ADHD

The Great ADHD Myth? sparked fury among viewers as it sought to ‘determine whether ADHD is a genuine neurodevelopmental disorder, or a social construct’

Channel 4 has been hit with hundreds more complaints over its controversial ADHD documentary.

The Great ADHD Myth? sparked fury among viewers as it sought to “determine whether ADHD is a genuine neurodevelopmental disorder, or a social construct”. Last week, the media regulator confirmed that it had received 9,656 complaints after the show aired on Tuesday, August 18.

And the rage is still ongoing, with Ofcom receiving another 561 complaints, bringing it to a jaw-dropping total of 10,217.

An Ofcom spokesperson told the Mirror: “Complaints relate to the representation of ADHD in the programme.”

It comes after charity ADHD UK filed a furious complaint to the media regulator themselves, saying: “ADHD is not a myth. It is not a social construct.”

The documentary featured a 10-year-old boy with ADHD who made changes to his lifestyle and stopped taking his medication in an attempt to see how it would affect him. At the end of the programme, his mum said that he would continue to not take his medication – however a caption later confirmed at the end that he had resumed taking the drugs and his school performance improved.

“The programme’s own end credits told you what its 60 minutes wouldn’t: the boy at its centre went back on his medication, and his schoolwork improved,” said ADHD UK. “Their experiment disproved their conclusion. They aired their version anyway. We have already complained to Ofcom.”

The NHS recently 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.

In a statement shared after the documentary was announced, amid backlash, a Channel 4 spokesperson stated, “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.”

The documentary featured NHS psychiatrist Dr Max Pemberton, who had previously 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.”

When the documentary was first announced, viewers were left appalled. One wrote: “The endless hostility toward people with ADHD, autism, and anxiety is reaching a terrifying point.”

Another wrote: “More demonising and minimising those with mental health struggles. Fabulous.” One person called it “absolutely disgusting”, while another said it was “incredibly hurtful”.

However, some viewers called the documentary “interesting”, with one writing: “Interesting programme on Channel 4 about ADHD.” Another called it “great”, while a third said: “I filled it in to say how interesting I found the programme. I have a child with a diagnosis of ADHD.”

The Mirror has reached out to Channel 4 for comment.

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RYAN Thomas’ daughter Scarlett has revealed she’s been diagnosed with ADHD and her famous family “need to chill out” over the condition.

The singer, 17, took to Snapchat to share the news with her followers as well as to rant about how people treat her as a result of it.

She began: “The word ADHD, get it away and put it in the bin because what do you mean somebody talks too much?

“What do you mean somebody has a different personality and suddenly they’ve got a disorder.

“I don’t get it. I was diagnosed in year 9, it’s literally just a personality.

“It doesn’t make sense to me. Anyway, that’s my take on that. I say it because my uncle Adam talks about it and he needs to chill out.”

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Scarlett’s famous uncles and dad Ryan have spoken about ADHD at length on their podcast, with Adam emotionally detailing his experience with the condition several times in the past.

While her dad, Ryan, revealed in March this year that he too has been diagnosed with the condition.

Opening up about the situation on the podcast, At Home With The Thomas Bro’s podcast, Ryan expressed: “ADHD for me has been a big problem and I’ve not actually spoke about it yet because If I’m really honest, I was quite embarrassed that I had ADHD.

“It felt like I had a condition and growing up, as kids, ADHD, I don’t feel like, was ever a thing – or it was loosely spoke about.”

The former Corrie actor went on to explain that his fiancée Lucy Mecklenburgh would tell him that he was losing his phone, not listening to conversations and misplacing his belongings.

He decided to visit doctors to get assessed for ADHD and had to go through an extensive process to get the diagnosis confirmed.

Ryan continued: “After the whole process, I was diagnosed – and I’m on medication.

“And friends that are on the medication have said it changes your life instantly, like the limitless pill. And it’s been quite disheartening for me because I’m on the medication every day.

“I’ve been on it for the last three, four weeks. And I still feel overwhelmed. I still misplace things.

“There is a part of me that I recognise – that I can sit down and write something on a piece of paper, which is very rare that that happens with me.”

Scarlett revealed last year that she didn’t take her GCSE’s as she opened up while everybody else was receiving their results.

In a short video posted to her TikTok account, the young stunner posed in front of a camera, showing a close up of her immaculate makeup.

Over the top of the clip set to music, Scarlett put some simple lines of POV text, reading: “Watching everyone get their GCSE results today wondering if I could’ve had good results but I will forever wonder.”

Despite not taking her exams, Scarlett’s career seems to be going from strength to strength.

As well as starring on Waterloo Road, she signed a music record deal this year with Big Family Music and is gearing up to release her own tracks.

Scarlett has amassed over 360,000 followers on TikTok and regularly shares singing videos as well as life updates with her fans.

ROBBIE Williams has revealed he has been diagnosed with autism at the age of 52 — and pals say he is taking it in his trademark stride.

The music legend recently sought a professional assessment after “feeling like there was something he was missing” about himself.

Robbie, who was also previously diagnosed with ADHD, casually revealed the news during a launch for the autumn/winter collection of his Hopeium clothing brand.

He said: “I’ve got ADHD. I’ve just found out I’ve got a bit of autism as well, which I f**ing love, because it explains so much, and it’s like a get-out-of-jail card now.

“If I do all the weird s*** that I do, I go, ‘Sorry, I’m autistic.’”

The married father of four went on: “With ADHD, you can completely and utterly concentrate on something 100 per cent.

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“But absolutely everything else, you just cannot do it. Ask my kids.”

The former Take That star, who also suffers from clinical depression, opened up about his creativity.

He said: “I’m completely and utterly obsessed with creating images and funny things, and if I’m creating images and making what I think are funny things, I’m not thinking about ‘me’.

“My brain is incredibly creative, and it can be creative about everything in the world, including things that can cause you to panic or be scared.”

He also revealed that he struggles to concentrate with background noise or distractions as he becomes overstimulated, saying: “It really throws me off.”

Since being diagnosed just a few weeks ago, The Sun can reveal the singer has met with an AuDHD expert — someone who specialises in both autism and ADHD.

Robbie hopes the meetings will give him a greater understanding of his behaviour.

A source told The Sun: “Robbie has known for some time about his ADHD, but he always felt there was something he was missing.

“Someone suggested he could be autistic, and so within the past few weeks, he sought private medical advice and underwent an assessment.

It’s still early days, but Robbie has spoken with an AuDHD expert to get a greater understanding of what the diagnosis means for him and what options can be put in place to make life easier.

“Like with everything life throws at him, Robbie is taking the diagnosis in his stride.

“It’s business as usual. The diagnosis just gives a greater understanding of what makes Robbie Robbie.”

The Sun was the only newspaper Robbie met during the intimate launch in front of fashion bigwigs at Flannels on London’s Oxford Street.

He told us he hopes his Hopeium brand will bring some fun into the notoriously uptight and judgemental fashion industry.

His new tongue-in-cheek range includes “Gandhi” football tops and shirts adorned with images of a hand flipping the middle finger. Chuckling, he said he is already planning to bring out a Dalai Lama version.

Robbie had a well-documented battle with alcohol and substance abuse in the nineties and early noughties.

But he claimed he is now addicted to creating art and clothes after being clean and sober for over two decades.

Robbie said: “I really got into drawing and creating. I think it’s my addict’s gene. Look, I can no longer do cocaine. No longer do MDMA, no longer drink, so, you know, where does the addiction go to?

“Well, it goes to several places, and one of them is clothes.”

Robbie went on: “It’s a bit of silliness because I love silliness, and there doesn’t seem to be any silliness in fashion.

“It seems to be outlawed because, you know, as much as I love fashion, it’s properly pretentious and very, very serious, isn’t it?”

Robbie plans to draft in his wife Ayda Field, 47, to model the collection in a bid to boost sales.

Robbie, who has recently dramatically trimmed down after turning to weight-loss jabs, also hopes to make his catwalk debut at London Fashion Week.

He said: “Hopefully we will see me modelling it on the runway.

“I mean, I’m in decent nick now, so yeah. I’ve been looking after myself. I’d be happy if any artist started wearing the brand, and Ayda will wear it too.”

He added of his new clobber: “I should be wearing it on my tour – it would make marketing sense.”

The singer is set to play shows across Europe and South America this autumn.

He is also hotly tipped to play Glastonbury next June for the first time since 1998, with sources saying he could follow in Sir Rod Stewart’s footsteps and play the Sunday Legends slot.

Last month, a clip of Robbie went viral after something appeared to fall out of his nose during an unplanned live appearance on German TV at the World Cup in New York.

Some viewers thought Robbie was back taking cocaine.

Rather than fearing for his career, Robbie laughed off the suggestion he had relapsed, and believes no one cares anyway.

He said: “Can I clear something up, please, as well? I didn’t relapse on cocaine at the World Cup, but now forever and ever and ever the internet will be assured of itself that coke fell out of my nose.

“No, it was Nicorette. The thing is, I thought about it the next day — I was lying in bed, and 50 million people had seen me supposedly relapse on coke at the World Cup, and I was like, ‘If I was on coke, it wouldn’t be a f***ing problem anyway, would it? Who f***ing cares?’”

And he said some people seemed to be pleased at the prospect of him doing class A drugs again.

He went on: “So many comments online were like, ‘Good for you, Robbie. Everyone loves the f***ing packet.’ So I made some new fans due to what they thought I was doing.”

Before Spain took on Argentina in the World Cup final last month, Robbie was front and centre in the closing ceremony, taking to the pitch to sing the official Fifa anthem Desire alongside Nicole Scherzinger and Italian singer Laura Pausini.

In keeping with still feeling like he’s just Rob from Stoke rather than one of the biggest-selling British singers of all-time, he swaggered towards the halfway line in a blue Adidas tracksuit – adorned with diamantes for the momentous occasion.

Robbie said: “The sparkles were added at the artist’s request, and it felt so comfy.

“It’s best to be comfy, so when they said, ‘What do you want to wear?’ I just said, ‘I want to wear a tracksuit. Can you put some jewels on it so it’s a bit showbizzy?’”

Insisting he is still just as ambitious as he was three decades ago, Robbie said of his future plans: “Lots of records. I’m 52, still ambitious, still have this gaping chasm that is unfillable.

“Still want, still need, still want to have purpose, I want to be out there doing things. I am still as ambitious as I was when I was 22 and it’s served me well. I have new music, new tours too.”

Robbie, who has been in the public eye since 1992, also said he would be ignoring snobbish critics, saying: “I don’t need validation from the po-faced fashion industry. I never got that from the po-faced music industry.

“I would like validation from the general clothing-buying public.”