ADHD Beyond the Buzz - ADHD facts, myths, understanding ADHD 'presentations' & a bonus!

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RODE NT-USB & Susan's iphone (work) Camera:

What's up my friend.

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Welcome back to ADHD.

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Powerful possibilities.

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ADHD coach Catherine.

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And this is the first

episode of season two.

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In 2024.

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I want to take you through a

real journey of understanding

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a lot more about your ADHD.

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And then we're going to look in more

detail in future episodes about how to

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take all the knowledge into everyday life.

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So that you can address the executive

function, challenges that come up for you.

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Whether you're at work at

college at university, running

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a family, running a business.

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We're going to cover all of that.

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And I just wanted to start

with a really nice episode.

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Looking at ADHD and the

different presentations.

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Of ADHD.

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RODE NT-USB & Susan's iphone (work) Camera-1:

I thought it would make sense for us to

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start by thinking about what is ADHD.

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What can we get confused with ADHD?

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And then have a think about

what are the impacts in everyday

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life of the parts of ADHD.

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We've just talked about.

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I'm going to try and

keep this really short.

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It's new year 20, 24.

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We've all heard a really intense 2023.

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So let's begin.

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And really dive in to what ADHD

is, what it's not, and how it

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shows up in your everyday life.

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And I've got some interesting

news at the end of the episode.

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Let me begin by saying welcome to

people that haven't been here before.

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And welcome back.

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If you have, I really appreciate all

the feedback positive and the negative.

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And.

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Really fantastic reviews that

people have been giving me.

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Either in messages or

ideally on apple podcast.

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What's lovely is to hear from you

and for you to ask me questions.

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So please send me your questions.

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You can send them by email.

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You can send them through messenger,

just get in touch and let's create

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a podcast that really works for you.

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This episode, I decided to call ADHD

beyond the buzz and into the spectrum.

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It's a bit controversial because

there's a lot of buzz about ADHD.

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And I see a lot of people who

have maybe worked in other areas,

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transitioning into working in ADHD

because Hey, people are aware.

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That they have ADHD traits.

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They need help and maybe they can help.

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There's a lot of misinformation,

especially online.

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And how can you find trustworthy

information is something that we

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will discuss in a couple of weeks.

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But also is it a spectrum.

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I think probably.

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In the same sense that autism is now

recognized as a spectrum condition.

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And it's basically because

it's a neurological difference.

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That can affect anybody at

any age, no matter their sex.

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If your brain fits a certain pattern.

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That means that you have ADHD.

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Let's begin with what ADHD is.

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Attention deficit, hyperactivity

disorder, the worst name possible ever.

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For what we know is not a

deficit of attention and does not

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always look like hyper activity.

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And lots of us would say it's

not necessarily a disorder.

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It does come with lots

of challenges though.

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So let's not pretend that it's some

kind of magical superpower for everyone.

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THere are serious implications

and your long-term health, your

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success, your relationships.

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That are affected by ADHD.

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If it's not recognized,

supported, and treated.

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According to the APA the

American psychiatric association.

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It's characterized.

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By a pattern of hyper

activity and or impulsivity.

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And in attention.

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That interferes with everyday

functioning and development.

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ADHD as a neurodevelopmental

condition means it's actually about

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how our brain grows and develops.

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And this is a real contrast to even

15, 20 years ago when people really

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thought it was a behavioral disorder.

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So that's probably where

the disorder comes from.

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It's not a behavior disorder.

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It's a neurological difference.

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And I've talked about this

before, but neurologically.

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There are areas of the brain

that are particularly affected

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in the ADHD condition.

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The ADHD difference.

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And those are the ones that control

things like attention planning.

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And of course impulse control.

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There are other executive

functions that we can describe

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from those three main areas.

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That's where it shows up for most of us.

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But studies show and these are

physical scans of human brains.

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Not just.

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No scale forums that

doctors fill in for you.

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These are physical

scans, MRIs of the brain.

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That she'll, there are functional and

structural differences in the ADHD brain.

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Most of these are in

the prefrontal cortex.

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And that is where most of our high level

decision-making and planning happens.

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And the prefrontal cortex is

crucial for our decision-making.

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Our behavior regulation, emotional

control, and of course planning.

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Although it's important to try

and get a diagnosis of ADHD.

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If you can.

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We know that's not possible

for many thousands of people.

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Let's have a look at the DSM five

criteria to give you an idea of

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what the doctors are looking for

when they're making that assessment.

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Inattention is the first one.

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Now that doesn't mean that

you can't pay attention.

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It means that for at least six months

or more, your level of ability to

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control, your attention and focus.

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Is not what would be expected

at your developmental level.

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And that could include being

inconsistent, making careless mistakes,

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not paying attention to detail.

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As well as having difficulty

organizing tasks and activities

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that have lots of steps.

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That you need to focus

on to put into order.

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The next thing they look at is

hyperactivity and impulsivity.

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Again, there are about six or more

symptoms or that come under this banner.

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Of hyperactivity.

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And again, we're looking

at least six months.

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And are we that interfered with your

actual focus or your daily life?

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And those are things like fidgeting.

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Leaving your seat when you're

supposed to stay in your seat.

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This is most obvious in younger

people, but I know lots of adults

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are struggling with this one as well.

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And of course talking a

lot talking excessively.

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Blurting out interrupting when

we don't mean to or when when

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it's socially inappropriate.

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They also look at the age

of onset at the moment.

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You have to be experiencing these things

from before the age of 12, because

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after 12 other things can happen that.

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Like ADHD.

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But are not.

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Final easy look at impairment.

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No, that means they need to be

present in at least two settings.

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So at home and at work home

and in school university.

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And there has to be clear

evidence that the experiences

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and the symptoms you're having.

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Or interfering with your home,

with your social, with your work.

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You with your academic life?

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One of the things that is

really important when we do try

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to get a diagnosis, is that.

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Somebody looks at your whole life

and not just the last six months.

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Especially if you're an adult.

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Let's look at some of the myths that

people still perpetuate about ADHD.

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The first is a only affects

children and people grow out of it.

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It is true.

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Some people grew up and they no

longer meet the diagnostics threshold.

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But they may have developed

coping strategies.

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They may have found a work

place that suits them.

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They may have a family life and a

structure that allows their ADHD.

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To thrive.

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It's not impairing them any longer.

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If that's the case.

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Brilliant.

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But are they still actually

having an ADHD brain who knows?

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We'd have to do FMRs over a long time.

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On their ethical issues around

that as well as financial ones.

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What we do know is that the over

fifties are the fastest growing group

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of people being diagnosed with ADHD.

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That's largely in my case,

because it doesn't exist.

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And if you were bright, if you were

capable, you were not given any

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indication that you might be ADHD.

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And nobody's really talking

to us about how we deal with

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the lifelong consequences.

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Of undiagnosed ADHD.

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There are some great researchers

and doctors in the states at Dr.

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Kathleen Nadeau, Dr

Patricia Quinn, for example.

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But this really matters.

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If you're over 50, it's

unlikely that you are

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settling i

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n for a nice quiet retirement.

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So we need to understand ADHD

in the context of being adults.

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With, let's say patchy past and how

do we focus and deal with our ADHD?

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While still juggling work and

home and kids and parents.

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Everything else.

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Another classic myth is that

ADHD is a lack of willpower.

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Surely ADHD is just a

lack of willpower, right?

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That's a really common misunderstanding

that I see a lot on the internet from

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people who don't really believe the

scientific evidence that ADHD exists.

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And what's really frustrating about that

is that people with ADHD try really hard.

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And they just can't do it.

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And the more we try, the more

frustrated we get, the more

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disappointed other people get.

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It feeds into really negative

narrative about ourselves.

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And before you knew it were burned.

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So ADHD is not about willpower.

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It's not about not wanting things.

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It's about a neurological difference

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and the last myth I'm

going to talk about today.

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is that we can't focus.

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That we have no attention.

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Anyone with ADHD will tell you we have

bucket loads of attention when something

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is engaging, when it's interesting.

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And that's because interest is an

emotion and it's a really powerful one.

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If you're interested in something, I

bet you can focus on it for a long time.

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If you're having problems,

focusing on something that you're

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passionate about and that you love.

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It may be that there are other demands

going on that you're not aware of and

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you're not taking care of yourself enough.

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But with the right support and strategies.

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People with ADHD have lots of

attention and we can learn to

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control where we shine that torch.

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Let's talk about a differential diagnosis

because this is a really key one.

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What is ADHD not, or what

can masquerade as ADHD.

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I want to make it very clear.

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ADHD can overlap.

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With any of these conditions?

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I am not a medical doctor, so they

don't take this as a diagnostic thing.

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But it means that if you're experiencing

things that feel like ADHD or look

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like it is worth getting checked out.

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As soon as you can.

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First up is anxiety disorders, feeling

restless, being unable to focus.

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Jittery, that being driven by a motor can

also be a symptom of an anxiety disorder.

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Second mood disorders.

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This is a big one.

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People with ADHD are three times more

likely to experience adult depression.

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But you can get a feeling

of ADHD like behavior.

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And be experiencing depression.

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Because depression affects our

attention our focus our energy.

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And there's a really strong

body of evidence that especially

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women with ADHD are often given

a diagnosis of bipolar disorder.

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First.

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Another thing that travels with ADHD,

but can also lead to symptoms that

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look like ADHD are sleep disorders.

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If you snore really heavily, you may find

that during the day you cannot focus.

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Your energy is down, but your

attention is all over the place.

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And you're grabbing.

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You're grabbing energy, rich snacks

and things to try and boost your focus.

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Sometimes learning difficulties

can look like ADHD.

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Sometimes academic

difficulties look like ADHD.

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For example, dyslexia.

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Even dysgraphia.

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But the learning difficulties that

we experienced can occur with ADHD.

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So it's really important if you

or your child has a diagnosis

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of dyslexia or you suspect it.

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Please ask for them to check

that there's not ADHD as well.

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A significant percentage of people

with dyslexia also have ADHD.

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And vice versa,

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and finally substance abuse.

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Whether that is something that's

illegal or something that is

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legal, but very not good for you.

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You can end up having difficulty focusing.

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You can become jittery, you can

become anxious and unable to focus.

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So there is a pool of conditions

that look like ADHD, but are not.

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But can sometimes occur with ADHD and

especially in the last one, we know

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that untreated adults with ADHD have

a higher likelihood of abusing either.

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Illegal substances or legal

ones like alcohol or, overeating

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to try and manage how we feel.

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What is different about the ADHD brain?

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First of all the structure and

function is different and ADHD.

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Things like our neuro-transmitters

that dopamine and norepinephrine are

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different in ADHD because our dopamine

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transporter cells are more efficient.

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And so the dopamine doesn't get to

fulfill its job before it's removed.

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There are something like 500 genes

that we believe are involved with ADHD.

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And it's a group of them altogether

functioning that creates the

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difference in your brain structure.

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And although a lot of these neurological

features that lead to executive

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function problems can be shared

with other neurological conditions.

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That are some specific ones

that are more common in ADHD.

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For example.

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The cortical, maturation in ADHD.

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Which means.

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How mature is your brain cortex?

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Is it the age appropriate

level of development?

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It's delayed in ADHD.

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And that ties in with what we believe.

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Is a three to five-year

lag in academic and social

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development for people with ADHD.

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We do eventually catch up, but it's

one of the reasons why people with ADHD

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often appear younger than their cohort.

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With autism, which quite often

overlaps with ADHD, you might

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expect to find areas where the

brain has peaked almost too soon.

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But then it plateaus.

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And just briefly, I want to cover.

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How you're diagnosed.

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This is something that comes up polo.

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Hello.

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How do you get diagnosed with ADHD?

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So looking briefly at the UK.

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You would, first of all, approach

your GP, your general practice doctor.

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Who would then make a referral

to a specialist clinic.

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there is a huge backlog in the

UK that are some parts of the UK

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where adults are no longer being

allowed to go for an NHS diagnosis.

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That is a huge problem because

of the effect on our life,

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which we'll talk about next.

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But it means that there's a level of

safety in terms of diagnosis, because you

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do have to see someone who is qualified.

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They use the NICE guidelines,

which are set out in a link that

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I will include in the show notes.

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They also want to know about your history.

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If you're an adult, they're going to want

some evidence from before the age of 12.

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If you're a young person they're

going to want school reports, they

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may send a form to your school

to fill in or your university.

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But in the states, there is quite a

big difference and a lot of variety.

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So in the states, again, you

might want to see a psychologist.

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Psychiatrist, they will

use the DSM five criteria.

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They might include neuro-psychological

testing deal include rating

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scales and things like that.

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And again, one of the problems

is access to diagnosis.

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By qualified individuals and both

countries, there is a real problem.

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And it's not helped by the kind of

populist media saying that everybody

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has ADHD and people claiming

that it's not holding them back.

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If it's not holding you back.

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Fantastic.

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But there are thousands and millions of

us where it is a real barrier to success.

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And I don't just mean academic success.

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Friendships.

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Relationships, your working life.

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Yeah.

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Quality of life, how you see

and relate to other people.

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So what's the real impact

of ADHD on daily life.

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In a way it's incredibly

personal and I can't standardize

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what other people experience.

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I'm going to share my story when I

was a kid, I was intensely dreaming.

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And I would go off for hours and

entertain myself in my own head.

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In school, I was described

as having a butterfly mind.

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And if I was any more laid

back, I'd be horizontal.

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In fact, my brain was running a

million miles an hour, but not in

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any direction that was relevant.

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Outside of school.

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I went to dance classes four nights

a week or all day on Saturday.

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So physically I was very active.

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And I remember as a child, my granddad

telling me to go and play outside because

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I was jumping up and down constantly.

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And frankly, driving him up the wall.

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After dropping at university in my early

twenties, because I could not cope.

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I didn't have the scaffolding in

place to manage a way from my.

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We from my home.

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I went back in my mid twenties

and then it went on to do a PhD

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and the PhD was frankly torture.

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I'd come out of a really

highly structured degree.

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MA Honours where I got first class award.

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And then the PhD and there was nothing.

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I was left in this limbo and that's when I

first experienced the jaded ADHD paralysis

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: 00:16:47

or a narrow HSA where, you've got stuff

to do and you just can't get started.

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: 00:16:51

And it wasn't because they

didn't know what to do.

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: 00:16:54

And it wasn't because I didn't care.

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: 00:16:56

And I wasn't interested.

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: 00:16:57

I just had no idea where to start.

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: 00:16:59

And one of the things I ended up

doing was looking for dopamine.

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Through food.

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: 00:17:03

And it's something that I still

struggle with to this day.

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: 00:17:06

Even with medication it's something I

have to be really intentional about.

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: 00:17:10

And with stress it's one

of the first areas to go.

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: 00:17:13

And that's because my dopamine

was way below where it needed to

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: 00:17:16

be for me to actually engage and

ignite and start doing things.

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: 00:17:21

At the same time, I've also

experienced intense hyper-focus.

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: 00:17:24

And one of the things that I

used to do was really get into a

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: 00:17:28

subject, learn everything about

it and then drop it completely.

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: 00:17:31

And that includes everything from.

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: 00:17:33

Medieval music and fashion.

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: 00:17:35

Victorian corsetry to.

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: 00:17:37

Medical herbalism, doll

making, you name it?

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: 00:17:41

I have done it.

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: 00:17:42

And I've got the evidence

in my cupboard to prove it.

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: 00:17:45

I became incredibly.

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: 00:17:47

Absorbed in a subject and it would be

like an inch wide, but a mile deep.

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: 00:17:52

And then we'd have this period

of intense passion and interest

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: 00:17:55

followed by a complete, inability

to even look at this thing again.

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: 00:17:59

And frankly, that was embarrassing

and it was exhausting.

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: 00:18:02

Because as an adult, I thought, oh, this

means I need to turn it into a business.

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: 00:18:06

And many of you will have lots

of domain names registered

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: 00:18:10

for these ideas that you have.

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: 00:18:11

Looking at sports people, Michelle

Carter, as a U S Olympian.

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: 00:18:16

And she found it when she took

ADHD medication, she was focusing

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: 00:18:20

too much on the everyday tasks

and her training suffered.

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: 00:18:24

So she chose not to be medicated.

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: 00:18:26

And what she says is that, although

our learning disabilities and our

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: 00:18:29

problems don't go away, we can

adapt and learn how to manage them.

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: 00:18:33

And that is where things like

coaching CBT, therapy come in.

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: 00:18:38

And importantly, she says you can do it.

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: 00:18:41

But do it differently.

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: 00:18:43

And one person I didn't realize

was ADHD is Trudi styler.

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: 00:18:46

Now you might know her as wife of Mr.

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: 00:18:48

Sting from the police, that she's a

really successful actress and filmmaker.

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: 00:18:52

And she had ADHD and it showed up

in her childhood when she had real

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: 00:18:56

trouble learning to read in school.

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: 00:18:58

Her passion for acting a led to completely

transform how she engaged with life.

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: 00:19:03

And she ended up going

on to direct many films.

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: 00:19:06

She went on to appear in many movies

and produce lots of TV and films.

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: 00:19:10

Physically she uses

yoga to help her focus.

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: 00:19:14

And that is a really fantastic

modality if you're able, and there

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: 00:19:17

are lots of kinds of yoga you can use.

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: 00:19:19

She describes it as clearing the traffic.

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: 00:19:22

That goes on in our chaotic

minds, which I adore.

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: 00:19:26

But when she needs to read scripts

and learn them, she finds that

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: 00:19:29

the medication helps her to focus.

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: 00:19:31

She says, when you're a kid, you want

to be normal and you obsess about it.

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: 00:19:35

but as you get older.

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: 00:19:37

It's not such a big thing.

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: 00:19:38

She says, celebrate who you are and

listen for that small voice that is going

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: 00:19:43

to nudge you in the right direction.

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: 00:19:44

And these are just three stories

about how ADHD can present very

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: 00:19:48

differently in three different women.

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: 00:19:50

All of whom manage ADHD

in a different way.

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: 00:19:53

I'm going to finish with letting

you know about something really

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: 00:19:56

special that I've just produced and

it's going to make a difference.

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: 00:20:00

I hope.

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: 00:20:00

It's a guide for you to work out,

which presentation of ADHD you have,

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: 00:20:06

and that's the topic of the next

podcast, understanding the different

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: 00:20:09

presentations and then how to manage

your particular combination of them.

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: 00:20:14

It describes or inattentive.

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: 00:20:17

Hyperactive and combined ADHD

are how you can understand them.

403

: 00:20:21

And it's got an assessment

guide that you can complete.

404

: 00:20:24

So you know where you are because at

least in the UK It's not always common

405

: 00:20:30

for you to be told, which kind of

ADHD you have and strictly speaking.

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: 00:20:35

they vary.

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: 00:20:36

I know that Dr.

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: 00:20:37

Barkley has said that we

all have aspects of them.

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: 00:20:40

And even with inattentive ADHD our

hyperactivity can be internalized.

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: 00:20:45

So these aren't silos that you go

off into they crossover and there's a

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: 00:20:50

common thread of which is our brain.

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: 00:20:52

I'm inviting you to download the guide

to the different presentations of ADHD.

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: 00:20:58

And when you do, you will get a

discount code for the ebook, which is

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: 00:21:01

coming at the end of January, which

is a much more in-depth look at ADHD.

415

: 00:21:05

And also accompanies a webinar

where we can sit, talk and discuss

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: 00:21:11

ADHD, how it's showing up for

you and what you can do about it.

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: 00:21:15

And we're going to say, is there such

a thing as boy, ADHD and girl ADHD?

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: 00:21:19

The short answer is no, but we

will get into that next week.

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: 00:21:23

So use the link below to sign

up and get your own quiz.

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: 00:21:27

Understand your presentation and

get a discount for the ebook.

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: 00:21:31

That's it for our episode.

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: 00:21:33

And I hope that the differential

diagnosis, where we looked at, what

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: 00:21:36

can look like ADHD and occur with

ADHD, but is not ADHD was useful.

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: 00:21:42

And that you're interested

in the presentation quiz.

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: 00:21:46

And the Ebook and webinar.

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: 00:21:47

We also looked at some of the

really common myths of ADHD.

427

: 00:21:50

And I hope you understand though, that

they are exactly that make believe.

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: 00:21:55

If you enjoyed my story of how

ADHD completely threw me off

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: 00:22:00

course, a in my teens, twenties

and thirties, stick around.

430

: 00:22:04

It's so wonderful to have you

with me, as we explore ADHD.

431

: 00:22:08

Maybe you knew somebody in your life

who needs to understand ADHD more.

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: 00:22:12

And this podcast is something

that you can share with them.

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: 00:22:15

I'll be back next week, where we look

at ADHD presentations and I explore

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: 00:22:19

a bit more about the quiz that you

can download from the link below.

435

: 00:22:23

Until we come back next week,

keep learning, keep exploring,

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: 00:22:27

keep being compassionate.

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: 00:22:29

And most of all,

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: 00:22:30

Think about what's possible.

439

: 00:22:32

Not what you can't do.

440

: 00:22:34

But what is possible?

441

: 00:22:35

And explore things from a different angle.

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: 00:22:38

Thank you for listening to

ADHD, powerful possibilities.

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: 00:22:41

I'm going to see you next week, and

please get in touch with your questions.

444

: 00:22:46

Thank you for joining us today on

Powerful Possibilities, Navigating

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: 00:22:50

ADHD from New Diagnosis and Beyond.

446

: 00:22:54

. If you found value in this episode,

please subscribe and share it with

447

: 00:22:58

someone else you know who might benefit

or who you want to understand you better.

448

: 00:23:03

Remember, your journey with ADHD

is an ongoing journey of growth.

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: 00:23:07

But you're not alone anymore.

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: 00:23:09

Until next time, this is Catherine,

reminding you that with the

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: 00:23:13

right guidance, the possibilities

really are powerful and endless.

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: 00:23:20

Take care.