Young adults love TikTok. In 2024, the app had nearly 2.5 billion active users, 60 per cent of them under 35 years old. Increasingly, young people are turning to TikTok for advice and information on a range of topics and issues, and that includes mental health information to guide their health-care decisions.

Among those topics is attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Content about ADHD is thriving on TikTok, with videos using related hashtags garnering tens of billions of views.

However, navigating and accessing reliable health-care information online can be challenging, especially for people from marginalized communities who often feel like their concerns are dismissed or minimized.

At the University of British Columbia’s Promoting Equitable, Affirming Relationships Lab, we are exploring whether that’s more helpful or harmful.

ADHD is a neurodevelopmental condition that affects around five to nine per cent of children and around five per cent of adults in Canada.

Common ADHD symptoms include difficulties with inattention (trouble focusing, losing things or making mistakes), hyperactivity (fidgeting or restlessness) and impulsivity (interrupting others or struggling with patience).

There is no single way to have ADHD, and one person’s experiences can be very different from some one else. Diagnosis involves a thorough and fairly long evaluation, often including interviews, questionnaires and reports from family members, teachers or co-workers.

Many adults with ADHD who don’t fit........

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