Viewers have been left furious over the Channel 4 announcement, ahead of upcoming documentary The Great ADHD Myth?
Channel 4 has come under fire for a new documentary (Image: Getty)
An upcoming Channel 4 documentary has been blasted by viewers for suggesting a “dangerous” message.
The broadcaster has announced a programme on ADHD, titled The Great ADHD Myth?, which has sparked immense backlash.
The documentary, according to Channel 4, “seeks to determine whether ADHD is a genuine neurodevelopmental disorder, or a social construct”.
It apparently asks: “With so many questions on what ADHD is, should we really be giving so many children powerful psychiatric drugs to medicate it?”
This comes after the NHS released information about the number of people affected by ADHD. Data from May 2025 reports that it is estimated that 2,498,000 people in England have ADHD, including those without a diagnosis.
Of those, an estimated 741,000 are children and young people aged between five and 24. The report also stated that in March 2025, up to 20,000 people were newly referred for an ADHD assessment to mental health services, an increase of 13.5% from the previous year.
The Channel 4 programme, featuring NHS psychiatrist Dr Max Pemberton, will be looking into “why” the traits of ADHD exist.
A press release for The Great ADHD Myth? States: “While the traits of ADHD undeniably exist – the question is why they exist. Is ADHD actually a neurodevelopmental disorder? Do people with ADHD have differently wired brains? Or does our world – with phones, ultra-processed food, and regimented education system – serve as the catalyst for certain responses and patterns of behaviour? And with such uncertainty around the condition, should we really be giving children mind-altering drugs to treat it?”
The documentary hears from medical experts who are questioning “the conventional narrative” around ADHD, and will follow a young family who “want to see whether holistic lifestyle changes can eliminate one boy’s use of ADHD medication”.
Dr Pemberton said: “As a psychiatrist, I’ve watched ADHD go from a diagnosis that was only occasionally made and after careful assessment, to one that is increasingly demanded and dispensed, and I wanted to understand why. There’s no doubt that the people seeking these diagnoses are genuinely struggling; that isn’t in question. What the film asks is whether ADHD is really the best explanation for that struggle and my hope is that we come away with permission to ask better questions about what modern life is doing to all of us.”
The Channel 4 announcement has left some social media users appalled, with one writing: “The endless hostility toward people with ADHD, autism, and anxiety is reaching a terrifying point.” Another said: “Who signed off on this man? I don’t even have ADHD and I’m outrageously offended.”
One person blasted: “What ableist bulls**t is this, @Channel4??” Someone else said: “More demonising and minimising those with mental health struggles. Fabulous.” One person called it “absolutely disgusting”, while another said it was “incredibly hurtful”.
Another wrote: “I don’t have ADHD, but I never thought Channel 4 would stoop so low.” Yet another echoed: “Demonising neurodivergence. What a time to be alive.” Someone else said: ““Myth? It’s not a myth if you have ADHD. What a way to frame it.”
Another person called the documentary “irresponsible and dangerous,” as someone else wrote: “As someone recently diagnosed, I am already sick and tired of ADHD being framed as “not real”. It made school utter hell for me, and impacts my day to day life. Why Channel 4 seem intent on pushing stuff like this I will never know.”
Other people expressed their interest in the show, with one saying: “I’ve been diagnosed and I wonder this too!” Someone else said: “The outrage this has caused illustrates why it is needed. No diagnostic neurodevelopmental process has ever been established as constitute of ADHD, despite what is implied and many have been led to believe. The question posed by the doc, then, is entirely legitimate.”
In a statement, a Channel 4 spokesperson said: “This documentary does not deny the lived experience of people with ADHD traits, but does hear from a group of senior medical and academic experts – many of whom work or have worked with the NHS or have held presidential roles at professional membership bodies – who seek to question whether ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder. They also ask whether modern living has contributed to a rise in diagnoses, and whether there may be better alternatives for children than medication.”