Why is there a rise in ADHD ads?

You’ve probably seen ads for ADHD treatment on your For You page, and there’s a specific reason why. Early on in the pandemic, the government loosened telehealth regulations so people could get a prescription for controlled substances like Adderall without seeing a doctor in person. This led to a bunch of telehealth startups taking advantage of this and running ads that made it look easy to get treatment. However, these ads often encouraged viewers to seek treatment for misleading reasons, such as having a messy room or eating junk food.

A 2022 study of the 100 most popular videos about ADHD on TikTok found that more than half of them were misleading and it looks like they’ve had a noticeable effect. This chart shows the total Adderall prescriptions in the US over the past 5 years. Prescriptions were increasing about 5% per year up until 2021, when they grew by 10%. This spike in prescriptions likely added to the current Adderall shortage in the US.