ADHD and Hormones: Why Women Are Misdiagnosed for Decades | Andrew Robinson

26:42Like I'm forgetting more things and things of that nature, but you need, it's, I always tell people, and I even made a, like an Instagram post about this a month or so ago. And it's saying you should track what your executive functions are daily, if not at least a few times a week, right? Knowing on a scale of one to 10, how much of an impairment they are. I did this training. And in this training, they said, for everyone, executive functioning tends to be like this. You've got one or two, you've either through coping skills, accommodations, or just naturally, you manage a little bit better. There's everything like the bulk then is there in the middle.

27:21It's not great, but maybe it's serviceable. And then you've got a couple that are absolute trash. You have no good skills around them. You're troubling. It's always an issue. And usually the advice is focus on one at the end and one in the middle. If you can't. Right. And so we often get overwhelmed by that, that feeling, that shame, right there is it's so shameful to forget something from like I can't tell you the amount of times I've gone to the grocery store with a great list I thought I was prepared I thought I didn't forget a thing and then my wife's like oh did you get this and that immediate shame just washes over me of like how how did I forget this I tried so hard you've probably said I have tried so hard at some point in your life right and that's such a common experience for those of us with ADHD.

28:13It's not that we have a lack of effort. It's that we have a lack of resources and a lack of grace for ourselves. You just got to give yourself grace. We're human. We're going to make mistakes. Whenever I see someone say, like, if you really wanted it, if it was important to you, you would try harder. It makes me cringe because people with ADHD are trying far harder than neurotypical counterparts at just existing day to day. And the reason for this, if people are like, I don't understand that, is because the world is designed for neurotypicals. And the expectations are you operate at that level at all times.

28:57So what are some of your tips? You said, first, we've got to track our executive functions. We've got to track those over time. You said, you know, we can start at the, you know, at the front and the middle. What are some of your tips for really building our skills in executive functions? I mean, first and foremost, like this is something I really preach to everyone that I work with. It's mindfulness, right? If you don't know where the barriers are, you're not going to get anywhere through that. So like, let's look at an example. Let's say you have this bunch of boxes in your garage, and I'm totally not using a personal example.

29:35You have a bunch of boxes in your garage and you got to break them down. I'm like, wait, you're not because mine are in my bodega right now. We we we've ordered such big boxes on Amazon and like I just haven't broken them down. But you have to ask yourself, like, what's the barrier? Am I overwhelmed by the amount of things that I need to do? Is it an emotional barrier? Is it that I don't know where to start? Is it that I'm not motivated? it. You have to ask yourself when you're looking at something, what is the disconnect? Only then can you start applying strategies. Because like, for example, if I'm not motivated, no amount of chunking is going to make it better.

30:14And if you don't know chunking, it's you take something and split it up into time blocks. So 30 minutes on, five to 10 off or whatever increment or interval works for you to split up the task. That wouldn't work for me in that situation if I'm not motivated. So you have to ask yourself first, what's a barrier? So in that instance, if it's motivation, try and find a way to add novelty. ADHD brains are very much driven by dopamine and something that seeks novelty. So if a task doesn't inherently have novelty, it's not inherently gonna be motivating as it is for someone who's neurotypical, who just does the thing, that connection is already there.

30:53So think of ways to externally motivate yourself. You can put some pressure on yourself. So say you want to clean an area, you've got fit, you want to do it under in a time crunch. Chug a bunch of water, work until you have to go to the bathroom and then take a break. If you're motivated to come back, come back. If you're not, don't. Break it up that way. If it's creativity, is there a way that you could sort the boxes, make points for how many boxes you're able to break down? Use those points then to earn a reward. So gamify it, if you will. Can you use an app like Finch or something that's going to add some novelty to it to really gamify it?

31:30Can you use AI to break the task down into more manageable steps? Because then maybe the problem is it feels too overwhelming and you don't know where to start. AI is a great tool to break things down or simplify. Goblin.tools is specifically designed for ADHD brains or like neurodivergent brains. so it's asking yourself really what is that barrier and then assigning the appropriate strategy for it and knowing let's say you find a great strategy be prepared for the fact that that will eventually fail not if when and that's okay it's just having a diversity of skills the issue i often find though most people have heard every single hack there is by the time you get to meet, if you find me off social media, you've probably also seen most, if not all of the hacks that I could have to offer, barring the plethora of books that I refer people to.

32:29Do you hear that? Sounds like breakfast is ready. Because Quaker's coming in hot with morning nutrition, 100 % whole grain oats, and a good source of fiber to fuel the rhythm of your morning and kickstart your day. And that sounds absolutely delicious. Fuel to start whatever's next. Quaker, official sponsor of FIFA World Cup 26. I, oh, let's go! But in that sense, it's knowing what is the right strategy, not what is a strategy. Yes, and I will also say, I run into the same thing where I will be talking to people about their hormones. So circadian rhythm is one that like I've been talking, I honestly have been talking about this for like over a dozen years.

33:19So I feel like it's so played out in my mind. I will bring it up to some people who are, they are more health savvy. They're like, yes, I know about this. The question I always ask is, and how well are you doing it? And how often are you implementing it? And how often is it top of mind? And that's the thing I think is a big trap in our modern world. We have so much information. There is so much available, but it doesn't mean we're actually accessing it in an accessible way, right? Or leveraging it or putting it into play in our lives. And sometimes it's exactly what you say because you don't know what is the right tool for the situation.

33:58And I see this a lot online, right? There's people out there that are like, hey, if you have ADHD, here's all the things that you should do. It's the same thing in the hormone world. Here's all the things you should do. And it's like, really? Is that everything that everyone needs? Or is it perhaps like we can be more specific with these things? And that's why I think it's so great to work with someone like you because then you are understanding, you're really peeling back the layers like an onion to get to the core of like, what is the issue? Now apply that tool there. You mentioned some books.

34:29What are some top books that you recommend to your clients? Yeah, to go just to kind of say that too, we have a very all or nothing approach when it comes to these strategies. So oftentimes you might even find one, but then something goes wrong and the strategy goes out the window. It's very much baby steps is usually what I say, like ease your way into it. Find a system that works. Like I started to try and get back into healthy routine. I started with just eating every three to four hours a day. I got that down. I'm doing that consistently. Like I managed to inhale food within the five minutes I had before this call, right?

35:06I'm still making that my priority because I know the impact it has on my mental health. Then I got a walking pad. And then if that stays consistent, I'm going to get some weights to lift. So like easing your way into it and having space to say, okay, if I get sick, that doesn't mean I'm not going to do it again. Some books I recommend. Oh my God. I have so many. Um, the books that I had in mind, just as I was talking, one I recommend a lot is How to Keep House While Drowning by Casey Davis. There's a lot of ideas around like, we view chores as labor, we should view them as care tasks in a way to reframe and gently approach it.

35:47There's a few others I'm trying to think of as well. Actually, let me pull up my Audible list. uh i have a whole list of books because i have listened to i did the math 40 books in the last year and a half nice and for people listening i will say dr ann louise lockhart does have a book coming out for parents of children with adhd and it's called how to love the child you have or love the teen you have which i the title is fantastic um and i'm definitely uh nudging her where i'm like, can I, can I like endorse your book so I can pre-read it because I have a preteen with ADHD and I would love that.

36:29I did the same thing for the book. First book I'm going to recommend next book is how to eat well for adults with ADHD by Rebecca King. She's at the ADHD nutritionist on social media. It talks a lot about like, that's how I got into the eating thing. Intuitive eating for people with ADHD is hard because we don't recognize our body cues. And it's learning to not only recognize your body to you, but eat in a way that makes sense. We don't diet well. Dieting isn't our thing. And so I often find people who come to me have some weird relationship with eating. For me, it's I wouldn't eat until the end of the night and then I would inhale as much food as I could get my hands on.

37:07And I'm still breaking out of that cycle because it's a habit, but I'm getting better. Another book is ADHD 2.0. Classic book by Ed Halwell and John Rady. I would say Ed Alwell, he's one of the leading experts. He gives the analogy that your ADHD brain is like a Ferrari engine with bicycle brakes. And it's a very middle of the road approach to ADHD. Self-care for people with ADHD by Sasha Hamdan. Dr. Sasha. It's a great book. It's got a lot of like crash course. It just really dives into that self-care piece. Extra Focus by Jesse Anderson. Another one of those quick books that are a great way to get started on things that you need taking charge of adhd third edition russell barkley i if you don't know russell barkley should if you want to know anything about adhd he's been writing about it since i was diagnosed with adhd when i was three years old and let's just say i'm a long way from three um it all makes sense now by meredith carter that she's Meredith is actually going to be here tomorrow in my studio oh my god I love Meredith she is one of the best in this field and this was a great book when it came out uh ADHD for smart-ass women by Tracy Otsuka there aren't a lot of great books for women with ADHD I would say that's one of them I would add uh how to ADHD which is like she has an entire YouTube channel but How to ADHD, I like to recommend that one for people who think I'm the only one, I've been too much, I've been too lazy, I've been too, too, too, and I've internalized everything bad that the world has ever told me.

38:50And you read that book, she's really relatable, but the stories of the other people she shares makes you see that there's nothing unique about you in all of the best ways in terms of what your struggles have been like. I love that book because it's, Jessica, because it really spoke to the way that she speaks to her audience. It was very much kind of that like approachable, relatable kind of information. And she's one of the better voices in the space of ADHD too, as are most of the people I mentioned. I mean, there's a lot of great books out there. There's another one that I just started. It was by Ari Tuchman, who is also a great voice in this space.

39:33The ADHD Productive Manual. I've still got a long way to go, so I can't really make any assessments. But I am confident, knowing Ari Tuchman, that it will be useful. Because he wrote a great book, ADHD After Dark, that he looked at different relationship dynamics and ADHD. And so I think that was a great book. It talked about ADHD. Relationships more focused on the heterosexual dynamic. There isn't a lot of information or research about, and this is a gap, how the LGBTQIA community is affected or experienced with ADHD outside of one study I found that where more people in that community or people who are transgender are more likely to have severe symptoms or severe symptoms of ADHD, which is likely due to external stressors, uh, from, you know, life.

40:25Um, so there's a lot of good books out there. Just, I think there's still a long way to go though. So in that community, having these external stressors, it also feeds into, you know, whether you're a person of color, it also feeds into women who are aging. We know that there's biases that can exist in society, but anytime there's these additional stressors that you are dealing with in your life, understanding that your ADHD already puts you at a higher threshold of nervous system dysregulation, cortisol dysregulation, you are in a higher stress state most of the time that goes along with the masking as well and then you add in these other factors the question is why have we not researched these things why have we not gone beyond the small boy and started looking at all these other populations who struggle with adhd i'm trying to think of a delicate way to say this but i don't really think there is we live in a patriarchal society right they were only focused like even if you go all the way back into history adhd has been written since if you want to be real technical back to hippocrates and around 375 bc when he talked about people who had focus issues and described an imbalance fire and water but sir alexander crichton described it in the late 1700s is a a deficient, was it a deficit of moral character and described little boys, right?

41:58For most of history, we focused on children with ADHD. We, even when I was diagnosed in the 90s, it was, you will eventually grow out of this. You're probably gonna grow out of this. You might not, but you probably will. And we very much seen that isn't the case. And then that opens the door to exploring other populations. generally speaking though we didn't notice it in girls because the symptoms weren't the same in social expectations like when you look at a girl right there's more societal pressure to act behave a certain way present a certain way because boys can get away with a lot more externalized behaviors than girls there is they're all there's always outliers in this there are always people who don't fit that standard experience but you have a lot more of the pro-social chatty girls who are like skating by and just blending in out of sheer will.

42:57And so you don't see that as often as boys. So they really never explored that, not to the extent that they needed to. The LGBTQ community, they just don't care about. I mean, to put it bluntly, there's not a lot of love that's been shown to that community. And that's a huge disservice. I think there's a lot we still don't know about hormones. And one thing I think that disservices people is as they go through gender transition, right? How are you going to understand how your hormones are impacting you if there's no barometer to measure it? So, or people of color, right? A lot of people of color are often written off as oppositionally defiant, conduct disorder.

43:39You get labeled as problematic and aggressive. So those symptoms are also not taken seriously. And then you go through the medical system being treated as antisocial, borderline personality disorder. A lot of harsh diagnoses are thrown against people of color. So again, further disservice to those communities. Why? I mean, history tells us why. We prioritize Caucasian boys at the end of the day. That's the way things have been. I am going to link to my interview with Dr. Anne Louise Lockhart. We talk about oppositional defiance disorder. We talk about ADHD in children. We talk about emotional dysregulation in children.

44:20And she talks specifically about how it is young Black men or Black boys who will get that ODD diagnosis and their teachers will say things like, your child will be in prison. When in fact, they usually are incredibly brilliant and bright children who don't have oppositional defiance disorder, they have ADHD. But because of the color of their skin and the way that society perceives them, they are troublemakers. They are problematic. They, you know, and it's funny, as I say this, I'm like, I certainly was labeled a troublemaker as a child. I definitely was labeled problematic and all of that. But being a light, you know, light-colored Latina, like I got more lead way than other children would.

45:09So the other thing that you, you know, as you're bringing this all up, I'm like, the lack of research is also why I think we see this term being thrown around of new onset ADHD for women in perimenopause. It drives me absolutely nuts because it's not new onset ADHD and it is dismissive of their struggles that they've had their entire life. And it doesn't acknowledge the fact that nobody reached out, Nobody helped them. No one recognized them and what they've had to live through. What are your thoughts on the term of late diagnosed or excuse me, not late diagnosed, because that's what it actually is, is late diagnosed ADHD.

45:47But your thoughts on this late onset ADHD? I don't really think it's legitimate. And like I think, like you said, it's something that was either present in childhood or we might have other symptoms that could encapsulate or explain it better um i think a lot of times that also ignores the internalized ableism like i didn't have a problem until now so those experiences aren't relevant kind of thing it ignores the struggles that you went through throughout most of your life and that's a real disservice to people and so i i don't like it that's kind of my answer globally i think it's it's a very invalidating experience.

46:30And it doesn't include the fact that ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder. You are born with it. It is not something that you develop out of thin air. And that's the thing that I think is important for people to understand. The other thing is, I'm not seeing anybody who's actually in the ADHD space who actually has a health education that is in neurodivergent brains using this term. I'm seeing this term more. I've seen it come from gynecologists. I've seen it come from health coaches. Like I'm not seeing it as part of our community either. And for the most part, what I'm seeing is a lot of people feeling angry about it.

47:10And rightly so, because I think, you know, you, you just touched on something that I hadn't considered. And that's the fact that in saying that you are, you know, there is this ableism, this air of ableism to it as if like, no, no, no, no. Like I was never, I never had these problems. There's just something off right now. The other thing I'm seeing is this promise that if you just change your diet, if you take these supplements, if you use HRT, that you will no longer have ADHD. If you can use anything, any of those things, and you no longer have ADHD, you're like, yeah, I don't have it. You didn't have ADHD.

47:50Because the thing about ADHD, it's the same as having PCOS. You can do nutrition, lifestyle, supplements, and you can get your body cycling. You can have great hormones. But once something gets off a little bit, your entire system is going to shift. You're going to feel it. And the PCOS is going to remind you, I have always been here. And ADHD is the same way. It is not cured and it is not reversed. It is well-managed. And that is the ultimate goal is to have you so well-managed that you're like, hey, some days I forget that I even have ADHD because things are going so well. But to also teach you to hold space and have grace for yourself for when life happens, because unfortunately, we cannot control everything.

48:35If we knew more about our sleep, what would we do differently? Would we go to bed at a consistent time or take steps to reduce interruptions to our sleep? With Sleep Score, Apple Watch measures your bedtime consistency, interruptions, and sleep duration. Then, every morning, it combines these factors into an easy-to-understand score from 1 to 100. So you'll know how to take the quality of your sleep from okay to very high. Know your sleep score with Apple Watch. iPhone 11 or later required. Yeah, I mean, that's the biggest problem, right? If you think your ADHD is going to go away, then you're not doing the things to prevent it.

49:12You're not doing the things to take care of it, and it's going to find you. You can't, that's my biggest gripe with people who say ADHD isn't real, it's made up, it's a modern thing. It doesn't go away if you just say it isn't there. People just hide it. You can't say autism is made up and expect people to suddenly not be autistic. All of those things will still be present. You're just giving people less resources and language to navigate that experience. And so that false promise is really what irks me. Those supplements really irk me. I've been reached out for collaborations between a lot of supplements.

49:48I don't do it. There's a reason. It's not that I don't believe in supplements. I think supplements can and do have a place. I think it's that if you're saying this is an Adderall replacement, this is a way to cure ADHD or make ADHD non-existent, or this is having to deal with your dopamine addiction, I hate that one. That is something that's mad at me. Why do we hate the deal with your dopamine addiction? But let's talk about that. Let's unpack that one. Yeah, you can't be, she can't be addicted to a neurotransmitter. Every brain makes dopamine. You can be addicted to the thing that gives you dopamine, that feeling, because like two things won't release dopamine in the exact same way.

50:31Like a drug in doing something you enjoy are going to be two different interactions with dopamine, two different neural pathways. It's not the same comparison. So to globally say that you're addicted to a neurotransmitter is so off, you miss the point. Like, in fact, I know what I'm making a video about when we're done with this call. So like, let's say that. Yeah, well, and I think it's important, you know, so people who know me know, but if you don't, full disclosure, I own a supplement company, which was born out of the fact of being so frustrated with how poorly supplement companies are, you know, offering things on the market, having contamination.

51:12So I was like, I'm starting a third party tested. We're screening for heavy metals. Like we are going to do, we actually manufacture in a pharmaceutical facility. So we are held to the standards that they're doing for pharmaceuticals. And I was like, I'm going to do this all better. I will also tell you that there is no supplement that is going to cure your ADHD or make it all go away. We certainly know things like creatine can be helpful. It's helpful if you want to work out. It's also helpful for brain energy. We know that zinc can be helpful. And we know that many people who are neurodivergent with also concomitant eating issues, I just want to say, because it's not always an eating disorder or disordered eating.

51:54Sometimes it's just like a forgot situation. So you can be low in certain nutrients. So magnesium might be helpful. Zinc might be helpful. We certainly know that, you know, there's good research out there on saffron for mood. You know, there's all of these things out there, but this is one tool. And I want people, if they didn't write down what you said already for strategies and tools to do at the beginning of this, to go back and listen to it. That's another arm of it. You recommended a great book on nutrition for those for ADHD. That's another arm of it. So what are you doing here? You're building a toolkit about what's true for you, what works for you and what supports you.

52:34And the really amazing thing about that is that you can also use medications to help manage your condition as well. You'll have to sometimes time things because like calcium could interact, like you need to talk to your prescriber about, you know, interactions. But for the most part, nutrition and lifestyle is part of that toolkit. And it's not an either or. It's a both kind of situation for some people. And I say that because, you know, you had said like, oh, this all or nothing. I think that's a tendency that people tend to fall in a trap of like, I'm going to be all in on just the pharmaceuticals.

53:10That's what's going to work. That's going to be the thing for me. I'm going to be just all in on nutrition and only do that. And really what we want to do is we want to bring all of it to the table and work with a provider who helps you sort out what are the best tools for you. We want all of these things available. If anybody's listening with like legislation decisions, we want all of these things available. And I want people who have a bias against ADHD medications to understand that the majority of us who are trained to prescribe these medications are also talking about the very things that you are you are putting up of like, you're just giving drugs and you're not talking about nutrition and lifestyle.

53:51We are. And we're referring to like experts, like a registered dietitian who works specifically with people with ADHD, because it's that important and that crucial for somebody's health. Yeah. And right on, right? Like I always am so careful when I make my criticisms on supplements because the things people, it's, it's those sleazy TikToks that really get me. It's the gummies that will fix everything. I love those. Well, for example, I saw one that's like, hey, RFK Jr. sucks. He's going to take away our SSRI. So buy this supplement because it's cheaper than buying saffron cheap. I don't discredit saffron.

54:30I know there's research. I know there needs to be more research, but I know there's research. Right. And so it's to say that, like, the tactics, the way that people are pushed and the promises that they're made. like i love supplements i take l-methylfolate because i have i did a genome mind test and i know that i have a deficiency in my mthfr gene which is very common for people with adhd not everyone has it but you might and so if you're unfamiliar that's your ability to methylate folic acid so it can cross your blood-brain barrier and be utilized in a way that's important for your brain. And some people who don't have that MTHFR gene toggle, it doesn't make that conversion.

55:11So that L-methylfolate supplement can be really helpful. Even if you get enough iron in your normal diet, it still can be helpful. Fish oil, it's still, the research has become a little more mixed on, but I've generally found positive research. And if anything, it's protecting my heart, which is already at risk for my stimulants. So, you know, I find do what works for you. at the end of the day, there isn't a one size fit all treatment. I also do creatine because I started using it as a workout supplement. And then I'm like, wait a minute, I feel really motivated and clear a whole lot of it. Yeah.

55:45I actually have creatine in my mug right now. I had some creatine gummies this morning. But like, the point is creatine works for me. Fish oil works for me. L-methylfolate works for me. Zinc didn't do anything. Magnesium didn't do anything. My guanthazine does more than that in those categories, right? It's knowing what your body is, what your deficits are, and what you need to do. We really struggle with self-monitoring, that ability to know what our bodies need. So it's hard. So it's important to build that mindfulness skill. I will always tout mindfulness for ADHD until I'm blue in the face because there's a lot of evidence that supports mindfulness as one of the best treatment for ADHD.

56:32And I'm not just saying, sit down, clear your mind, do a meditation because I would never do that to anyone. I'm saying engage in things mindful. Maybe notice new things on a walk you're taking. Explore food like it's the first time you're eating it. Go on a drive. Notice things that you wouldn't normally notice. Be present in that current moment to connect with things because then that presentness will connect in other moments when you need it, like knowing your body signals, knowing your emotions, things of that nature. Yeah. And what's great about what you just described of like being present, feeling the air on your skin, feeling your feet on the ground, like noticing what you smell, like all of those, the acts of mindfulness, you can train your brain.

57:14If you're somebody who experiences anxiety, that's a quick way to start walking it back when you find yourself starting to get amped up. I'm someone who struggles with anxiety. And, you know, it's something I have to work on daily. It's actually my pelvic floor physical therapist, who's the one always nudging me of like, are you checking with your body today? Yeah, for a while there, she was sending me messages. Have you done your body scan today? And I was like, fantastic. But it's that when you start to get anxious, you start working yourself up. Your mind starts to feel like it's not your own.

57:46It starts to get away from you. It's like, wow, what does the carpet feel like under my feet right now? And how does my body actually feel? Where do I have muscle tension right now? And is there anywhere I need to release? And those little things, they seem like nothing when we talk about them, right? But they're so impactful. And as you were saying, there's so much research to back that up. We hear all the time, ADHD is just a trendy new diagnosis. What do you have to say to that? I just did a post on this yesterday, actually, because I get this comment a lot. It's a modern made-up disorder because of the foods we eat or the way that kids are overexposed to screen time.

58:27I vehemently reject that. And I'll go back to what I mentioned in ads. throughout in 1776, Sir Alexander Crichton published a book called The Origin in Nature of Mental Derangement, which I know is such a lovely title. But the idea was that like, there's people that have this inability to focus, who jump from task to task, describing what is early signs of ADHD. Throughout the 1800s, they wrote in medical textbooks about the symptoms that describe ADHD. They called it nervous system dysregulation. They called it nervous child syndrome. They called it like just hypersomething. And so the point being, we have centuries of literature around ADHD.

59:15The symptoms that cluster around ADHD are nothing new. We just have better tools at identifying it. And I know that's a very quick thing to be dismissed, especially by this current administration, but we really do have better tools. Not only that, we're screening kids at newborn screenings for autism. We're talking about it more so other people like teachers, physicians are more aware of what these symptoms look like. We are starting to catch people who weren't previously diagnosed. Women, people of color, people in the LGBTQ community. We are increasing that ability to capture experiences. It is nothing.

59:58It has nothing to do with modern day. The only thing that you might be able to say, there is an adjacent syndrome that's described by Ed Halwell and John Rady and ADHD 2.0, which is, it's like people who, because of overexposure to social media, may have similar symptoms that don't necessarily complate with full-blown ADHD. it's just you use you have too much novelty at your disposal and you're used to it that is very different from clinical adhd and the other piece that comes with this question is often the misdiagnosis or over diagnosis sure any mental health condition anyone at all can be misdiagnosed it is not a perfect science fully own that but adhd is not an outlier in terms of what disorders get misdiagnosed.

1:00:50So it is unfair when people put that scrutiny. Oftentimes that scrutiny comes from a fear and stigma around psychostimulants, which again, even recently, there used to be this fear that could trigger psychosis, like people would have new onset of psychosis. But a recent study was done and it looked at about 8 ,000 participants. And they found that while they occur, it doesn't seem that stimulants toggle psychosis. That is a long-held belief that is starting to be challenged. The main concern that you have, as we discussed, is cardiovascular. And even that, most of those symptoms can improve when stimulants are discontinued.

1:01:30And we have other medications to treat ADHD, including non-stimulants or alpha-2 agonists. Or there's even some, like, dementia medication that can be used for some of that brain fog, especially for people with perimenopause. There's a document that reminds me I'll send you. There's a really good handout for people with perimenopause that goes over different ways to manage your symptoms during perimenopause. My roundabout point is it's not new. We just are catching new people and we're catching it better. I also think it's important for people to understand that once you get labeled with one diagnosis, it's hard to get some practitioners to see past that diagnosis.

1:02:10So as you brought up PMDD, you may get the diagnosis of PMDD. We know that roughly 50 % of those with ADHD report experiencing PMDD. And this is where I started to find things in patients. And this is where I started having a lot of aha moments around hormones and neurodivergent women is because we would be working on the PMDD aspect. And yet they'd say, but you know, the rest of the month, things are not like, great. I have these other things going on. And it's like, well, then there's something more here than just PMDD. When was it, 2016, when the DSM finally said, okay, ADHD and autism can be diagnosed?

1:02:51How many of us, you know, it depends on the research you look at, but there's a huge crossover. That's another thing is that maybe you got diagnosed with autism, they won't recognize your ADHD. Although I will say that ADHD, if you are someone who's like, yes, I talked before three years old. I am not a boy. And I make you think I'm making eye contact, but I'm not really making eye contact, but you think I am. If that's going on, they're going to be like, you know, the more socially acceptable diagnosis is ADHD. We really don't want to give you this autism diagnosis. That was my story and my case.

1:03:30And yet I was like, yeah, but there's just like so many things adding up. It wasn't until, so for people who've been with me for a while, you know, I've worked with a parent coach, a psychologist, to help me be a better parent to my child because I'm like, I don't know. No one gave me a playbook of like this human who's neurodivergent, who also had an autoimmune condition of his brain. Like, how do I work with him? And it was through working with this individual that told me that I was not, in fact, all these things I thought were normal. She was like, it's not normal. I'm like, of course we melt down if the seam of our socks is not right.

1:04:04Like everybody does that. And she's like, no we need to talk not everybody does that and like yeah you want to throw up every time your wet hair touches your back I get that she's like no we got it we got to talk about that so I want people listening to understand that if you have one diagnosis understand there are all of these co-conditions you know they get called comorbidities I get that people don't like that term but concomitant conditions that ride with ADHD. So if you've been diagnosed with anxiety that you brought up, if you've been diagnosed with PMDD, if you've been diagnosed with postpartum depression, if you have been diagnosed with, you know, a myriad of other conditions, there's a huge list.

1:04:48You can easily find these online. You may also have ADHD. No one ever said you only get to have one thing in this life. And in fact, what we find is that most people have a cluster of these things. The other thing I'll add is that there is interesting research showing those of us who are autistic or have ADHD are more likely to have conditions like endometriosis. And so when I was diagnosed with endometriosis, the first thing I remember talking with my providers and being like, do you think there's a connection to this and being neurodivergent? And they're like, we do, but we haven't seen any research.

1:05:20I think there's like one, maybe two studies out there. I think if there's only one I've come across on that. And I was like, this makes so much sense. Yeah, well, that's the thing, too. Like, when I was a kid, I was tasked for autism because I was diagnosed young. They said, you're too social. I wasn't. I don't think they were right. I haven't really—I've explored it personally, and the more I think about it, the more I think it applies to me. But that's the thing. We have so much autism stigma in the media. We don't know what it is. We get told that kids with autism will never work, never pay taxes, never date, that it's something that is caused by vaccines.

1:06:00And there's just so much misinformation that it makes it hard to access that information. Regardless of a diagnosis, though, I think it's important for people to understand that you got to find what works for you. At the end of the day, it's really just figuring out what tools or skills are going to help you manage your symptoms. And, you know, to your point about autism, there's a lot of misunderstanding about what autism is and isn't. The diagnosis of autism in the DSM is pretty clear cut on what it is. But when you hear people talk about it in the general public, even when we're seeing politically, they're talking about like intellectual development disorders or they're talking about other co-occurring conditions that can happen with autism as well.

1:06:46But at the crux, it's not autism. And so we see that there's this conflation of like, well, you know, all of these other things, this is also autism. When you explain to people like, you know, autism is about, I mean, it's about being socially awkward is what I would say personally. Like, socially, you struggle. You struggle with communication. There, you know, there's a lot of struggles with autism. I don't want to get too much on a tangent because we are talking about ADHD, but for people to understand that just because autistic people also, you know, experience sometimes histamine issues does not mean that histamine issues is a symptom of autism.

1:07:27Just because autistic people have a high rate of PMDD doesn't mean PMDD is an autistic symptom. It is a co-occurring condition due to clusters of genes that ride together. And the same thing is true with ADHD. And that's where I think we start to get also people saying things like, we're all just a little ADHD. Yeah, I think that's kind of one of the harms of social media. They globalize or overgeneralize some of the symptoms as well. and then you find people are just misattributing symptoms to ADHD. Is it everyone? No, there's a lot of great content on there. Don't want to toot my own horn, but I think I contribute to some of the reliable ones.

1:08:10We will be linking to you. Love it. But it's really just finding what is reliable and what applies to you, which is why I think self-diagnosis has a place. And I don't it's a good starting point, right? Depending on what you need to do or what you need to know about yourself, that's really where you go from there. But if you only self-diagnose based on what you find on TikTok, you're not doing it right. If you self-diagnose based on reading research, understanding the information, looking at studies and statistical manuals, that makes it a little more impactful, right? And so knowing yourself and knowing what is important to you, that's really how you should navigate it and try and understand that your symptoms may be ADHD.

1:09:02They might not, and that's okay. Do you feel that self-diagnosis is valid? I think it has a place. I don't think it's a definitive answer because I think it's important to rule things out, but I do think it has a place. And I do think it has validity when used appropriate. I agree with that. I also think that until we can get people access to affordable diagnosis, sometimes this is the best that people have. And what's interesting is I will often see people on social media say, when you self-diagnose, you're taking resources away from other people. Can you explain how that is incorrect? You're not.

1:09:42I mean, self-diagnosis doesn't open the door to resources, they would usually require something more formal. So you're not going to take anyone's resources away. That's just, that's not true. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I think that's important distinction for people to understand that without a formal diagnosis, you cannot access accommodations. You're not taking anything away from anyone. And in fact, you know, what's really interesting, I see a lot with ADHD and autism self-diagnosis. I mean, there was a study showing people who self-diagnose with autism, they have a very high rate of being correct, is because they're becoming...

1:10:19So for people who are not neurodivergent, I think it's important to understand that neurodivergent brains are constantly trying to understand everyone else and themselves and how they fit into the world. So we are taking Myers-Briggs, we are doing the Enneagram, like we are doing all of these things to try to figure out who we are. And when people start to, you know, find themselves down the rabbit hole of like, do I have ADHD? They're usually going deep. There becomes almost like a hyper fixation of like, I need to understand this is this knee. And so I wouldn't write off anybody right away who thinks that they have ADHD.

1:10:55But, you know, to your point, you might be experiencing memory issues and brain fog, and it's because you have hypothyroidism. You're not going to live long and a healthy life if you go through life just thinking I have ADHD and you don't get checked for that and don't get treated for that. And so I want to echo what you say that I think self-diagnosis can be valid, but if we are not ruling out other conditions, which may also be present with ADHD or may be driving ADHD-like symptoms, that could be dangerous in the long run. Yeah, that's kind of my thought too, right? It's like we always need to and should be ruling out anything else that could be contributing to those symptoms and you're doing yourself a disservice if you miss those things.

1:11:39It's not to say your lived experience is invalid. It's to just say that you need to make sure that you're not missing something that you wouldn't otherwise think to look for. Absolutely. So for people who are listening to this right now, they think, okay, I have memory issues. I am inattentive. Like I have this time blindness that you're talking about. When do they know that it's time you should absolutely see a provider? What are the red flags that are like, you need to get to a provider? Yeah, when it starts becoming a place where it's interfering with the life you want to live. I mean, that's usually what I say for any mental health condition, right?

1:12:16If it's not interfering with your life or other people aren't feeling like you aren't able to show up in the way that you need to, and you're concerned about that, those are the things. If it's affecting your job, It's affecting your family. It's affecting the things that you value. Like, I have met plenty of people who say, like, yeah, I have this symptom. But my question always is, how concerned are you by it? Does it bother you? Do you care about it? Or is it just is there and you're dealing with it as is? Sometimes the answer is that. That's what they're doing. Sometimes it bothers you. So that's what we focus on, right?

1:12:52And that's kind of how I recommend people go about it. is finding the symptoms that are, like if it's bothering you and it's impacting your functioning, that's when you're gonna wanna get that help. Not anytime sooner because you won't really get anything out of it. There's nothing you're looking to change. How can someone find a provider to work with? Because one of the biggest fears is you spend all this money, you put in all this time and your provider dismisses you. We hear women get dismissed with things like, well, you have a college degree or you've been married for X amount of years. You can't have ADHD.

1:13:30You wouldn't have been able to accomplish those things. Yeah. I would say either work with a therapist who knows a bit about ADHD and who knows the local resources, or I would say work with a local CHADD group. They're the national organization for ADHD. And so they have chapters throughout most of the country and somewhere that's near you and may be able to refer you to someone or just word of mouth. If you know anyone who's been assessed and had a positive experience, talk to them. There's also sites like NDtherapist.com that has a list of neurodivergent therapists. But yeah, I would all, or look at reviews, right?

1:14:08I think do a little research, ask around, ask your therapist or ask local NPO's. Fantastic. Well, as we wrap this up, is there anything else you would like to share with our listeners today? Yeah, I'm going to go a little AWOL here. Ah, do it! Yeah. Be impulsive. Yeah, so I've been talking a lot on my platform about RFKJ. I think it's important for the ADHD community to understand he is very dangerous. I'm very concerned about the things that he's doing with both autism research and stigmatizing mental health and publishing reports that use unverifiable studies, right? And people are buying into that.

1:14:47I am calling for his removal. A lot of people are, but I've also started a petition that when you link my resources, you'll find it. That's kind of the thing that I want people to understand is despite what this administration says, listen to the science. There's going to be a lot of misinformation that you're getting about ADHD and autism, and it's not going to get better as long as the powers that be remain in place. Look for reliable information. Trust science. It's don't trust misrepresentation. But yeah, that's kind of the thing that I want to leave people with is get rid of RFK. Okay. What do you feel specifically makes RFK dangerous?

1:15:27I think it's that, right? So an example I use is Samoa. So in Samoa, there was an incident where two children died from a misadministration of evil but rfk jr came in and he launched a misinformation campaign against vaccines in that time not only did they stop vaccines which they often cited to his involvement but it caused over uh like like thousands of infections and a predominant amount of deaths in children the point being we're seeing similar occurrences with him in the united states with misinformation around vaccines or vaccine information in general. So as a result, there's risks. He's discrediting silence.

1:16:13He's replacing people in CDC leadership with people who are vaccine skeptics. He's publishing information that is misleading about autism. He's citing vaccine research that is misinformation. He is buddying up with people like Andrew Wakefield. He's hiring people like David geared who launched a study or who did research in injecting children with Lupron and was no was practicing medicine without a license these are the people that he's surrounding himself with and who are pushing research in to our health system it's dangerous and that needs to be stopped for people who don't know what Lupron is Lupron is a drug that causes chemical castration it's often used in those with endometriosis and endomyosis um in this particular case, he was using it with young boys.

1:17:00So it was very confusing to me to see the same people who said we can't be doing any kind of, you know, gender affirming care for children to also get behind somebody who was using puberty blockers. It's very problematic. You said to people, trust the science, go to trusted resources. Who are the trusted resources? Where are the trusted resources we'll link them in the show notes on adhd i mean not to toot my own horn myself i would say at the waves counseling it's a really good resource a lot of the authors i talked about here as well meredith carter um did the dog just join you no she just left me okay yeah yeah i was Oh, sorry.

1:17:50You said Becca King? Rebecca King. Yeah. The ADHD nutritionist, Jesse Anderson, how to ADHD. Those are a few that I know are pretty reliable and I'm sure I've forgotten some. The Black Spectrum Scholar talks a lot about ADHD and autism. She's a really good resource. Sunny Jane Wise, the lived experience educator is a really good resource. um so just those are just to name a few fantastic well it's always helpful for people to have resources because in this day and age i mean it is very hard especially as ai influencers are cropping up that's where i think we're seeing a lot of danger in health is these ai influencers who can say anything because there's no one there to regulate them and they're misrepresenting themselves as doctors often telling you wild things.

1:18:44So I appreciate those resources. We'll put them all in the show notes along with links where to find you. And I so appreciate you taking the time to share your expertise and for everything you do across the internet. Yeah, it was such a pleasure. Thank you so much for having me today. To kids, summer isn't just time off. It's time building confidence and curiosity. But when school meals pause, millions of children lose the food they count on. Your support helps the Feeding America Network nourish every child's potential. Give now at feedingamerica.org slash summer hunger.