There is nothing scientific about The Great ADHD Myth? ‘documentary’ | Gina Rippon

Channel 4’s programme wastes a chance to ask important questions about how ADHD is diagnosed and treated, instead indulging in unscientific methods and conspiracy theories When Channel 4 announced that it would air a documentary titled The Great ADHD Myth?, an outpouring of fury followed.

Despite this, I set out to approach it as a scientist – not just as a scientist whose own work has dealt with developmental disorders, but as someone who has enormous respect for the scientific process and for the importance of evidence-led debate.

Channel 4’s press release claimed the documentary sought to determine whether attention deficit hyperactivity disorder was a “genuine neurodevelopmental disorder, or a social construct”.

At one level this is a brave enterprise.

ADHD is recognised worldwide as a disorder, by the World Health Organization and our own NHS among others.

Estimates suggest ADHD affects roughly 8% of children and adolescents and about 3% of adults worldwide.

To overturn this consensus would require robust, reproducible findings capable of explaining away decades of genetic, developmental and clinical research.

The press release described the documentary as “science-led”, which hinted at just such an enterprise.

Was it really science-led? Prof Gina Rippon is emeritus professor of cognitive neuroimaging at the Aston Brain Centre, Aston University, and the author of The Gendered Brain Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here .

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