#237 - Dr Sami Timimi - Why ADHD Is On The Rise

2025-10-06

Dr. Sami Timimi is a consultant psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and author of Searching for Normal.Why does it feel like everyone suddenly has ADHD or autism? Are we medicalising normal life? And what if the mental health crisis isn’t biological—but cultural?Expect to learn why ADHD and autism were never true medical diagnoses, how mental health labels became lifelong identities, why resilience can’t be taught but must be lived, how therapy culture breeds learned helplessness, why “mental health awareness” may be harmin...

Dr. Sami Timimi is a consultant psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and author of Searching for Normal.

Why does it feel like everyone suddenly has ADHD or autism? Are we medicalising normal life? And what if the mental health crisis isn’t biological—but cultural?

Expect to learn why ADHD and autism were never true medical diagnoses, how mental health labels became lifelong identities, why resilience can’t be taught but must be lived, how therapy culture breeds learned helplessness, why “mental health awareness” may be harming kids, how social media glamorises illness, and why reclaiming responsibility is the antidote to a culture obsessed with being unwell.

00:00 – Intro: Why everyone seems to have ADHD
01:00 – The rise of ADHD, autism and mental health diagnoses
03:00 – Are psychiatric disorders real medical conditions?
06:30 – How ADHD and autism expanded from rare to common
11:40 – Why people hold onto mental health labels
14:00 – The history of ADHD and “upside-down science”
18:30 – How adult ADHD became a global identity
24:30 – The link between diagnosis and identity politics
30:00 – The danger of victimhood and loss of resilience
35:00 – Why resilience can’t be taught—it must be lived
39:30 – How overprotection creates learned helplessness
43:00 – The false relief of a diagnosis
48:00 – Why mental health became a brand
52:00 – The beauty of diversity and human uniqueness
57:00 – How to build resilience through experience
1:00:00 – Parents, coaches, and raising mentally strong kids
1:02:00 – Why “mental health awareness” may harm children
1:06:00 – Autism rates are skyrocketing—what’s behind it
1:09:30 – Redefining what “normal” really means
1:13:00 – From mental health to mental strength
1:15:00 – How focusing on problems creates more problems
1:20:00 – Reframing problems as skills to learn
1:22:00 – Can we recover from over-diagnosing society?
1:24:00 – Pushback from psychiatry and the mental health industry
1:27:00 – Technology, distraction, and social media’s impact
1:32:00 – The glamorisation of mental illness online