It’s no secret that ADHD (especially in women) has gotten a lot more visible in the last few years. It really started in 2020 during the pandemic, when many women were trying to keep their children happy at home, monitor their school work, keep working themselves, and keep the house from falling apart with everyone home 24/7.
That’s a lot to ask of anybody, but when you’re a woman with ADHD, it’ll pretty much shut you down. So many women started looking for answers, and they found it in the list of ADHD symptoms that women tend to experience.
That’s when ADHD really started trending on social media and across the internet.
According to my research using Exploding Topics, pretty much every ADHD-related topic’s trend line looks similar to this “ADHD planner” one:
Some more evidence for you:
And, well, I’m not the only one who’s noticed.
ADHD marketing is everywhere
You don’t have to travel far on the ‘net to find evidence that people are trying to capitalize on the increase in ADHD awareness, especially among women:
A search for “ADHD planner” on Amazon returns 3,000 results.
There are currently 5.7 million TikTok posts tagged with #adhd.
A search for “ADHD podcast” in Spotify returns dozens of results, and many of the podcasters want you to buy their book, their ADHD coaching packages, their organization ebooks, access to their special ADHD circle, etc.
A Google Play store search for “adhd” returns all the apps you could ever think of—adhd timers, journals, to-do apps, AI tools, body doubling, games, music, coaching, brain dump tools…it’s practically endless.
A YouTube search for “ADHD” returns a TON of results by people who both do and probably do not really know what they’re talking about…interlaced with ads targeted at ADHDers, of course.
Even on Threads, if you search for conversations around ADHD, a lot of the most popular ones are by ADHD coaches and content creators trying to sell their services/downloadables.
Now, I’m definitely not saying that this is all just a big, bad thing. It’s not. There are tons of awesome resources out there, and even the truly great ones need to market themselves in order to get the word out.
ADHDers need great resources in order to understand ourselves, get support, commiserate, have a self-deprecating chuckle once in a while, and just feel like we belong and are understood.
But the constant barrage of ads wanting to take advantage of my ADHD brain is getting to me.
And especially right after my diagnosis, they were easy to fall for.
Why ADHD ads are so tempting
ADHD brains have no chill, guys. We’re impulsive and buying things gives us a dopamine hit, so we’re…well, an easy audience to target with ads.
And when you combine that tendency with a deep-seeded desire to be more organized, more responsible, less forgetful, etc. etc., you get an audience full of people who are primed to buy.
I personally definitely overspent on ADHD-related products for a while after my diagnosis. A few things I remember buying:
A general planner (obviously)
A time blocking planner
A pre-built Notion system
A magazine subscription
Several books
A visual timer
Fidgets
Were all of those things purchases I regret? No, not at all. But looking back, it shows how eager I was to spend money on things that promised to help in some way.
Although I’ve gotten much better at controlling my shopping impulses, I’m still tempted constantly. The ads on social media, the offers in my inbox, the pitches from podcasters…there’s a constant barrage.
When there’s so much noise out there, how can an ADHDer actually decide if something is worth purchasing or not? How do you get better at avoiding the impulse?
Let’s look at some examples, and I’ll give a few tips that have helped me.
ADHD ad examples + tips to spend wisely
Something you maybe don’t know if you’re not in marketing: there are ad databases where you can see what ads companies are running. And a quick search for “adhd” in the Meta ad library returns a whopping 17,000 ads. Seven. Teen. THOUSAND.
There are playlists. Planners. Audiobooks. A fidget hoodie. Online therapy. Products for kids. Supplements. ADHD testing. Apps.
It’s endless.
The crazy thing is, even media organizations like National Geographic are trying get a slice of our attention:
And of course, the quintessential hoodie with stress balls sewn into the sleeves:
Everyone is realizing that there’s money to be had in the ADHD space and, whether they have good intentions or not, are trying to cash in on it.
For the record, I do like Nat Geo and almost fell for that ad myself. What got me out of it?
I already subscribe to too much media and don’t have time to read/consume it all
I’m not going to pay for National Geographic just to read an article on ADHD and women…information cited in the article is certainly available for free elsewhere
I’m actually pretty sure I can get Nat Geo magazines through my library for free
If you’re getting tempted and/or caught out by the onslaught of ADHD ads, here are my tips for scrolling on past:
When you see something tempting, think of any reasons why you shouldn’t buy it. Like “I’ll never have time to read this” or “I already have a music app I like” or “I don’t have a good spot to keep this.”
Start a “maybe someday” list of things you might like to try, so you can refer to the list if and when you experience a need. Like at the new year when you actually need a new planner, you can head back to your list to find that one that looked so tempting a few months ago.
Notice if there’s a certain category that’s pulling you in, like ADHD coaching, productivity apps/products, or food/diet. Take note of your interest there and explore it in general when you have the time to put some real research into it rather than impulse buying something that promises to help.
Use the buddy system. Tell a friend that you’re trying to spend less or not make impulse purchases and let them help hold you accountable.
And with that, let’s get to the recs.
ADHD Rec #16: ADHD stuff that has actually helped
I thought this would be a good place to put a few recommendations for ADHD-related purchases that have actually been helpful for me. Of course, I don’t want to be the reason you impulse buy stuff now after giving you tips to avoid it 😅.
If you like something here, research first and add it to a “maybe someday” list until you really need it!
