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Channel 4’s new documentary, The Great ADHD Myth, has left viewers bitterly divided with its ‘controversial’ content.
The episode centres on full-time NHS Psychiatrist, Dr Max Pemberton, who is on a quest to find out if we ‘should really be giving children mind-altering drugs to treat’ the condition.
According to NHS data, as of May 2025, an estimated 2,498,000 people in England had ADHD (including those without a diagnosis) and, of those, 741,000 are children and young people aged five to 24.
His investigation includes meeting with several medical experts ‘who are questioning’ the conventional narrative around ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), including consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr Sami Timimi and Prof Katya Rubia.
Elsewhere in the episode, he looks at the problems children are currently facing in their environment and speaks to young people diagnosed with the disorder. All boiling down to the question: is ADHD a ‘social construct?’
At one point, he meets with a child, Mason, who comes off the medication and whose mother, Shauna, says he is ‘funnier, happier, more of a character, more himself’, despite more behavioural issues. In a note at the end, it is confirmed Mason is back on medication.
‘As a psychiatrist, I’ve watched ADHD go from a diagnosis that was only occasionally made and after careful assessment, to one that is increasingly demanded and dispensed, and I wanted to understand why,’ Dr Pemberton told Channel 4.
During one stunt in the doc, he pays £1,200 for a single online assessment and is diagnosed with “combined” ADHD and provided with medication – despite insisting he doesn’t have it.
The 60-minute documentary – which explores how diet and lifestyle changes could help those with ADHD, beyond medication – has already proved to be contentious as it’s hailed ‘thought-provoking’ by some and ‘shameful’ by others.
The Guardian’s four-star review dubbed it ‘the most controversial show of the year’.
The review continued: ‘We live in a time when to question any prevailing orthodoxy will, in many cases, be met with an emotional outpouring. Casting any form of doubt on ADHD will absolutely not be the exception. But Pemberton answers his questions convincingly.’
NHS describes ADHD as ‘a condition that affects people’s behaviour. People with ADHD can seem restless, may have trouble concentrating, and may act on impulse.’
Is it often diagnosed in childhood, but in some cases isn’t recognised until adulthood.
‘Research has also identified a number of possible differences in the brains of people with ADHD when compared with those without the condition.