For most of her life, Jiyoung An believed her struggles came down to laziness or lack of effort. Even after her ADHD diagnosis less than a year ago, she questioned whether she was just making excuses and using ADHD “as a crutch.”

In this week’s episode, Jiyoung shares how her perspective has changed. She’s unlearning internalized shame and now sees her brain for what it truly is: different, not broken. 

Related resources

• What is growth mindset?
• What does thriving with ADHD actually look like?

Timestamps

(00:00) Intro

(00:46) What was happening before Jiyoung sought out an ADHD evaluation this year?

(03:00) Jiyoung’s 3 different psychiatrists’ opinions

(04:24) Falling into hustle culture before diagnosis, and being hard on herself

(07:24) Jiyoung’s journey to accepting her ADHD label

(11:07) How frustrating it can be to not have solutions to all of her ADHD challenges

(13:08) Perfectionism and comparing yourself to others

(16:50) Jiyoung’s experience growing up with undiagnosed ADHD

(19:25) Noticing ADHD in her little sister

(21:22) What ADHD traits Jiyoung struggles with the most

(25:08) Credits

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ADHD Unstuck is a free, self-guided activity from Understood.org and Northwestern University designed to help women with ADHD boost their mood and take small, practical steps to get unstuck. In about 10 minutes, learn why mood spirals happen and get a personalized action plan of quick wins and science-backed strategies that work with your brain. Give it a try at Understood.org/GetUnstuck.

Understood.org is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering people with learning and thinking differences, like ADHD and dyslexia. If you want to help us continue this work, donate at understood.org/give

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