This week we’re following up our last episode on misinformation—and this is going to be our last episode in the research saga that I’ve been working on for the last… couple of months? Yeah, I think I’m ready for something new as well although as a preview for next week, I had an amazing researcher as a guest and we do cover a lot of similar topics, but don’t worry, it’s a fantastic episode, great capstone to the series.
But today we're diving into a topic that’s critical for navigating life with ADHD—understanding and protecting ourselves from myths and misinformation. There's a big difference between outdated myths like, 'ADHD is just laziness,' and actual misinformation, which can mislead us into making risky choices about treatment. In this episode, we’re getting into how to spot these traps, why myths stick around, and what makes misinformation so tricky.
While both myths and misinformation can lead to harmful assumptions and confusion about ADHD, I think it’s important that we tease out the differences. Because I think there is a fairly dynamic difference between your aunt not believing that ADHD is real versus someone trying to convince you that ADHD can be cured by cutting sugar out of your diet.
Now, to be sure, both are fairly awful and cause their own varying degrees of harm. There can also be a lot of overlap between the two because they often share some fairly common points. I think the biggest difference lies of in intentions and but also in scope. So, myths are often based on long-standing cultural beliefs. They tend to be a symptom of pop culture and stereotypes. So we see things like ADHD doesn’t exist, or that it’s caused by bad parenting or that ADHD is just an excuse to be lazy. Myths tend to be more generalized and not something where someone has a specific source on why they believe whatever it is they believe. They’re not formulated on any sort of evidence beyond, “Well, it’s just common knowledge.”
Meanwhile, misinformation often involves new and evolving inaccuracies, often spread through misunderstandings but sometimes with more specific intent. This could be due to poor research, sensationalized media, or even deliberate actions to push a particular agenda, like promoting “ADHD as a dietary issue” to support certain diet products.
Misinformation often seems more “credible” because it includes a veneer of scientific language or cherry-picked studies, making it seem legitimate. And as we talked about in the last episode on this subject, this isn’t always out of malice. It’s common to see misinformation arise from misinterpreted studies or someone well-meaning trying to spread awareness about a particular issue.
Myths tend to be on the side of contributing to stigma and misunderstanding, creating broad barriers for people with ADHD, like the idea that ADHD is a “laziness” issue. In contrast, misinformation often directly affects how people view treatment options, which can lead people to make decisions based on unverified or incorrect information, like abandoning medication due to fear-mongering or pursuing unsupported “natural” cures that don’t address ADHD’s neurological basis.
With some of this stuff, it can seem wild that it ever spreads. But the thing is, ADHD is complicated, and a lot of the nuance that we’ve learned about the condition has only come quite recently. Understandably, some people never got the memo. Most of the late-diagnosed individuals I know grew up with vastly different views about ADHD before we learned better. So, it is important to understand that some myths about ADHD are simply due to ignorance of the subject. Just being presented with new information on the subject is rarely going to immediately sway someone; it takes time.
It’s amazing to realize how many things we have opinions on that we don’t really have a factual basis for. We often have unexamined assumptions, beliefs we hold without questioning or scrutinizing their validity. These assumptions can become part of our worldview simply because they’ve never been challenged or thought through deeply.
If someone believes ADHD is just a matter of discipline, they might not specifically seek out information that confirms that belief, but when they do see it, they aren’t going to question it. It’s their own confirmation bias leading them to accept information that aligns with what they already believe and ignore information that contradicts it, often unconsciously. A classic example is the idea that something “natural” inherently makes something healthier or a better option. One of the most common things I hear with ADHD treatment is that while they understand that stimulant medication is effective, they want to follow a more “natural” treatment plan. I totally understand the impulse, but ADHD medication is well studied and, taken properly, has few side effects. What people often ignore is we also have clear research that shows a huge number of negative impacts from not treating ADHD.
Untreated ADHD makes quite literally everything else harder, and you are going to see impacts on mental health, relationships, physical well-being, as well as overall quality of life. From the struggle to keep up with daily demands and frequent feelings of failure or frustration that can erode self-esteem to the challenges of sticking to healthy routines, leading to poor diet, lack of exercise, irregular sleep, and neglect of basic health needs. While ADHD medication isn’t going to magically fix those issues, when I am on my medication, it makes follow through with my intentions to do all those things so much easier. To be clear though, everyone has to approach their treatment plan for their ADHD in their own manner, for some people that will involve medication for others it won’t. The point here is that too many people dismiss medication simply because of the stigma attached around it—in most cases ADHD medication is safe and effective and has been shown to be the best way to mitigate symptoms.
This comes down to what I said earlier: ADHD is complicated, and many people aren’t interested in diving into its complexity. People tend to want simple solutions, and it’s easy for misinformation about ADHD to spread because it is often offered in these simple, bite-sized explanations. It’s a lot easier to believe that ADHD can be cured by stricter parenting or “just trying harder” than it is to dive into the neurological basis and varied symptoms of the condition.
But I think the biggest dangers from misinformation come from thinking we’re immune to falling for it. I know there have been plenty of times when I’ve been reading something and gone, “Oh, that’s interesting,” and completely failed to think about checking how reliable that information actually is. While I’m more attuned to this in the areas of ADHD and generally try to source anything that I put on the podcast, it can still slip by my filters sometimes.
While sticking to reliable sources is always a good practice, it’s also important that we familiarize ourselves with common misinformation tactics. Misinformation often presents complex ideas in absolute terms, like “ADHD can be cured with diet alone” or “ADHD is a made-up condition to sell pills.” Absolute statements are often used because they sound confident and convincing, but real science usually presents findings with caveats and acknowledges individual variability. When we see these absolute statements and oversimplification of what is a very complex condition, it should be an immediate red flag.
This can often come from sensationalist headlines that are used to drive clicks. But often, these articles don’t have strong evidence to support the headline’s implication. Clickbait relies on emotional appeal, making you feel compelled to know more, even if the content lacks scientific rigor. Along those lines is the fun Betteridge's Law of Headlines, which states that "any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word no.”
Always a good thing to keep in mind when you see a headline like “Is ADHD just a result of modern life?” or “Can this new diet cure ADHD?” because inevitably the answer to those questions is going to be no. The only reason the headline was formulated that way was to try to get you curious and get your click. And unfortunately a lot of people either don’t read the whole article or only read the headline. So they see that “Is ADHD just a result of modern life?” and go slap on their preconceived notions to come up with whatever they want to believe.
Another issue that can arise is when issues are presented with a “both sides” framing. To appear “balanced,” some sources may give equal weight to scientifically backed perspectives and fringe theories. For example, a headline might say, “ADHD: A True Disorder or Just a Social Media Fad?” implying that both ideas have similar credibility.
This framing makes it seem as though there isn’t a huge scientific backing to ADHD being an established disorder. Combined with the idea of ADHD being heavily over diagnosed and the role that social media might be playing into that, it’s easy to see how just the question itself creates it’s own narrative.
And then this is often heavily packaged with anecdotes to support the claim. We might see something like “I changed my diet, and my ADHD symptoms disappeared.” While personal stories can be powerful and relatable, they don’t offer universal solutions or scientifically validated advice. If someone is telling a story in which they “cure” their ADHD, then they didn’t have ADHD. They may have had something else going on that mimicked some of the symptoms of ADHD, but it wasn’t ADHD.
Stories that highlight an ADHD “cure” or dramatic improvement may sound convincing but they rarely consider the nuances of ADHD management. Anecdotes also need to be doubly concerning when they are used to sell a product or an idea. That story element is a powerful emotional driver. I know I’ve come across stuff that promises simple solutions and there is always part of me that wants to believe that if I just did this one thing, well then everything would be fixed. Unfortunately that’s rarely the reality.
This kind of thing can also be packaged as “secret knowledge”—something that “doctor’s don’t want you to know” kind of stuff. When content positions itself as exposing a “secret” or “revolutionary new idea,” it can seem intriguing and appeals to people’s desire to uncover secrets. But this tactic creates distrust in established medicine, implying that conventional treatment or diagnosis of ADHD is deliberately misleading.
What misinformation often comes down to is that it is often appealing on an emotional level - be that because we’re excited about what they’re saying or it gets us riled up. But the biggest take away I hope everyone can take away from this episode is realizing the best way to combat misinformation is making sure that you’re not spreading it yourself. More often than not a lot of misinformation is spread by well meaning people who haven't taken the time to double check their sources. Be wary of repeating something that you found in meme format, double check those quippy tweets and verify that that article you just read was written by someone who might know what they’re talking about. Social media tends to amplify misinformation, but that’s only because people are repeating what they hear. So as Smokey the Bear says, only you can prevent misinformation… that’s what he says right? Ah don’t worry about I’ll just double check in post.
This Episode's Top Tips
ADHD myths tend to be long-standing cultural beliefs, while misinformation often appears more credible and is linked to misinterpreted research or can be part of a specific agenda.
There are a lot of pitfalls to watch out for when consuming information about ADHD. Oversimplication, sensational headlines, anecdotal evidence, secret information and even how the information is framed can be indicators that you might have to double check the information.
Avoid spreading misinformation by verifying where your information comes from, especially if you see it on social media or from non-expert sources.