A rapid response to The BMJ from Joanna Moncrieff, James Barnes, Lucy Johnstone and James Davies.
Beyond ‘ADHD is real’: what does the evidence actually establish?
Dear Editor,
The institutional response to Channel 4’s The Great ADHD Myth? illustrates the confused thinking that underpins the mainstream understanding of ADHD. The Royal College of Psychiatrists suggested that the legitimacy of the concept ‘should not be questioned’. (Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2026). Yet, the claim that “ADHD is real” has multiple meanings. In fact, the phrase can refer to three distinct claims: the experiential reality of the difficulties classified as ADHD; the institutional reality of the diagnosis; and its ontological reality—the claim that the classification identifies an established neurological disorder that explains those difficulties. The first is undisputed; the second is factual but does not establish the third; and the ontological claim remains unproven and contested.
