Why 'Prince Harry's ADHD diagnosis' from a livestream was ridiculous
The Duke of Sussex was told he had attention deficit disorder in an interview livestreamed in 2023
Prince Harry received an attention deficit disorder (ADD) diagnosis from a trauma expert during an interview in 2023. However, it should be taken with a pinch of salt.
The Hungarian-Canadian physician Dr Gabor Maté told Harry during a 2023 livestream hosted by publisher Penguin Random House that he diagnosed him with ADD after reading his memoir, Spare.
What did Dr Maté tell Prince Harry?
He explained: “Reading the book, I diagnose you with ADD, I see it as a normal response to normal stress, not a disease.”
Prince Harry, who said in the interview that he’d used psychedelic drugs to relax and had taken cocaine in the past for a “sense of belonging”, joked after the diagnosis: “Thanks for the free session”.
Dr Maté is certainly very experienced when it comes to conditions including ADD, addiction and stress. However, it feels flippant to diagnose Harry in an interview that’s streamed live to fans.
Whether Harry does or does not have the condition, it doesn’t feel fair to speculate. Private details regarding his health should be kept between him and his doctor. Unless, of course, he decides to reveal anything himself.
And, it does not appear that Dr Maté had spent sufficient time with Prince Harry before making his diagnosis. It seems that his view on Harry’s health was formed mostly by reading his book.
This is a view shared by experts, too. Arthur Caplan, founding head of the Division of Medical Ethics at NYU Grossman School of Medicine in New York City, told Psychiatrist.com: “Diagnosis by reading a book is utterly unethical and unprofessional. Especially when books are ghostwritten, as was Spare. Offering diagnoses in this manner makes a mockery of efforts to promote evidence-based medicine.”
Gabor Mate-it is neither ethical nor appropriate to tell someone for the first time,- in a public interview, that they have ADHD. @DrGaborMate It is for the individual to decide whether to disclose their Neurodiversity. @SussexroyalU https://t.co/oDXUSnelVu
— The Neurodiversity Charity is now closed (@ADHDFoundation) March 4, 2023
The Neurodiversity Charity ADHD Foundation wrote on X (Twitter): “Gabor Mate – it is neither ethical nor appropriate to tell someone for the first time, in a public interview, that they have ADHD. @DrGaborMate It is for the individual to decide whether to disclose their Neurodiversity.”
What is Prince Harry’s psychiatric diagnosis?
Harry, to our knowledge, has not been formally diagnosed with ADD. However, he shared in Spare that he has agoraphobia. He wrote: “I was an agoraphobe. Which was nearly impossible given my public role.”
Meanwhile, in the 2021 series The Me You Can’t See, which Harry co-hosted with Oprah Winfrey, he mentioned panic attacks and “severe anxiety”. And, he revealed that the fear of losing his wife, Meghan Markle, prompted him to seek mental health treatment.
Harry also confirmed in the interview with Dr Maté that his personal therapist had diagnosed him with post-traumatic stress disorder, and he connected it to his past drug use.
What else did Harry discuss in the interview?
Also in the interview, Harry said that he was not able to be himself as a royal and always “felt different”. He realised that he needed to get out after having therapy.
Dr Mate said that Harry’s “rich life” had been “deprived of touch”, while the Duke himself drew parallels between himself and his mother, the late Princess Diana.
“I felt strange being in this container and I know that my mum felt the same,” he said. “It makes sense to me. I felt as though my body was in there and my head was out and sometimes it was vice-versa.”
He explained that sharing his trauma in his book was an “act of service”. He added of any negative reaction: “The more they criticise, the more I feel the need to share”. When asked if readers would see the book as him “wallowing in self-pity,” he said: “I definitely don’t see myself as a victim”.
Viewers of the livestream paid £19.12 to tune in, and they also received a copy of the book.
Read more: Cruel rumours claim Prince Harry is in hospital after an overdose following royal’s confession
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