‘TikTok taught me’: A study on women’s psychological and social motivations to self-diagnose with ADHD through social media

Abstract

In public discourse, there has been a growing recognition of adolescents using social media outlets like TikTok as a source of information to diagnose themselves with various mental health conditions, such as ADHD. A couple of studies back these claims up, but research generally lacks on this subject. Therefore, this study aims to create a deeper understanding of this alleged phenomenon, through identifying psychological and social motivations in adolescents’self-diagnosis with ADHD through TikTok and Instagram. Ten indepth interviews were conducted with women (aged 18-25) who used these apps as an informational source while self-diagnosing with ADHD. After interview data was coded, results revealed multiple motivations to self-diagnose through social media. Important social drivers included normalization of ADHD in certain communities and the need to belong to a group. Psychological motivations regarded the need to understand oneself (e.g. through finding language to describe previous distress, or what ADHD entails for women), to diminish self-blame due to ‘undesirable’ behaviour (e.g. through self-acceptance and explaining the condition to others) and gaining hope for the future (e.g. through finding ADHD-targeted means to change behaviour and educational benefits). In conclusion, self-diagnosis with ADHD through social media may have become a way to empower these young women, rather than a debilitating action.