ADHD is one of the top 10 that is most sought for health hazhtags on social media. Many videos about the attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), however, contain wrong information on Tikkok. A study shows that half of the videos are even misleading in terms of content.
Of the nearly 100 most viewed Tikok videos on ADHD, 52 percent contained incorrect information, as a research team reports in the Journal Plos One. Only around every fifth video did the experts classified as useful. And no video rated them as fully recommended.
Young people overestimate the number of people affected by ADHD
Many videos about ADHD circulate on social media – and this has an impact: young people who have diagnosed with ADHD in particular clearly overestimate the spread of the disorder among the population. The videos also feel confirmed in their assumption that they have ADHD.
Number of people with ADHD Constant
Medicine assumes that two to three percent of the population has a constant ADHD. The number is not increasing, but today the condition is observed more than before. This can be seen, among other things, in the increased search for self -tests on the internet. Many people mainly learn about social media such as Tiktok.
ADHD is triggered
But users must handle information carefully on social media. “ADHD patients are often presented on Tikkok as lively, sweet and almost entertaining” sweet disturbance “that is staged in short, humorous clips,” says Kathrin Karsay from the University of Vienna.
Much of the content investigated for the study showed daily situations and relying on entertaining prejudices. “This creates a positive, sometimes trivializing, romantic image of the disease,” the expert criticizes.
Own experiences instead of therapy options
Of the videos investigated, they almost all gave only ADHD symptoms with statements such as “My ADHD lets me do this” Therapy options were hardly mentioned. The psychologists also classified a good half of the information about symptoms such as not ADHD. Most of them were just normal human 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,” explains Vasileia Karasavva from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.
Source: Krone
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