u/Waffler3000_

There’s a UK clinical psychologist whose public social media posts about ADHD/autism I’ve been looking at, and I’m increasingly concerned about the way he talks about these diagnoses.

Some of the most striking comments include:

“Everyone has autism and adhd these days. It’s a sham and a fraud.”

“ADHD is a racket & social contagion.”

“It’s not neurological.”

There are quite a few other comments along similar lines, including describing ADHD/autism as “subjective psychiatric labels” and saying that “a diagnosis keeps people unwell.”

What particularly bothers me is that this isn't just some random person posting this - he's a registered clinical psychologist, and these are public statements made repeatedly over a period of time.

I'm considering raising it with the HCPC, but I'm already pretty close to burnout/crashing and the thought of dealing with a potentially lengthy complaint process is a lot right now.

So I'm mainly wondering: does this sound like something that would reasonably fall within HCPC professional-conduct concerns, or is this simply a psychologist expressing controversial opinions outside of his clinical work?

I have screenshots and dates for the comments if useful. Would appreciate opinions from anyone familiar with HCPC/clinical psychology or who has made a similar complaint.

Hey, I'm hoping I can connect with some people here because I'm forever feeling so alone with my issues. I was diagnosed with ADHD in April and Autism a couple weeks back. Since getting both conditions confirmed generally I have felt a lot of relief and I'm sure plenty of people here who were diagnosed late found the reprocessing of things really insightful.

The one thing I've found really hard now is just the general noise there is now within the UK about these conditions. Especially within my close circle (basically my family as I have no friends) who have been dismissive across multiple different areas. This is really frustrating be ause they experienced first hand all my difficulties growing up. Also really ironic because I see the traits in them!

Either it's

"I don't know anyone who has gone for a diagnosis, leave without one" "well it changes nothing"

"what's the point if they can't do anything to help"

'I think it's caused by our environments now days, rigid work schedules, mobile phones etc and it's not actually a neurodevelopmental condition from birth.'

"Everyone has traits like that"

"She's just got this diagnosed for PIP" This one really got to me, I've already got a long list of health conditions because of the comorbid conditions that are often coexisting with ND. Would I really be so interested in getting two extra for PIP when I've already got auto immune conditions and other physical health issues which are very functionally limiting on their own! Somehow the whole country thinks getting a diagnosis now days of ND means you're suddenly entitled to a benefit just because you have it 🙈😅

Like there really is just the general consensus at the moment spanning across the UK that everyone is now seeking a diagnosis in these conditions in order to claim benefits and not work? The media at the minute is relentless with it's reporting and I even came across a physiologist online absolutely berating ADHD, calling it a social contagion, saying it's not neurological and that it's a scam/fad diagnosis.

All of this just adds to this never ending feeling I've carried my whole life that nobody will ever understand me. Like no wonder I'm so dysregulated all the time. Worst of all I feel like I really can't shake my frustration for these things and my sense of justice is through the roof. I want to sit and reply to comments all day telling people they're wrong, but, of course I know this is wasted energy.

How does everyone else feel about this and have you experienced dismissal from loved ones post diagnosis?

Sometimes...often...more than I’d like to admit, I think about that one enthralling, enrapturing and euphoric connection I had in high school. When such feelings develop at a young age, you completely float away with it. It’s spring, the air is crisp, and the sun is setting, and you lie on a bed of flowers gliding along a lazy river. The sense of bliss passes through your body, you feel secure, encapsulated. Drifting in a somnolent daze, only to wake just as the last petal gives way. I had unknowingly met a person who I would still think about nearly 15 years later. It was a playful, lighthearted love, but it felt enveloping, like a cradling warmth I’d never known as a child, being tucked into a velvety flower bed where the jokes we shared kept us afloat. It’s like our souls were connected; we were tied together by an invisible red string, and it didn’t matter how far one of us wandered; we couldn’t avoid the gentle, insistent tug that always wound us back together. Though there comes a time when the current changes; he drifted into a parallel stream, still visible but no longer part of my own journey. Now, the line has gone slack. I find myself still clutching my end of the thread, trying to reel in a ghost, while he has already severed his ties and vanished into a distance I can no longer reach. 

I am floating down a lazy river, my eyes are closed, I feel the sharp brisk air on my fingertips, but he’s not there. I no longer feel protected, and I think about him regularly. Where did it go wrong, and why is my love still so strong for him? Tears fall down my pale but flushed cheeks as I remember the warmth from his body as it enfolded around mine, the safety and the transcendent feeling that would inundate my being. I can feel myself now completely captivated by him, by what we were. I can’t explain why to this day I find myself being taken by the current, why I’m still weightless looking for his end of the cord. In my dreams, I meet him from time to time. Sometimes I get to experience our love again, but most of the time, it’s just out of reach. I put my faith in the chance of meeting him in my dreams. I can’t help but wonder if he ever thinks of me too. Was I just a memory to him, or does he find himself floating effortlessly, on a lazy river, searching for the end of our tether, hoping one day the current carries him back to where the flowers still bloom.