Show Notes
Attention seems to be something that not only us neurodiverse folk struggle with these days. I’ve personally struggled a bit with the whole ‘deficit’ part of the label of ADHD because it doesn’t really seem to be the most appropriate description. For me, ‘unable to control where my attention is focussed’ seems to be more in line but it doesn’t have a ring to it. Today’s guest is the wonderful best selling author of ‘Stolen Focus. Why You Can’t Pay Attention’ Johann Hari. Johann went on a long journey to figure out why all of us seem to be struggling with attention. Parts of his book specifically questioned some of the more controversial sides of ADHD in regards to the biopsychosocial model and medication of kids. In today’s episode we spoke about: Why none of us can pay attention anymore Why ADHD brains need to be more attuned to the things that can impact focus and attention Diagnosis can often be ‘brain or blame’ - either it’s completely biological and there’s nothing you can do about it, or it’s not completely your biology and therefore you are to blame for not being able to pay attention How food can impact attention How technology is designed to steal our attention Whether we can do anything about it Why sleep really impacts our attention Some of the reasons behind the controversy of questioning ADHD medication You can find all of Johann’s books and further information at his website. You can follow Johann on Instagram See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Most late aged diagnosed ADHD folks have a bit of a moment where all of a sudden the final puzzle piece is put in place and there’s the ‘lightbulb’ revelation of what has been going on all along. It might be from seeing a video on instagram or tiktok of a list of ADHD symptoms and realising that it was a list of your ‘personality traits’. People have asked me when I first had a bit of insight into potentially having ADHD, and the truth is that I can’t really remember. I don’t know whether this was because I kind of always had the feeling that it was there and maybe just pushed it down, or if the burnout from ADHD had become so bad that I actually have memory impairments. Today’s guest is a bit similar to me in this way. Bridget Hustwaite is an author, presenter and broadcaster. You’d likely know her from her days gracing the airways at triple J, or from either of her fantastic books ‘how to endo’ and ‘figuring out 30’. We spoke about: The symptoms of ADHD Bridget had prior to diagnosis and what she struggled with The ‘internalising’ aspects of ADHD Do we have memory issues or were we just not really present to begin with? Our fears of ‘jumping on the bandwagon’ and the trend of having ADHD The emotional labour of speaking about ADHD with loved ones Comparing the diagnosis of ADHD to endometriosis & why one was more validating than the other Emotional regulation and mood & how it’s shifted with medication Masking, fitting in and friendships You can find more from Bridget Hustwaite on instagram You can get a copy of Bridget’s new book “Figuring Out 30” here!!
How do you go with small talk, keeping the conversation going and not feeling overwhelmed by matches and messages? Do you ever wonder how the people you’re matching with perceive you? I felt all of the above. I hated small talk and found it incredibly boring, I was constantly overwhelmed by the expectation to reply if I hadn’t checked my messages in a little while and I was always worried that I would appear ‘too intense’ to the people I had matched with and I tried to tone myself down so that they wouldn’t be scared off. Hinge recently conducted some research into dating and ADHD! They examined over 9000 daters on Hinge across the world with a clinical ADHD diagnosis to get a bit of a read of the room on how dating can affect us. Joining the podcast is Logan Ury; Hinge’s Director of Relationship Science. She’s a behavioural scientist turned dating coach and the author of the best-selling dating book, How to Not Die Alone. In today’s episode we talk: What people with ADHD tend to struggle with on the apps Why small talk is a huge hurdle for people with ADHD How to avoid small talk Masking and being scared of being viewed as ‘weird’ or unusual Shift vs support responses. What they are and how it will REALLY help people with ADHD Analysis paralysis and the paradox of choice You can find more from Logan Ury at her website and instagram You can read Hinge’s ADHD dating report See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
ADHD and feeling overwhelmed, over stimulated and burnout seem to go hand in hand. A lot of us operate under the ‘go, go, go’ type of cadence with our two modes being full throttle or absolutely nothing. This inevitably leaves a lot of us feeling as though we can never get it together, we’re mentally exhausted all of the time and as though everyone around us is sick of our franticness. Joining the podcast today is certified ADHD therapist, who also has ADHD Jenna Free. Jenna refers to the frantic behaviours mentioned above as dysregulation.
We know that the ADHD brain operates in some different ways to a neurotypical one, but what’s actually going on inside our brains? We’re joined today by neuroscientist, international speaker, and author of The DOSE Effect, TJ Power. TJ’s work focuses on small, practical habits that can help us regulate our brain chemistry. Today we dive into: How our dopamine levels differ from a neurotypical brain and what this means for our motivation, concentration and attention span How dopamine is connected to hyperfocus Changing the narrative of ‘disorder’ and ‘deficit’ to ‘difference’ TJ’s experience with OCD How to find your ADHD ‘superpower’ and flow state Task initiation challenges and transition stages How dopamine is linked to novelty and impulsivity How changing the first 5-10 mins of your morning can affect the whole rest of your day The science behind therapies like ice baths and saunas & how they compare to drugs in the brain We are then joined by clinical nutritionist Georgia Farrar to chat through which foods are best for maintaining focus and attention, which types of foods can exacerbate ADHD symptoms and whether caffeine is good or bad for our brains! Timestamps: 0:00 - Intro 2:50 - Differences in ADHD brains 4:30 - The problem with the labels 'disorder' and 'deficit' 6:15 - TJ's experiences with OCD 11:45 - Finding your flow state 14:20 - How social media impacts dopamine 17:00 - Task initiation 19:40 - Dopamine & novelty 21:50 - Waking up and jumping on your phone 30:00 - Procrastination 31:30 - Deliberately reducing our stimulation 39:30 - Ice baths and dopamine 43:50 - Sleep and neurochemicals 46:00 - Nutrition for focus and attention 48:50 - Ultra processed foods 53:20 - Supplements that aid attention and focus 59:55 - Is caffeine good or bad? You can find more from TJ including his new book from his website TJ's Instagram You can find more about ultra processed foods and nutrition advice from Georgia
One of the things that surprised me the most when I learnt more about ADHD was that we tend to all be people with big feelings. I had always thought that I just ‘felt’ things really deeply and that was just the way it was, but it turns out it isn’t a unique experience at all. Whether it’s a result of constantly being told we are ‘too much’ I’m not sure; but what I am sure about is that consistently being told I was too much left me with a pretty insatiable need for validation. Again, I don’t seem to be alone in that either… Joining the podcast today is the wonderful Sabrina Zohar! Sabrina is a relationship expert, entrepreneur and podcast host of the Sabrina Zohar show. I was particularly drawn to Sabrina because of her no bullshit, tell it like it is style of communicating. Today we take a big dive into big feelings, our experiences of learning how to accept ourselves and how ADHD has affected our relationships. We spoke about: Being diagnosed later in life, something really common for women Sabrina’s misdiagnosis of borderline personality disorder, and the dangers of misdiagnosis How we both found ourselves craving validation from people around us How we show up in the dating world when we feel like we are ‘too much’ but also not enough Limerence and hyperfixation on people when you have ADHD Repetition compulsion How ‘the spark’ can feel different for ADHD brains When to talk about ADHD in relationships