So what if ADHD is a ‘social construct’ — I still have to live with it

Max Pemberton believes ADHD is a societal issue (Picture: Channel 4)

In Channel 4’s new documentary, The Great ADHD Myth?, psychiatrist Max Pemberton seeks to determine whether it’s ‘a genuine neurodevelopmental disorder, or a social construct.’

Having spent the five years since my own diagnosis fielding similar bad faith questions — and given Pemberton has previously suggested that ADHD could be a ‘wildly overdiagnosed’ ‘fad’ — the resulting answer didn’t come as a shock.

Despite claiming to take a ‘science-led approach’, the show appeared to use the same carefully-chosen sceptics and cherry-picked evidence as every other so-called investigatio...