Buddy Check

Nothing to do with Buddy Check. This is an audio trip report from a bike packing trip I took with a friend to the UK in October. I wanted to tell the story in audio form, and I decided to share it here. Something to tide you over until I release season 3. As with Buddy Check, this story starts with sport (biking here rather than climbing) but also explores much more than that: this time, turning 30, being in friendship while navigating chronic illness, and you know, the meaning of life.

Original music by Eric Anders and Kenny Clarkson.

In this bonus episode I interviewed Drs. Sarah Wu and Carolyn Aibel. They both have PhDs in clinical psychology from the University of Colorado in Boulder, they see therapy patients through private practices - specializing in ADHD, and they are rock climbing partners. We talked about why it makes sense for people with ADHD to resonate with climbing, the way fear can present for people with ADHD, hyperfocus as a superpower in climbing, how they work with their ADHD patients, climbing as a microcosm for life, and much more. This episode is full of giggles and great information!

if you are already a subscriber to Buddy Check on Patreon, you can access the full episode at patreon.com/buddycheckpodcast. If you are not yet a subscriber, you can start a free 7-day trial to gain access to the full episode. 

Become a member of Buddy Check's Patreon for access to all bonus episodes!

Resources:

• Work with Sarah Wu, PhD
• Work with Carolyn Aibel, PhD

This is a teaser of a conversation I had with Stephanie Zukowski, the intern coordinator for the Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center (BOEC). BOEC is one of the foremost adaptive sports organizations in the country. We talked about their work, what adaptive sports means, how people with adhd and neurodivergence fit into the adaptive sports world, her thoughts on the idea of adhd as a superpower in rock climbing, and much more! To access the full episode, you can join my Patreon and become a monthly subscriber of Buddy Check.

Join my Patreon to access the full episode, future bonus episodes, essays from me, and discounts on merchandise!

Resources:

• If you are interested in BOEC's intern program, get in touch with Stephanie at [email protected].
• Visit boec.org for more information on all their programming!

In the season finale of Season 2, a conversation with Jenny Fischer, the CEO of Ocun North America, about how she thinks about her identity as incomplete without an acknowledgment of her adhd but also completely ineffective if she hangs her whole identity on it. As someone who was diagnosed in middle school, Jenny has been sitting with and reflecting on how she relates to her diagnosis for over two decades. This episode turned into something of a meditation on identity, self worth, learning about yourself through climbing, and the fluidity of growing up. 

Join my Patreon!

Resources:

• Find Jenny on Instagram @jenny.lemonpie
• Ocun 
• Aphantasia: a beautiful Radiolab episode also about accepting your own brain chemistry

This episode tackles the second half of the hypothesis I started with this season: what does the climbing community mean to people with adhd and other neurodivergent identities? Do those identities contribute to our misfit identity as climbers, and is that something to pay attention to and protect as climbing overall becomes more mainstream?

Zofia Reych, a climbing anthropologist, historian, and writer weighs in on their experience, and we hear from five other climbers with adhd for their thoughts too.

Join my Patreon!

Resources:

• Order Zofia's book Born to Climb
• Find Zofia on Instagram @upthatrock
• Access Zofia's newsletter on Patreon

In today's episode, we take the niche theme of this season one step further, diving into the incredibly specific topic of how people with adhd experience and relate to fear in climbing. Even though fear is an important element behind the enjoyment many people with adhd find in climbing, their hyperfocus can become a double-edged sword, leading some climbers with adhd to fixate on thoughts of fear and spiral into all the things that might go wrong.

Join my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/BuddyCheckPodcast/membership!

Resources:

• Strong Mind  mental training course

Today’s episode explores the narrative that ADHD is a superpower in rock climbing. For some people, the chance to flip the script on their disorder is something they jump at, but for others, it feels like an entirely incomplete way to think about their experience. Seven climbers weigh in on how they think about their brain chemistry in relation to their climbing.

Become a Buddy Check Patron! https://www.patreon.com/BuddyCheckPodcast/membership

Resources:

• Ekman, Elizabeth, Arto Hiltunen, and Henrik Gustafsson. 2021. “Do Athletes Have More of a Cognitive Profile with ADHD Criteria than Non-Athletes?” Sports 9 (5): 61. https://doi.org/10.3390/sports9050061.
• Order Zofia Reych’s book Born to Climb
• Receive Zofia's newsletter through Patreon
• Find Jenny on Instagram @jenny.lemonpie

Episode three explores what it is about climbing that can make it so intoxicating for people with adhd. We’ll hear from six different climbers about their experiences with flow, challenge, and sensory regulation.

Resources:

• The ADHD Brain: Neuroscience 101
• Order Zofia Reych’s book Born to Climb
• Subscribe to Zofia's Patreon
• Follow Jenny on Instagram @jenny.lemonpie

In an attempt to assess the percentage of elite athletes with ADHD compared to the general population, I wound up in a deep dive of baseball statistics and the murky way they help to show this pattern. Episode two tells the story of how it came to be that today, the Major League Baseball players’ association and the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball publish an annual report, available to the public, that shows the number of professional baseball players taking medication to treat ADHD. But numbers by themselves rarely tell the full story.

Subscribe to my Patreon!  www.patreon.com/BuddyCheckPodcast/

Resources:

• Team Chemistry: The History of Drugs and Alcohol in Major League Baseball by Nathan Corzine
• Major League Drug Policy
• 2023 Annual Report
• MLB Press Release on 2023 Report
• 2019 report British Journal of Sports Medicine: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in elite athletes: a narrative review

Episode 1 explains the current state of research into ADHD and dispels some common myths through a conversation with Rose Callaghan, a stand-up comedian based in Melbourne, Australia who uses her comedy to advocate for greater ADHD awareness. Freddie also explains what she is going to be investigating about the overlap between rock climbing and ADHD over the course of season 2.

Resources:

• Rose Callaghan's website
• Follow Rose on Instagram and X @operation_rosie and on TikTok @rosecallaghancomedy
• Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Women
• Attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): Overview of Gender differences, Genetic, Epigenetic, and Non-genetic aspects
• Gender differences in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: an update of the current evidence
• Update: Baseball Players, ADHD, and Rx
• Decoding the Overlap Between Autism and ADHD
• Shared heritability of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Autism Spectrum Disorder
• The neuroscience of the ADHD Brain
• The Nugget Climbing Podcast with Dorian Evers