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The Guardian - UK

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Sarah Marsh

My doctor diagnosed me with ADHD – so how did my phone find out?

ADHD Sarah Marsh Cerebral Instagram

A person looking at social media icons on their smartphone. — ‘Companies can now use social media to personalise their interactions with consumers like never before.’ Photograph: Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty Images

After I was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in 2022, I started following Instagram accounts that could help me understand the condition. Reels and memes about being neurodivergent started to fill my feed, along with tips on how to manage ADHD in a relationship and other helpful advice. But within days, something else happened: my phone found out about my diagnosis.

All of a sudden, I was being served with ads for apps that claimed they could help me to manage my symptoms. There were quizzes to determine what type of ADHD I had: was I predominantly inattentive or impulsive, one asked. Did I definitely have it? Find out by taking this diagnostic test, another promised.

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