TikTok Told Me I Have ADHD

The Rise (and Risk) of Self-Diagnosis Online

Why it’s comforting, why it’s complicated, and why caution matters.

In sessions lately, a sentence keeps coming up:"I saw this video, and it was like they were describing my entire personality."

For many, TikTok has become more than just a place for trends or entertainment, it's a place where mental health is being named in real time. ADHD, autism, borderline personality disorder, OCD, dissociation, all presented in 60-second clips, often by people speaking from personal experience.

And while there’s something incredibly validating about hearing your internal world reflected so accurately, it also comes with a quiet risk: when information becomes oversimplified, and diagnosis becomes a trend, we may end up misunderstanding ourselves more than we realize.

First, Let’s Acknowledge: Why Is This Happening?

People are tired of feeling confused, dismissed, or overlooked, especially when it comes to emotional struggles.

In a world where it can take months (or years) to get an official diagnosis, TikTok feels like a shortcut. You’re scrolling through your feed, and suddenly someone says something that makes your inner world feel seen for the first time. It makes sense that this feels comforting.

These videos often:

• Use clear, accessible language

• Provide a sense of identity and explanation

• Offer a community of people who get it

• Reduce shame by normalizing common symptoms

For those who have felt invalidated or misunderstood for years, these videos can feel like oxygen. They offer language. Meaning. Belonging. And that matters.

So What’s the Problem?

The issue isn’t with self-reflection — it’s with self-diagnosis in isolation.

Here’s why that can be dangerous:

📌 Overgeneralization: Many of the symptoms described in popular videos, emotional overwhelm, trouble focusing, social fatigue, anxiety, dissociation, are not exclusive to one diagnosis. They can be part of trauma responses, burnout, attachment wounds, grief, or simply the impact of stress.

📌 Mislabeling can delay appropriate care: If someone becomes convinced they have one condition, they may seek the wrong kind of help (or none at all). For example, labeling emotional dysregulation as “BPD” without context can lead to stigma or hopelessness, when in fact it might be treatable trauma or learned coping.

📌 Diagnosis without depth lacks nuance: A real psychological assessment looks not just at symptoms but at history, onset, severity, context, and impact on functioning. TikTok can’t offer that — but our minds often forget that when we're desperate for answers.

📌 It can become identity-defining: While labels can help us understand ourselves, they can also become limiting when we build our entire identity around them. We might unconsciously start looking for symptoms rather than healing.

Have You Felt This Way?

• Do you scroll through TikTok and feel overwhelmed by how much seems to apply to you?

• Have you found yourself thinking: “Maybe this is why I am the way I am”?

• Do you feel a mix of comfort and confusion after watching mental health content?

• Are you unsure whether you're actually struggling, or just relating to normal human experiences?

If so, you’re not alone. And you’re not broken for resonating with what you see. It’s okay to be curious. But it’s also okay to pause and wonder: Is this helping me understand myself, or is it leaving me more uncertain?

What Can You Do Instead?

✨ Stay curious, not conclusive: It’s okay to explore. You might resonate with ADHD or trauma content, use that curiosity as a starting point, not a diagnosis. Write down what feels true and bring it into conversation with a psychologist.

📓 Notice your “why”: Are you looking for connection? Understanding? Relief? Naming what you’re hoping to find can help you recognize what you actually need, and whether the content is meeting that need.

🛑 Take breaks from the algorithm: Once you engage with mental health content, platforms will feed you more of it. If you start to feel overwhelmed or start questioning everything, it might be time to step away and reconnect with yourself outside the algorithm.

🔎 Seek professional insight: Sessions with a psychologist can help you explore your experiences with nuance. You don’t have to arrive with a diagnosis, just bring your questions and your story. That’s enough.

🤝 Stay connected to real-life community: Online validation is powerful, but in-person support systems, friends, family, partners, or group spaces, offer something algorithms can’t: human presence, accountability, and grounded perspective.

How Sessions Can Help

In our sessions, we often explore:

• The difference between traits and diagnoses

• The impact of social media on identity and self-esteem

• Emotional struggles that feel valid but are hard to name

• The desire for clarity — and the fear of being “too much” or “not enough”

• Whether what you’re experiencing stems from trauma, stress, ADHD, or something else

You don’t need a label to deserve support. You don’t need a diagnosis to begin healing. And you definitely don’t need an algorithm to tell you who you are.

If You’re Looking for More Grounded Learning

Here are some reliable books and resources that explore neurodiversity and mental health in more depth:

• The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk (trauma)

• Divergent Mind by Jenara Nerenberg (neurodivergent women)

• ADHD 2.0 by Edward M. Hallowell & John J. Ratey

• Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb

• Podcasts: “Therapy Chat,” “Neurodivergent Moments,” “UnF*ck Your Brain”

Final Thought

Self-awareness is a beautiful thing. But it doesn't always mean self-diagnosis. Let your curiosity be the start of a conversation, not the end of one.

The goal isn’t to find the perfect label. It’s to build a life that feels more understandable, manageable, and yours.

If you’re holding a list of “TikTok symptoms” and wondering what they mean for you, bring them. Let’s unpack it gently, together.