Channel 4’s The Great ADHD Myth ignores a key group of people, and it’s so disappointing

Channel 4’s latest documentary, The Great ADHD Myth, asks some interesting questions about the current approach to ADHD treatment, but it completely misses out discussions around girls with ADHD.

Over the past decade, more and more people in the UK have been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This is mostly because the disorder has been destigmatised and more people are seeking help, discovering ways to deal with often debilitating symptoms. 

Channel 4 has aired "The Great ADHD Myth?". Together, we're responding. Please consider filling in our survey and complaining to Ofcom.

Tell us the impact: our survey is collecting the evidence of what this programme has actually done – to how people see ADHD, and to people with… pic.twitter.com/LZQE7kCS21

— ADHD UK (@ADHDUKcharity) August 18, 2026

Last night, a new documentary by Channel 4 was released. It was led by NHS psychiatrist and journalist Dr Max Pemberton, who asked questions about whether modern life has led to an increase in symptoms of ADHD. It follows a young boy who temporarily stops taking his ADHD medication and makes lifestyle improvements instead as an alternate way to treat the disability. 

Already, plenty of mental health charities have spoken out about the documentary and highlighted some of what they claim are its more harmful messaging.

“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,” ADHD UK said.

“Their experiment disproved their conclusion. They aired their version anyway. We have already complained to Ofcom.”

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An extremely biased documentary, all the doctors & psychiatrists used clearly all share the same views. Also doing an experiment on one persons experience isn’t a very accurate experiment. Channel 4, do better and try living one day with ADHD, you’ll soon realise it’s not a myth https://t.co/1on043AF2G

— mol ✨ (@reputationmol) August 19, 2026

In a statement, Channel 4 have defended their documentary, saying: “This documentary does not deny the lived experience of those diagnosed with ADHD, but does present the view of an extensive range of senior medical experts – many of whom work or have worked with the NHS or have held presidential roles at professional membership bodies – who seek to question the conventional understanding of ADHD and if it is a neurodevelopmental condition.”

But one thing missing from the conversation is how this documentary focuses on a narrow, stereotypical view of ADHD that often excludes women and girls. For many women, their ADHD looks less like being disruptive in school and more like internal hyperactivity and emotional sensitivity. 

Asking questions about how we treat ADHD is understandable, even necessary. And there definitely needs to be a conversation about how our society encourages short attention spans. But this view of ADHD sadly falls to the same tropes we’ve been hearing for decades now, the same tropes that lead many young girls to struggle silently for years, undiagnosed. 

ADHD is not a myth, and it’s not a monolith. 

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Featured image via Minnow Productions/X