When you think about someone taking a psychedelic drug like magic mushrooms, the first images that come to mind probably don’t involve a medical professional in a white coat or any sort of clinical setting. 

However, the perception of these drugs is changing as researchers and health professionals continue to learn new ways these drugs can treat a variety of mental health conditions. 

Much of the research has to do with microdosing, or taking such a small dose of a drug that it doesn’t produce a “trip.” One of the more commonly microdosed drugs is psilocybin, the naturally occurring psychedelic compound found in “magic mushrooms.” 

That led our small-but-mighty team at Hyperfocus to wonder, “What could this all mean for ADHD treatment?” 

So, we looked for someone who might know, and it led us to Dr. Richard A. Friedman. He’s a professor, psychiatrist, and director of the Psychopharmacology Clinic at Weill Cornell Medicine, Cornell University’s medical school. Richard has also written about his areas of expertise for The New York Times and is a contributing writer at The Atlantic.  

On this week’s episode of Hyperfocus, he sits down with mental health journalist Rae Jacobson to answer all her questions on microdosing, psychedelics as medicine, and what it could mean for ADHD and more. 

Related resources

• ADHD alternative treatment
• ADHD treatment without medication: What are my options?
• Richard’s piece on microdosing in The Atlantic

Timestamps

(02:58) What is microdosing?

(10:43) What do we know about ADHD and microdosing?

(15:30) How do psychedelics work in the brain?

(30:44) Richard’s hopes for future research and microdosing

We love hearing from our listeners! Email us at [email protected].

Introducing “MissUnderstood,” the first-ever podcast channel for women with ADHD. Listen now: lnk.to/missunderstood

Understood 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

ADHD gets mentioned a lot in the new report from the Make America Healthy Again commission. It’s pitched as part of the “childhood chronic disease crisis,” and the authors make a lot of big claims:

• Food additives cause behavioral disorders
• Time outside can help treat ADHD
• ADHD is overdiagnosed and overtreated

But are any of these claims legit? We asked a licensed psychologist who specializes in learning and thinking differences like ADHD. Dr. Andy Kahn also happens to be Understood’s Associate Director, Behavior Change and Expertise.

He’s spent decades working with kids and families with ADHD, and he joins this episode of Hyperfocus to talk us through more of the MAHA report and what it has to say about kids with ADHD.

(PS…if you didn’t listen to our last episode breaking down the science in the report, definitely  go check it out.)

Related resources

• The MAHA report on ADHD is misleading — a researcher explains why
• ADHD meds at risk? Unpacking the new executive order, DEA proposal
• ADHD alternative treatment

Timestamps

(02:00) How do food additives interact with ADHD?

(04:58) Can exposure to environmental toxins cause ADHD?

(10:07) Does lack of exposure to nature lead to ADHD?

(16:55) All about ADHD diagnosis and treatment levels

(28:55) Recap of takeaways from the report

For a transcript and more resources, visit the Hyperfocus page on Understood.

We love hearing from our listeners! Email us at [email protected].

Introducing “MissUnderstood,” the first-ever podcast channel for women with ADHD. Listen now: lnk.to/missunderstood

Understood 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

On this bonus episode of Hyperfocus, we dive into the controversial new “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) report, released by a commission led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The 73-page document claims to explain what it calls a rise in “childhood chronic diseases” like ADHD, by pointing fingers at antibiotics, food dyes, and even a lack of outdoor play. But there’s a major catch: some of the report’s sources don’t actually exist. 

In the first of a two-part series, Dr. KJ Wynne — a Harvard-trained population health researcher — joins the conversation to unpack how the report was assembled and where it falls short, particularly regarding ADHD. From debunking flawed claims to clarifying what real research actually says, this episode sets the record straight. 

Related resources

• ADHD meds at risk? Unpacking the new executive order, DEA proposal
• Read the MAHA report 
• A history of learning disabilities and ADHD
• How ADHD medication works

Timestamps

(02:40) Questionable methodology and AI hallucinations 

(06:26) Are more people developing ADHD, or are we getting better at diagnosing?

(10:04) Do antibiotics really increase the risk of ADHD?

(17:02) Parsing through big claims on stimulant medications

(26:00) Do stimulants cause height loss? 

For a transcript and more resources, visit the Hyperfocus page on Understood.

We love hearing from our listeners! Email us at [email protected].

Introducing “MissUnderstood,” the first-ever podcast channel for women with ADHD. Listen now: lnk.to/missunderstood

Understood 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

If you haven’t heard of financial therapy before reading this, don’t worry. It’s new for us, too. 

But when a past Hyperfocus guest told us to look up Dr. Christine Hargrove, we listened, and were so curious we had to get her on the show. Fortunately, she was game to share her expertise with us and our listeners. 

She kindly answered our basic questions (what is financial therapy, really?) and some of the trickier ones, like how to manage finances with a partner when one of you has ADHD and the other doesn’t. 

Listen or watch now for a truly enlightening episode. 

Related resources

• Impulse buying, negative bank balances, and the ADHD tax (Paulette Perhach’s story)
• Podcast: ADHD and impulsive spending  

Timestamps

(02:41) What is financial therapy? 

(10:15) How can I get better at managing money with a partner? 

(20:43) What’s your best advice on ADHD and money? 

For a transcript and more resources, visit the Hyperfocus page on Understood.org.

We love hearing from our listeners! Email us at [email protected].

Introducing “MissUnderstood,” the first-ever podcast channel for women with ADHD. Listen now: lnk.to/missunderstood

Understood 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

On this very special episode of Hyperfocus, host Rae Jacobson interviews three of these women — Sari Solden, Terry Matlen, and Dr. Ellen Littman — along with Dr. Michelle Frank, a psychologist taking up the torch for a new generation. 

Together, they discuss how they met, their journey to legitimize ADHD in women, and what they hope for the future. 

Related resources

• Climbing the Walls
• MissUnderstood: The ADHD in Women Channel

Timestamps

(06:22) Discovering you aren’t alone

(13:18) The disconnect between academia and the rest of the world

(21:22) The benefits of treatment and community 

(28:05) ADHD isn’t always a superpower

For a transcript and more resources, visit the Hyperfocus page on Understood.org. 

We love hearing from our listeners! Email us at [email protected].

Introducing “MissUnderstood,” the first-ever podcast channel for women with ADHD. Listen now: lnk.to/missunderstood

Understood 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

Join health and science journalist Danielle Elliot as she investigates the rise of women recently diagnosed with ADHD. Listen to Climbing the Walls now.

In honor of Mother’s Day weekend, we’re sharing an episode of our sibling podcast from Understood.org, ADHD Aha! The episode features our very own Rae Jacobson and, appropriately, it’s a conversation about motherhood. More specifically, it’s about being a mom (and a woman) with ADHD. Hope you enjoy, and see you in two weeks.  

What makes being a mom with ADHD so hard? Navigating executive functions and emotional labor, for one. And feeling burned out when burnout isn’t an option — because there’s always something else that needs your very limited attention!

Talking about it with someone who just “gets it” is such a relief. In this episode, Laura talks to her friend and colleague Rae Jacobson, also a mom with ADHD. Listen to their conversation and insights on this bonus Mother’s Day episode.

Related resources

• Rolling with my ADHD Mom Brain
• Building self-compassion skills
• 3 things I’m learning as a new mom with ADHD

To get a transcript of this show and check out more episodes, visit the “ADHD Aha!” podcast page at Understood.

We’d love to hear from you. Email us at [email protected].

Introducing “MissUnderstood,” the first-ever podcast channel for women with ADHD. Listen now: lnk.to/missunderstood

Understood 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

Join health and science journalist Danielle Elliot as she investigates the rise of women recently diagnosed with ADHD. Listen to Climbing the Walls now.

“Thriving” is often held up as something to work toward in life, the gold standard for existence. If you have a learning difference or you’ve experienced mental health issues or even just went through a tough time, you’ve probably gotten some advice on what it takes to thrive. 

But for me, it’s never been clear what it means to thrive. It’s an abstract concept with many definitions. As someone with ADHD, it feels like thriving can be a codeword for hiding parts of myself that aren’t exactly desirable to the rest of the world. 

Yet thriving remains a constant point of discussion in mental health. It’s a conversation my colleague Sarah Greenberg and I have been having on and off for years. That’s because Sarah’s been working on a new way to understand and measure thriving, and she has a take on it I’ve never heard before.

Sarah is the vice president for expertise and strategic design at Understood.org. She’s a licensed psychotherapist and has been a leader in digital mental health for many years. She’s also really smart, thoughtful, and has a very different perspective on thriving than I do. 

So we decided it would be a good idea to record one of our conversations for an episode of Hyperfocus. 

Related resources

• What does it mean to thrive?
• Masking my ADHD at work was exhausting, so I stopped

Timestamps

(2:12) Are you thriving, or are you masking?

(5:11) Internal vs. external thriving

(23:04) The deficit model and erasure

(27:35) Privilege and thriving

For a transcript of this episode and more resources, visit the episode page on Understood.org.

We’d love to hear from you. Email us at [email protected].

Introducing “MissUnderstood,” the first-ever podcast channel for women with ADHD. Listen now: lnk.to/missunderstood

Understood 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

We have a special treat for you this week on the usual off-week in our feed. It’s an episode of a brand new, investigative podcast called Climbing the Walls.

If you caught our last episode, you heard from the podcast’s host, Danielle Elliot. She’s been working with a team of us at Understood.org to put together the limited series, which just launched.  

On Climbing the Walls, Danielle digs into the reasons behind the rise of ADHD diagnoses in women since the pandemic and uncovers what going undiagnosed for so long has cost women.

The first episode is called “I didn’t want to have ADHD.” Give it a listen and if you like what you hear, check out Climbing the Walls wherever you get your podcasts.

See you next week!

For a transcript of this episode and more resources, visit the Climbing the Walls page on Understood.

Introducing “MissUnderstood,” the first-ever podcast channel for women with ADHD. Listen now: lnk.to/missunderstood

Understood 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

If you follow ADHD news, you might’ve heard that diagnosis rates in women nearly doubled during the pandemic. Danielle Elliot was one of them, receiving her diagnosis just before she turned 37. 

Danielle is also a science and health journalist. So, she did the thing that many reporters are inclined to do — she began investigating this big, new thing in her life and how it fit into the world around her.

As she dug in deeper, she landed on two big questions relating to the pandemic diagnosis boom: Why women? And why now? Her answers culminated in a new podcast from Understood.org called Climbing the Walls. It’s a six-episode series, and the first installment is out now. 

This week on Hyperfocus, Danielle visits the show to talk about her ADHD experience and what it’s like reporting a story where you’re one of the characters. 

Related resources

• Listen to Climbing the Walls
• I’m a journalist with ADHD. Here’s how I get it done.
• ADHD and women

Timestamps

(1:25) The origins of Danielle’s story 

(7:50) Surprises during the reporting process

 (12:05) What it felt like to get a diagnosis 

(22:14) Danielle’s big takeaways from making the show

For a transcript and more resources, visit the Hyperfocus page on Understood.

We’d love to hear from you. Email us at [email protected].

Introducing “MissUnderstood,” the first-ever podcast channel for women with ADHD. Listen now: lnk.to/missunderstood

Understood 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

Join health and science journalist Danielle Elliot as she investigates the rise of women recently diagnosed with ADHD. Listen to Climbing the Walls now.

It often seems that the more complex a subject is, the more people tend to oversimplify it.

If your social media feeds are anything like mine, that’s definitely the case. Especially when it comes to science. 

One of those often-oversimplified things is dopamine. This neurotransmitter, or brain chemical, has become a target for catchy headlines promising new ways to “hack your dopamine.” Seriously. If you don’t believe me, type in “dopamine hacks” on YouTube and enjoy the endless scroll.

This week on Hyperfocus, we take a deep dopamine dive with psychologist Dr. Ari Tuckman and sort out fact from fiction.

Related resources

• How I beat my social media habit (and how you can too)
• Tips from an ADHD Coach: Is it love or is it dopamine?
• Attention: How it’s different from working memory

Timestamps

(3:01) What is dopamine? 

(8:48) How do dopamine and ADHD relate? 

(16:59) The truth behind dopamine “hacks” 

(25:25) What a clinician wishes we knew

For a transcript and more resources, visit the Hyperfocus page on Understood.

We’d love to hear from you. Email us at [email protected]

Introducing “MissUnderstood,” the first-ever podcast channel for women with ADHD. Listen now: lnk.to/missunderstood

Understood 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