Coming to university was a big wakeup call for me. On the
one hand, I had been at school which was a structured 8-hour day with all my
learning essentially being spoon-fed and printed off in nice booklets. School
was much easier for me to focus on, and attendance was legally required. Whilst
school was challenging, and focusing on homework was difficult, the nature of
school minimised my symptoms. On the
other hand, at university I am now an independent learner needing to make my
own schedule. Even worse, I started in 2020 and so libraries, cafes and
in-person teaching were closed. The pandemic robbed me of routine, but
highlighted core issues that needed to be addressed deep within my brain and
myself as a person. I was surrounded by other Cambridge students smashing 12-hour
workdays when I could barely bring myself to do 2 hours of work. And dare
anyone suggest it was a lack of passion for my topic area – because when I do work,
I enjoy it, but the mental barrier is so intense, it doesn’t matter how much I
love my degree, I still have ADHD.
The ADHD diagnosis instilled an identity crisis in me
because everything I used to think was just me being quirky was actually just
undiagnosed ADHD. I couldn't tell what was me and what was the ADHD. I couldn't
tell if the hobbies I'd had all the way from childhood to now were all just
remnants of getting invested quickly with the dopamine and then very quickly
getting bored again. Yet, even with a diagnosis, I questioned my own journey
with ADHD. This was due to recent work on the legitimacy of content around ADHD
on social media which investigated the quality of content on TikTok.
Researchers wanted to check the accuracy and the type of content about ADHD. Researchers
classified videos into three categories: misleading, useful or personal
experience. Fifty-two percent of the videos were classified as misleading and
twenty-one percent as useful. Researchers concluded that clinicians should be
heavily aware of widespread misinformation on social media and its potential
impact on healthcare. Harm can be done by posting incorrect information on
social media and can even perpetuate common misconceptions and stigma of ADHD
and mental health.
Consuming content around mental health on social media may provide someone with the ability to recognise their own symptoms and seek help. Furthermore, TikTok is an app that is a quick click dopamine hit. It is so easy to swipe and watch countless videos. This app doesn’t require a huge attention span or a lot of focus and so it makes sense that it has opened conversation about ADHD. Now, the move is to encourage people to seek professional help and avoid self-diagnosis. ADHD is often forgotten about in mental health, and yet with many behavioural symptoms, it is heavily stigmatised. I did not choose to be born with a brain with a dopamine deficiency. We can work together to give airtime and destigmatise mental health. Please seek professional help if anything you read impacts you. And do not take TikToks as mental health gospel.
We know that supporting a friend with their mental health isn’t
always easy. Student Minds is here to help - read our Look After Your Mate guidance.
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