ADHD and the unseen mind
Memory, salience, initiation, emotion, diagnosis and the hidden effort behind visible competence.
Personal essays on living with ADHD sit alongside a six-part series examining the evidence and public debate. Together, they explore attention, memory, diagnosis and the hidden effort of everyday life.
Read standalone essays · Explore the six-part series
Personal essays on ADHD
Individual reflections on memory, attention and living with an unseen mind. Each essay can be read on its own.
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When Forgetting Looks Like Not Caring
How ADHD can disrupt the path from caring to remembering—and why explanation, hurt and responsibility all need to be held together.
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11–16 minutes
The Great ADHD Myth? — a six-part series
This linked series examines the claims made about ADHD, the evidence behind them and the legitimate questions that remain, without treating either criticism or advocacy as beyond scrutiny. Read in order for the full argument, or open any article independently.
Publication note: Article 2 is a provisional review framework. It is public now and will be updated after the documentary has been viewed; its unfilled sections are deliberately marked.
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The Great ADHD Myth? The problem begins with the question
A steep rise in ADHD referrals deserves scrutiny. So do private assessments, prescribing and the demands modern life places on attention. But those are different questions, and none of them makes ADHD a myth.
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8–12 minutes -
Did The Great ADHD Myth? make its case?
The Great ADHD Myth? asked legitimate questions about diagnosis, medication and modern childhood. But did its experiments and expert claims actually support its much larger conclusion? A post-broadcast evidence audit.
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17–26 minutes -
ADHD: neurodevelopment, biology and social context
ADHD cannot be diagnosed with a brain scan. Its traits lie on continua, and environments can determine how disabling they become. None of that makes the condition imaginary. “Neurodevelopmental disorder or social construct” is…
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9–13 minutes -
Can you buy an ADHD diagnosis?
Max Pemberton paid £1,200 for a private assessment, received an ADHD diagnosis and rejects it. That may expose an important quality problem. One disputed case cannot tell us how accurate private assessment is as…
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9–14 minutes -
ADHD medication: benefit, harm and choice
Stimulants can substantially reduce ADHD symptoms. They can also suppress appetite, disturb sleep, raise pulse and blood pressure, and make some people feel unlike themselves. Good prescribing starts by accepting both statements and asking…
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11–16 minutes -
Are we diagnosing too much ADHD?
ADHD can be under-recognised nationally and overdiagnosed in particular people or settings. The evidence supports concern about both errors, but not a claim that Britain is experiencing a general epidemic of false adult diagnosis.…
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12–19 minutes