03/09/2026
Ok so I have been sitting on this but here it is:
ADHD ISN'T A MYTH. But dismissing it can cause very real harm.
I've been absolutely bloody furious since watching Channel 4's The Great ADHD Myth?
This isn't just professional for me. It's personal!
My daughter went from a U in Foundation Maths before her ADHD diagnosis and medication to a 5 on the HIGHER paper!! She didn't suddenly become intelligent. She was always intelligent.
But when she finally understood her brain and got access to appropriate support and treatment. She smashed it!
That's why publicly questioning the legitimacy of ADHD isn't harmless. It's so damaging in ways you cannot comprehend!
Especially when research involving more than 21,000 adults found:
⚠️ Around 1 in 7 adults with ADHD had attempted su***de.
⚠️ Among women with ADHD, almost 1 in 4 had attempted su***de.
⚠️ Compared with around 1 in 37 adults without ADHD.
This is an already vulnerable population! In women with ADHD 1 in 4 had attempted su***de!!!!!
The Royal College of Psychiatrists responded to the programme by warning that invalidating ADHD can “fuel harmful stigma” and discourage people from seeking support and treatment.
They said the focus should be on improving ADHD assessment and care “not questioning the legitimacy of a well-established neurodevelopmental disorder.”
And yes, I absolutely believe we should talk about assessment quality, medication, screens, sleep, movement, nature and the environments we're expecting neurodivergent children to function in.
Fresh air helps. Movement helps. Nature helps.
But kids don't live permanently in a forest.
They still have to walk back into a classroom on Monday morning and try to learn things they don't understand, to sit still, to be put in a box and seen as a nuisance.
Supporting an ADHD brain and recognising that ADHD exists are not mutually exclusive.
What particularly concerns me is that The Great ADHD Myth? was fronted by Dr Max Pemberton - a registered doctor and psychiatrist.
Doctors can have opinions. But doctors communicating publicly as medical professionals also have professional responsibilities.
The GMC requires public medical communication to be accurate and not misleading, not to present opinion as established fact, and to be consistent with protecting patients and the public.
I believe what happened raises serious enough questions about those professional responsibilities that the GMC should decide whether they were upheld.
So rather than just shouting at Channel 4 (which, frankly, I've done enough of ) there are TWO useful things we can actually do:
👉 ADHD UK is collecting evidence about the impact of the programme. Complete their survey here:
https://adhduk.co.uk/challenging-c4-the-great-adhd-myth/reaction-survey/
👉 If you share concerns about Dr Pemberton's professional conduct, you can raise them directly with the GMC.
https://www.gmc-uk.org/concerns -colleague
Dr Max Pemberton
GMC reference: 6075900
I've also put a short complaint template in the comments so you don't have to find all the words yourself.
Research behind the su***de statistics is also linked in the comments.
This isn't about shutting down debate.
Question assessment standards.
Question prescribing practices.
Demand better research.
Demand better ADHD services.
But that's very different from questioning whether ADHD itself is legitimate.
My daughter didn't need somebody to question whether her ADHD was real. She needed somebody to recognise it.
And when they did? She frickin thrived.
