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

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

We’re back with another episode from our Hyperfocus field trip to San Diego. While we were at the APSARD (American Professional Society of ADHD and Related Disorders) conference, one of the talks that really piqued our interest was on genetics and neurodevelopmental disorders, including ADHD. 

Genetic science is tough to understand. And, as you’ll hear in this interview, we had a lot to learn and a lot of questions. Is ADHD genetic? And if it is, what does that mean for people who have it? What does it mean for treatment? 

Luckily, Dr. Anne Arnett, a scientist at Boston Children’s Hospital and assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical school, was kind enough to brave a chilly, windy outdoor recording. In this conversation, she help us understand more about what we know (and what we don’t) about ADHD and genetics. 

Related resources

• Video: Dyscalculia, dyslexia, and genetics
• Can genetic testing help me find the right ADHD medication?
• Is ADHD hereditary?
• ADHD runs in the family (Michelle’s story)
• The Arnett Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital

Timestamps

(2:01) Is ADHD genetic?

(8:28) Genetic vs. environmental factors and ADHD co-morbidities

(11:50) What does the latest research mean for people with ADHD?

(13:55) Is there genetic testing for ADHD?

(18:56) Why bother with early detection?  

(21:44) Anne’s goals for her research

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.

Earlier this year, Hyperfocus took a field trip to San Diego for an ADHD conference called APSARD, which stands for the American Professional Society of ADHD and Related Disorders (quite a mouthful).

A conference of ADHD professionals might not sound fascinating, but it was — and we learned a ton. But there was one person and one talk I really wanted to find: A keynote speech about how ADHD affects women’s bodies by Dr. Sandra Kooij. 

What Sandra is doing is something so sensible and radical: Looking at ADHD as a whole-body issue. Digging into how it can affect women’s hormones, our health, and especially our hearts. 

I find Sandra’s research fascinating and was thrilled when she agreed to sit down for a conversation with me. We didn’t waste any time and quickly set up a makeshift studio for this week’s episode of Hyperfocus. 

Also, a quick note on the audio this week: We had to record this episode outside the conference hotel, on a bustling patio full of ADHD professionals and some noisy birds. So, please forgive the extraneous sounds. 

Related resources

• MissUnderstood: The ADHD in Women Channel
• Did my ADHD make me more likely to have postpartum depression?
• ADHD Powerbank: Sandra’s video platform
• The Head, Heart, Hormones foundation (in dutch with translations) 
• Prevalence of hormone-related mood disorder symptoms in women with ADHD 
• The heart health and ADHD connection

Timestamps

(4:07) Swedish registry study data on diseases in people with ADHD

(7:06) ADHD and hormones  

(13:56) Cardiovascular disease in women

(20:21) Talking to your doctor about diseases related to ADHD

For a transcript of this episode and more resources, visit the Hyperfocus 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

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

ADHD medications have been in the news a lot lately, especially stimulants. 

In this bonus episode of Hyperfocus, host and mental health journalist Rae Jacobson talks about two U.S. policy items that could affect people with ADHD.

First, an executive order from February 13 established the “Make America Healthy Again Commission.” The executive order specifically mentions ADHD and the rise in diagnoses and medication usage among children. 

The order also requires the commission to “assess the prevalence of and threat posed by the prescription of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, stimulants, and weight-loss drugs.” 

Dr. Andy Kahn, a licensed psychologist, joins Rae to discuss the notion that people with ADHD, especially kids, are overmedicated. 

Plus, Rae discusses proposed regulatory changes for controlled substances, including ADHD stimulants. 

The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) issued its proposal on January 17, before the current administration took office. If accepted, the proposed changes would affect telehealth prescriptions for ADHD stimulant medications. The DEA is accepting comments through March 18.

Related resources

• All about ADHD medication
• Full text: White House executive order
• Read the DEA’s proposed telemedicine regulations 
• What happens to my child's IEP if the U.S. Department of Education closes?

Timestamps

(0:38) What does the new executive order say about ADHD? 

(4:04) What does “overmedicated” mean today? 

(6:08) On stigma and ADHD

(9:56) What is the new DEA telehealth proposal?

For a transcript of this episode and more resources, visit the Hyperfocus episode 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

Dr. Kathleen Nadeau is someone who I’d call one of the godmothers of ADHD in women. She was one of the first people to stand up to the medical establishment and say, “Yes, ADHD affects women and girls, and we need to do something about it.”

She persisted against the gatekeepers who’d call her and her peers “ADHD wannabes,” responding to their dismissal by writing books, conducting research, and being fierce advocates. 

Dr. Nadeau is also one of my personal heroes, and someone I’ve looked up to for years. That’s all to say: I’m very excited to share with you this week’s episode of Hyperfocus. 

Listen or watch as we discuss the history of ADHD in women and girls, what the DSM misses on ADHD, gender inequality in the medical community, and more. 

Related resources

• Dr. Nadeau’s biography at The Chesapeake Center
• MissUnderstood: The ADHD in Women Channel
• What is the ADHD tax?

Timestamps

(1:55) Dr. Nadeau’s early days and “ADHD wannabes”

(14:33) How should we diagnose ADHD in women?

(16:30) Women being shut out of the medical establishment

(20:25) “Ask the women”

For a transcript of this episode and more resources, visit the Hyperfocus episode 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

This week on the show, I’m hyperfocusing not on a topic or a question, but a person: the neurodivergent comedian and actor Emma Willmann. 

You might know Emma from her comedy (she’s done stand-up on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert) or her acting (she played “Beth” on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend).

But I didn’t want to know about any of that. I wanted to spend some time with the person who has made a career out of smart, inclusive humor and understand how she does it. Plus, we talk about her ADHD and dyslexia diagnoses.

Related resources

• Emma’s website
• Emma on Instagram
• Listen: How to manage ADHD at work
• ADHD and creativity

Timestamps

(1:58) Breaking up with your phone

(5:39) Comparing and contrasting ADHD types

(9:53) If you could get rid of your ADHD, would you?  

(15:04) Is ADHD good for a stand-up comic?

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

Sometimes, our brains spiral and it seems like there’s nothing we can do about it. 

This can happen to anyone. Maybe you have an awkward social interaction and can’t stop thinking about it — then your mind jumps to worse and worse scenarios, far from what actually happened. 

And for those of us with ADHD, it can be extra difficult to exit that spiral. A situation like this happened to Rae Jacobson recently. 

Thankfully, she had an interview on the books with Dr. Jodi Gold, a psychiatrist who also has ADHD. Jodi specializes in psychotherapy of anxiety and mood disorders — perfect. 

On this episode of Hyperfocus, Rae and Jodi have an impromptu therapy session featuring a discussion of automatic thoughts, mood dysregulation, and rejection sensitivity. And, yes, “ADHD rabbit holes.”

Related resources

• The influence of ADHD on social skills
• Anxiety, imposter syndrome, and ADHD (Mallory’s story)
• What is perseveration?

Timestamps

(2:23) Rae’s situation

(6:56) What do we really mean by “rabbit hole?”

(13:00) On automatic thoughts

(17:53) Masking and people-pleasing

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

For a transcript and more resources, visit the Hyperfocus 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

This week, Host Rae Jacobson shares an episode from ADHD Aha, another Understood Podcast, where YouTuber Jessica McCabe shares her experience being a new mom with ADHD.

How to ADHD creator Jessica McCabe has been the source of many ADHD “aha” moments — so what were her ADHD “aha” moments? 

Jessica was diagnosed when she was 12 years old but didn’t start to look into what ADHD meant for her until she was 32. Taking ADHD medication felt like putting on glasses — experiencing the world as everyone else did. But she didn’t have the skills and strategies to cope with ADHD.

So, she started making YouTube videos...and the rest is history. Listen in as Jessica answers Laura’s many questions, including: What’s it like for her to be a new mom with ADHD? Does she ever get a vulnerability hangover? And why doesn’t she think she’s cool? 

Related resources

• Jessica’s YouTube channel, How to ADHD
• All about ADHD medication
• Understanding trouble with social skills

Timestamps

(03:08) How Jessica feels about being involved in so many people’s “aha” moment

(04:55) Jessica’s diagnosis story at age 12 

(06:16) Jessica’s ADHD medication “aha” moment

(07:33) The creation of Jessica’s YouTube channel How to ADHD

(11:29) Jessica on social anxiety

(14:07) Busting ADHD medication stigma

(16:52) ADHD and new motherhood

(22:49) Going back to work after maternity leave

(26:01) Laura’s rapid-fire questions

(31:49) Jessica’s parting words

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

Want to share your ADHD “aha” moment? 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