“It was a lot of ADHD content and it made me stop and think and start connecting a lot of pieces,” she said. “I never thought I could have ADHD just because my perception of it was kind of stereotypical, like it’s a young boy who can’t sit still and is very loud in class. I just didn’t understand how it appeared for women.” The more the 27-year-old saw this kind of content, the more she began to suspect that she too might have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Ellyce Fulmore decided to seek an ADHD evaluation after seeing related content on TikTok’s For You page. (Lucie Edwardson/CBC) “I just started having all these aha moments, and even hearing people talk about the same things I was struggling with: sleep problems, brain fog, daytime fatigue,” she said. “That pushed me to look for some answers. TikTok was really the catalyst.” Fulmore made an appointment with her family doctor and was eventually evaluated and subsequently diagnosed with ADHD.
ADHD TikToks ‘relate’
Madi Wood says she was drawn to TikTok when she started seeing content from creators sharing their experiences with mental health. “There were a lot of really honest conversations that I felt didn’t have a place elsewhere,” he said. “I found a space within TikTok that really catered to my interests and also my moods as someone living with mental health challenges and I just felt like it was a really safe space.” Soon, the 28-year-old began noticing more and more ADHD-related content being uploaded to her For You (FYP) page. “I started learning more about myself and my habits. I started matching it with some of the things people were saying on TikTok and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s relevant because that’s how I operate,’” she said. Wood says she’s also noticed a lot of talk about mental health and ADHD. “And how sometimes we think of them as completely separate, but in many ways, they’re extremely relatable, especially for grown women, and it led me down a rabbit hole.” Madi Wood says TikTok helped her find her neurodeviant community. (Lucie Edwardson/CBC) She says her fiancé also started learning a lot about ADHD on the app. “My partner has pointed out a lot of things to me, like, ‘Hey, this was posted by a creator who talks a lot about ADHD and you have similar behavior,’” she said. “And I’m like, ‘Oh, okay. So I didn’t necessarily notice it, but you did.” Seeing the TikToks made Wood feel like she wasn’t alone and gave her the courage to seek an evaluation — which led to a diagnosis from her doctor. “For me it kind of filled a void and answered a lot of other questions I had about the way my brain worked,” she said. “I’ve been on a path of self-awareness, of health discovery, if you will, for the past eight years, especially in terms of mood and mental health — and I’ve always felt that something was missing in both diagnosis and mental health. drug.”
Raising awareness
The ADHD Awareness Center Canada describes ADHD as a “neurodevelopmental disorder” that affects about 5 to 9 percent of children and 3 to 5 percent of adults. Local psychologists say that, in the past two years, they’ve seen a big increase in the number of young adults (18-35) coming to them seeking evaluations — for ADHD and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) — and citing social media like TikTok and Instagram as their main source of information. “It made them start thinking about the symptoms they’re experiencing and the need for an evaluation, but it also made them feel comfortable to come in and talk to a psychologist and ask for an evaluation,” said registered psychologist Joyce Achtnig. Joyce Achtnig, a registered psychologist and owner of the Alberta Counseling Center, says TikTok and other social media platforms have helped destigmatize conditions like ADHD and ASD. (Lucie Edwardson/CBC) As clinical director and owner of the Alberta Counseling Center in Calgary, she supervises more than a dozen psychologists who have all seen a similar trend for about two years. “They also mentioned that they felt that many of those adults who have come forward probably wouldn’t have if it wasn’t for the information they first came across on social media.”
“Either they have ADHD or they don’t”
Achtnig said that sometimes the information someone arrives with is “inaccurate,” but it’s good to see social media helping to break down the stigma.
“I think it increases tolerance and awareness and makes people who see these symptoms feel comfortable to come to a professional and seek an official diagnosis,” she said.
In her experience, Achtnig said this hasn’t necessarily led to a noticeable increase in the number of people being diagnosed.
“They either have ADHD or they don’t. They either meet the diagnostic criteria or they don’t, and it’s not a simple diagnosis,” he said.
“The other thing is we get a lot of self-diagnosis. So people who have already diagnosed themselves based on what they’ve seen on social media, and so they’ll actually go around and tell their friends, ‘I have ADHD. And this is not useful for them, because it could be a completely wrong diagnosis. So it’s important to get a professional assessment.”
Achtnig said it’s especially important for post-secondary students to seek a formal evaluation. It opens many doors for them to access resources and grants should they be diagnosed.
“I found my community”
Nearly two years after her diagnosis, Fulmore says TikTok helped her find a community and completely change her life. “Three months after I was diagnosed, I started talking a lot about how it was affecting my finances, which is kind of me,” she said. She now creates content for her more than 528,000 TikTok and 15,000 Instagram followers about navigating money and finances as a person with ADHD and runs a business that offers similar guidance. “This content really resonated with a lot of people. I just don’t think enough people are talking about it. Once I started posting it, I realized how many people were struggling with the exact same thing, but I felt like she was alone,” she said. “The comment section of all my videos is usually, ‘Oh my god, I thought I was the only one,’ or ‘I’m so glad other people are into this.’ Fulmore is now also seeking an ASD evaluation based on information she first started seeing on social media. Wood, who has shared her ADHD journey with her nearly 14,000 followers on TikTok, says she started seeing Fulmore’s content about ADHD and finances a while ago. It prompted her to reach out — bringing the community she’d found online to her real life in Calgary. “I feel like I’ve found a community of people who say, ‘yes, we all have ADHD and we’re doing just fine and we’ve come together and we’re supporting each other and finding unique ways to deal with issues that we all have,’” she said. “It was inherently positive.”
