other disorders.
If treatment options were specified, they mostly only based on personal experiences. “Anecdotes and personal experiences are very effective, but if the context is missing, you can lead to misunderstandings about ADHD and mental health in general,” said Karasavva.
In a second series of experiments, a good 800 students between the ages of 18 and 25 were shown the five best and worst -rated videos from the first analysis. This included young men and women-partly without and partly with an official or self-made ADHD diagnosis. In general, the better videos were also rated better. It was striking that ADHD prevalence in the population was extremely overestimated at around 33 percent. This was the case, especially in people with self -diagnosed ADHD. They were also encouraged by the videos to have ADHD themselves.
Social media are a central source of information in health issues, said Kathrin Karsay from the University of Vienna, which was not involved in the study. The algorithms there preferred posts that are particularly entertaining or emotional and thus provide a lot of interaction. It is not surprising that the symptoms are not correctly or oversubented, there are similar findings in other clinical pictures such as Tourette syndrome or prostate cancer.
“On TikKOK, ADHD sufferers are often presented as lively, lovable and almost entertaining-a ‘sweet disorder’ that is staged in short, humorous clips,” says Karsay. Many content showed everyday situations and relied on entertaining narratives. “This creates a positive, sometimes trivializing, romantizing picture of the disease.”
It is positive that young adults apparently reflect the content critically and also evaluate experts as poorly classified videos on average, said communications scientist Paula Stehr from the University of Augsburg, which was also not involved in the study. It is worrying that false symptoms are given so often and there are hardly any evidence of dealing with ADHD.
“In order to cover the high need of information from those affected, well -founded content must be easily accessible,” said Stehr. On platforms such as Tikkok, more contributions from experts are desirable. “In this way, the information can be made available where young adults are in their everyday media use.” At the moment, tested platforms such as “Gesundheitsinformation.de” are recommended for information.
