ADHD Diagnoses Seem to Have Increased on the Internet – Is It Really That Common?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), around 11% of children in the United States were diagnosed with Attention / hyperactivity deficit disorder (ADHD) – A development disorder caused by differences in the structure of the brain, in particular an imbalance in dopamine and noradrenaline.
“ADHD is recognized as one of the most common neurobehavioral diagnoses,” explains Dannah G. RazHead of Division of Development Pediatrics at Phoenix Children’s in Phoenix, Arizona.
Boys are 15% more likely to be diagnosed with the disease in relation to girls because they are more likely to cause behavioral problems in class while girls are more likely to show an inattention that affects their school work but does not disturb the class, says Zishan KhanA child psychiatrist, adolescent and adult in Mindpath Health in Frisco, Texas.
Only around 6% Adults have the condition, largely because when they were children, ADHD diagnoses were less common. Although the number of diagnoses seem to increase, it is more likely that doctors are simply better to recognize the condition that before, explains Raz.
Do ADH diagnoses increase?
ADHD diagnoses seem to be more widespread on the Internet for several reasons. To start, there is a decreased stigma around the state and mental health in general, which is a good thing, explains Khan. There has been an increase in visibility on platforms like Tiktok, Reddit and Instagram, especially in adolescents and young adults, because it is the main demography of people who use these platforms.
“Social media have become a space where people feel authorized to share their mental health trips, but this can also blur the boundaries between a real diagnosis and self-labeling,” explains Khan.
People with ADHD do not have enough neurotransmitters such as dopamine and noradrenaline. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter in the brain that plays a role in reward and motivation, while norepinephrine has an impact on vigilance. In addition, signaling in the brain seems to be deregulated, causing symptoms of inattention, an inability to stay on the task, hyperactivity and impulsiveness. Children with ADHD may have problems staying on the classroom, they can present behavioral problems, interruption problems or call in class.
Some of the lines of ADHD, such as forgetting, impulsiveness and concentration problems, are universal human experiences and, therefore, many people who have no ADHDs are reflected in the content they have shown according to the platform algorithm.
It is content that has been widely promoted to so many platforms because it is easily digestible, which disproportionately raises the condition so that it seems more common than it is.
“When they are exposed there all the time, they start to wonder if they also have it,” says Khan.
Find out more: ADHD can bring adulthood and cause depression and anxiety
ADHD on social media platforms
At the same time, when you are on a platform like Tiktok and Instagram which systematically reduces your range of attention over time, you are probably more sensitive as to concerns for conditions such as ADHD, which plays again in the algorithm.
There is even a name for that: Tiktok Brain, because many experts maintain that the fast videos shortened our ability to focus on other aspects of life. Researchers at University of Stanford found that Tiktok had a negative influence on students and particularly touched the way they absorb information during conference lessons.
Although ADHD is not uncommon, it is important to recognize that it is not because you or your child feel symptoms that you have the condition.
“”[Patients] Must have a multitude of symptoms, and it must be in several parameters, ”explains Raz.
Find out more: Prehistoric humans also had ADHD, but the line was not adapted to modern life
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Sara Novak is a scientific journalist based in South Carolina. In addition to writing to discover, his work appears in Scientific American, Popular Science, New Scientist, Sierra Magazine, Astronomy Magazine and many others. She obtained a Baccalaureate in journalism from the Grady School of Journalism from the University of Georgia. She is also a candidate for a master’s degree in scientific writing from Johns Hopkins University.
