r/ADHD rules, stats, and what to post

This is a peer support group for people with ADHD. The community describes itself as inclusive and disability oriented, with an emphasis on science-backed information. People come here to share their stories, their struggles, and non-medication strategies, and the description says many members feel they finally found a place where people understand them. That tells you the tone before you post anything. This is a support space first. The rules back that up. Posts must be directly related to ADHD, written in English, well formatted, easily readable, and at least 280 characters long. The community does not give medical advice, does not allow discussions of treatments that are not science-backed, and is explicit that it is not a crisis support community. If you post here, you are posting into a room full of people who came for understanding, not for a pitch.

The rule that decides everything for a founder is “No Advertising, Self-Promotion, 'I made this,' free trials, or feedback requests. No exceptions.”. It says if you made it, work on it, benefit from it, were asked to share it, or know the creator, you cannot post it, that free or paid does not matter, that disguised or coordinated promotion is still promotion, and that violations mean a permanent ban. “Follow our Posting Criteria” matters too, because every post must be directly related to ADHD, in English, well formatted, easily readable, and at least 280 characters long. “Do Not Ask For/Provide Medical Advice” blocks any post that asks for or hands out medical guidance, which is a line a lot of health-adjacent founders cross without thinking. “No Alternative Medication or Substance Misuse” limits discussion to science-backed, evidence-based medication. “No Faith-Based Practices/Pseudoscience” bans anything claiming ADHD can be treated or cured through faith-based practices. “No Anti-Psychiatry/Denialism/Toxic Positivity” is worth knowing because toxic positivity is named right in the rule. “AMAs and Research Recruitment Require Approval” means any AMA or research recruitment needs prior approval, and commercial research will not be approved at all. Finally, “No Rules Lawyering OR Counter-moderation.” warns that trying to work around moderation can get you banned.

If you are a founder reading this, the honest answer is that this community is not a place to market anything, and the fastest way to lose your account is to try. What you can do is participate like a person. If you personally have ADHD and you found a non-medication strategy that works for you, like a specific way of structuring your day or a habit that finally stuck, you can share that as your own story, as long as it stays clearly connected to ADHD, is written in English, is well formatted, and is at least 280 characters long. You can answer other people's questions with your own experience. You can be genuinely helpful in the comments. What you cannot do is mention your product, your app, your newsletter, or your company, because rule 8 treats that as promotion even when it is disguised, and the penalty is a permanent ban. If your product happens to help people with ADHD, this is a community to learn from and listen to, not to launch in.

The biggest one is rule 8, “No Advertising, Self-Promotion, 'I made this,' free trials, or feedback requests. No exceptions.”. The rule spells it out very clearly. If you made it, work on it, benefit from it, were asked to share it, or know the creator, you cannot post it. Free or paid does not matter. Feedback and recommendation posts about it do not matter. Disguised or coordinated promotion is still promotion, there are no loopholes, and violations mean a permanent ban. Next is “Do Not Ask For/Provide Medical Advice”, so never ask people whether they or their users might have ADHD, and never give any opinion on medication. “No Alternative Medication or Substance Misuse” means only science-backed treatments are discussable. “No Faith-Based Practices/Pseudoscience” rules out anything framed as a cure through belief. “Follow our Posting Criteria” will get a post removed if it is short, off topic, or poorly formatted. And “AMAs and Research Recruitment Require Approval” means you cannot run an AMA or recruit for research here without going through the verification process first, and commercial research is not approved at all.

Rule 8 here is one of the strictest I have seen in any community, with the words no exceptions written right into the rule name itself, and I respect that. The description mentions people finally feeling understood, and that tells me the members guard this space because it took a long time to build. My honest read of the evidence is that this is a listen and learn community, not a launch community, and the permanent ban for promotion makes that crystal clear.