MP criticises Channel 4 documentary about ADHD

An MP with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has criticised a Channel 4 documentary about the condition, claiming it was "unfactual".

Describing the documentary as "boring", Liberal Democrat MP for Yeovil Adam Dance said some aspects of the documentary were "not reflective of real life".

The programme, The Great ADHD Myth?, was broadcast on Tuesday and its host, NHS psychiatrist Dr Max Pemberton, concluded ADHD was "a social construct, not a disorder of the brain".

Channel 4 defended the show, saying there was "considerable public debate on various aspects of ADHD" and it was "legitimate for that debate to be explored and for conventional understandings to be challenged".

Dance has backed a cross-party letter from the All-Party Parliamentary Group for ADHD raising concerns about the documentary.

The MP also submitted a parliamentary bill last year calling for universal ADHD screening.

In his criticism of the documentary, he said it was often not practical for children to have constant support, as one child did when he stopped taking his medication in the programme.

He also argued that while medication may not work in some cases, others relied on it.

He said: "After watching it I was quite angry because a lot of it was, in my opinion, unfactual, it wasn't right."

Dance said he also found the documentary boring.

"I was someone who was watching it for a valid reason and I was bored," he said.

"If you are getting people to watch a documentary you need to make it a bit more incisive."

In a post on social media, Dance also said the documentary risked "adding to the stigma already faced by children and adults with the condition here in Yeovil and across the country".

Holly Cutts, an electrical engineer from Yeovil, said she was referred to a private clinic for her ADHD diagnosis because NHS waiting lists at the time were "three years long".

The 22-year-old said her ADHD often manifested as hyperactivity, time-blindness or inattention, explaining it affected all parts of her life.

"When you have somebody telling you 'it's not real' and 'it's all in your head and you just need to try harder' - they don't realise you have been trying harder than a lot of people have been the whole time," she said.

In a statement, Channel 4 said: "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.

"They also ask whether modern living has contributed to a rise in diagnoses, and whether there may be better alternatives for some children than medication."

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