Without looking it up, I believe the DSM says that diagnosis requires three out of five indicators. That would suggest that many people can get one or two indicators. Social media (specifically short form like twitter, instagram, and TikTok) has measurable negative impact on attention spans, while also propagating a narrative of colloquial symptoms.

“Whee look at me being neurodivergent!” - golly, I do that too! Maybe I’m ADHD.

For what it’s worth, I have both ADHD and mild autism. I’m not saying it doesn’t exist. I’m saying that the diagnosis is devalued by “oh i do that too, I’m also a little bit adhd”.

[–] nixcamic@lemmy.world 9 points 3 days ago

I self diagnosed before getting my formal diagnosis from a doctor. I was a hard yes to like 30 of the 32 signs of adult ADHD in Driven to Distraction.

At some point it's kinda a relief to realize that other people are going through the same stuff as you, and start therapy and treatment that are actually catered to your needs since you've already tried a million other things and nothing has worked.

And yeah everybody struggles with executive function and attention sometimes. But like, we all bleed when we're cut, doesn't mean haemophilia is fake.