The algorithm thinks something is wrong with us
STUDY: Petronis C, Social Science & Medicine 2026
STUDY TYPE: Qualitative study (digital ethnography and thematic analysis)
FUNDING: Independent
Background
“Dr. Google” is a familiar pattern: a patient searches symptoms online before seeing a clinician. This study asked whether TikTok’s algorithm does something different, pushing ADHD and autism content to users who never searched for either term and nudging them toward a diagnosis they never sought.
The Study
- A researcher created a new, untailored TikTok account and let the algorithm serve content for two months without ever searching ADHD or autism terms.
Results
The account collected 467 recommended videos on ADHD, autism, and “neurodivergence”. The author analyzed the100 most engaged videos, which drew over 40 million views.
Creators used trending audio, second-person language, and point-of-view formats that made viewers feel personally diagnosed, whatever the content’s accuracy. Many videos dismissed experts, treating self-diagnosis as equally valid as a clinical assessment, and linked everyday habits like arranging pillows or using small spoons to ADHD or autism, and both of these diagnoses blurred under the term “neurodivergent.”
This is a new diagnostic pathway. The algorithm, not the user, initiates the suggestion. A separate analysis of 100 ADHD TikTok videos found 55% didn’t match DSM criteria, and a survey of Austrian psychologists found over half had seen a rise in patients self-diagnosing ADHD or autism, linked partly to social media.
Limitations
One account over two months can’t represent everything the algorithm serves, and the study can’t say whether any viewer went on to seek a formal diagnosis. ADHD, autism, and “neurodivergence” overlapped within the content itself, so the themes couldn’t be separated by disorder.
Practice Implications
- Self-knowledge is valuable work, but brief videos of DSM diagnoses may not be the best way to get there.
- Seeing oneself through a psychiatric lens comes with risks, whether self-diagnosed or clinically diagnosed.
—Chris Aiken, MD
Director, Psych Partners
Editor in Chief, Carlat Psychiatry Report
