20/08/2026
Did anyone watch the TV programme the other night, The Great ADHD Myth?
I’ve come away from watching it feeling very triggered and, if I’m honest, quite angry. I’ve deliberately left it a couple of days before saying anything because I wanted to see if I felt differently once I’d had time to process it.
I don’t. 🙈
I usually shy away from writing posts like this. I’m not someone who wants to jump online and criticise something just because I disagree with it. But this one really didn’t sit comfortably with me, and I feel strongly enough about it that I want to share my perspective.
As someone who was diagnosed with ADHD late last year, at the age of 44, I know the personal struggles I have experienced throughout my life. I also know the enormous sense of relief and validation I felt when I finally understood that there was a reason some things have always felt harder for me.
My brain isn’t broken. ❤️
The documentary did raise some valid and important points. I absolutely agree that we need to look at how we support young people in education and make our schools much more inclusive and understanding of increasing support needs.
I also agree that things like sleep, nutrition, exercise and reducing excessive screen time can have a positive impact on our overall wellbeing and can help us manage some ADHD-related difficulties.
But there is a BIG difference between supporting someone to manage their ADHD and suggesting that lifestyle changes can somehow “fix” a neurodivergent brain.
What I found particularly concerning was how dismissive the programme felt of the very real, and sometimes debilitating, challenges that people with ADHD can experience.
ADHD is not one-size-fits-all.
It is a spectrum, and people can experience it in very different ways. I felt the documentary placed far too much emphasis on one particular case study and then seemed to use that experience to make much broader conclusions about ADHD.
And then there was the discussion around medication.
I have personally chosen not to take medication for my ADHD, and that is a decision I have made for my own reasons. But that doesn't mean I would ever suggest that medication isn't right for someone else.
I have worked with many young people whose lives have been significantly changed by ADHD medication. For some, it has given them the ability to function, learn, regulate their emotions and experience life in a way that previously felt almost impossible.
For some young people, I would go as far as saying it has been life-changing, and potentially life-saving.
That doesn't mean medication is the answer for everyone. It means we need to recognise that there isn't one answer for everyone.
And perhaps that's my biggest issue with the documentary.
We need conversations about ADHD.
We need to question how we diagnose it, how we support people, how our education system responds to neurodivergence and whether we are doing enough.
But those conversations need to be balanced, nuanced and informed by a wide range of experiences.
Because behind every diagnosis is a real person.
A child who might have spent years thinking they were lazy, difficult, too emotional, forgetful or simply “not trying hard enough”.
A teenager who is exhausted from constantly trying to keep up.
An adult who has spent decades wondering why life seems to require so much more effort than it appears to for everyone else.
I know, because I was that adult.
My diagnosis didn't suddenly give me ADHD.
It gave me an explanation.
And for me, that explanation brought an enormous amount of relief.
So yes, let's have the difficult conversations about ADHD.
Let's challenge the system.
Let's improve support.
Let's look at lifestyle, education and medication.
But let's please do it without losing sight of the people sitting at the centre of all of this. 💜
This is simply my personal experience and perspective. I’m not suggesting that everyone with ADHD will agree with me, because that would kind of defeat the point I'm making!
