20/08/2026
âYouâre just lazy.â
âEveryone does that.â
âYou just want an excuse.â
âADHD is overdiagnosed.â
For many people with ADHD, these arenât abstract opinions.
Theyâre words theyâve heard about themselves.
From teachers. From family. From colleagues. Sometimes even from professionals.
And that is why the current conversation around ADHD matters.
The Channel 4 documentary The Great ADHD Myth? has reignited a huge debate about ADHD diagnosis â including whether ADHD is a genuine neurodevelopmental disorder, how we diagnose it, and why diagnoses have increased so dramatically. (Channel 4)
Those are legitimate questions.
Clinical practice should be questioned.
Diagnostic systems should be examined.
Evidence should be scrutinised.
And we should absolutely be asking whether people are receiving the right assessment and support.
But there is a line.
Questioning diagnostic practice is legitimate.
Dehumanising the people who receive a diagnosis isnât.
Because behind every diagnosis is a person.
A child who has spent years being told theyâre not trying hard enough.
An adult who has spent decades wondering why things that seem effortless for everyone else feel impossibly difficult.
A parent who has fought to have their child understood.
Someone who may finally have an explanation for experiences they have carried â often with shame â for years.
We can have difficult conversations about ADHD diagnosis, overdiagnosis, underdiagnosis, medication, clinical practice and the evidence without turning people with ADHD into the problem.
Curiosity without contempt.
Questioning without shaming.
Clinical rigour without losing compassion.
That is the conversation we should be having.
And to every child and adult with ADHD who has ever been called lazy, difficult, careless, attention-seeking or âjust making excusesâ:
Weâre sorry.
You deserved better than that.
â Clinical Psychology Collective
