Hyperfocus with Rae Jacobson

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

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

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

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

But f...

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

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

On Climbing the Walls, Danielle digs into the reasons behind the rise of ADHD dia...

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

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

As she dug in deeper, she lande...

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

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

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

One of those often-oversimplified things is dopamine. This neurotransmitter,...

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

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

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

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

A conference of ADHD professionals might not sound fascinating, but it was — and we ...

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

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

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

First, an executive order from February 13 established...

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

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

Dr. Nadeau is ...

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

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

But I didn’t want to know about any of that. I wanted to spend some time with the person who has made a career out of smart, inclusive humor and...

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

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

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

Thankfully, she had an int...

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

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

Jessica was diagnosed when she was 12 years old but didn’t start to look into what ADHD meant for her until she was 32. Taking ADHD medication fel...

If you have ADHD, the science says you’re much more likely to have a substance use disorder in your life than someone who’s neurotypical. 

ADHD brains often lack dopamine. Drugs and alcohol can provide a hit of dopamine, albeit a temporary one. That’s why it’s so common for people with untreated ADHD to self-medicate. 

Elaine O’Brien used to fit that ADHD archetype to a tee. Eventually, though, she entered recovery and also started p...

*Note: This episode includes discussion of suicide and self-harm. Please take care when listening and skip this one if you need to.*

Dr. Stephen Hinshaw is one of the leading voices when it comes to ADHD in women and girls.  

That’s in large part due to his work on The Berkeley Girls study. (Its full name is The Berkeley Girls with ADHD Longitudinal Study, but most people know it by that shorthand or acronym: The BGALs study.)

Under S...

At work, neurodivergent people face a bunch of different hurdles — stigma, burnout, firings, higher unemployment rates, and more. 

In recent years, all kinds of businesses have begun various types of neurodiversity initiatives. On the surface, these initiatives are supposed to foster inclusion and make working better for everyone.

But host Rae Jacobson wondered: Do these initiatives actually do anything, or are they just good marketi...

ADHD can create all kinds of challenges in the workplace. Like a list of infinite things to do and to remember. A busy, ever-changing schedule. And co-workers who don’t always know what’s going on in your mind. 

There’s a lot to figure out. But recently, Rae Jacobson found herself wondering what it's like on the other side — to manage someone who’s neurodivergent and still figuring it out. 

So, Rae called her former boss, Caroline Mi...

Rae Jacobson has been friends with Katherine Martinelli since they were 6. In the classroom, they were polar opposites: Katherine, a star student; Rae, scrambling and struggling with then-undiagnosed ADHD and dyscalculia. 

As they grew older, they both became mothers and professional writers and editors. Rae got diagnosed and found the support and systems that worked for her. 

When, well into their 30s, Katherine called to say she'd ...

Rae had heard that there was a link between ADHD and postpartum depression. But with a tiny baby to care for and a life to navigate, she had more pressing things to deal with. 

But the question kept bugging her: Does ADHD make you more likely to have postpartum depression?

This week on Hyperfocus, Rae finally gets some answers to questions she has had for years. Her guest is Dr. Catherine Birndorf, an expert on postpartum mood disord...

Hyperfocus is a show that zeroes in on what fascinates us about ADHD, learning, and mental health. Join journalist Rae Jacobson as she tackles big questions like, “Why can’t I get my ADHD meds? Who exactly gets to define a diagnosis? And can ADHD make postpartum depression worse?”

New episodes launch every other Thursday wherever you get your podcasts.

Introducing “MissUnderstood,” the first-ever podcast channel for women with ADHD....