October 9, 2024 • 28 mins
Unlock the secrets of living with ADHD as Zac Erickson, a registered psychologist and host of ADHD Real Talk, opens up about his personal journey and professional insights. Ever wondered how ADHD manifests differently in adults versus children or how to tackle procrastination head-on? Zac’s candid reflections and stories promise to shed light on these questions, offering a fresh perspective on navigating life with ADHD.
This episode takes you through the nuances of ADHD subtypes, from hyperactive/impulsive to inattentive, and how they uniquely impact individuals. With relatable anecdotes and expert knowledge, Zac paints a vivid picture of the daily challenges and triumphs faced by those with ADHD. Whether you're struggling with organization or impulsive decisions, you'll find valuable takeaways to help manage these symptoms more effectively.
Join Zac as he delves into the intricate world of ADHD as a neurodevelopmental disorder, exploring its overlap with anxiety and depression. Learn why understanding your brain's wiring is crucial to managing ADHD and how early diagnosis can make a world of difference. Grab this opportunity to engage, ask questions, and be part of an interactive podcast experience designed to empower and inform. Tune in and transform your understanding of ADHD today.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Zac (00:00):
Hello and welcome to the first episode of ADHD Real Talk.
This is Zac Erickson.
I'm actually really excited.
This is the start of a newendeavor, a new project.
I am, of course, like I saidZac Erickson.
I'm a registered psychologist inEdmonton, alberta, and
exclusively now, like somepsychologists will do, like
(00:23):
assessments and things I willget more into, I guess, a little
bit about myself in thisepisode.
I think it's important for youto kind of get to know me, but
my goal for this podcast reallyis I exclusively do um
counseling psychology, right, inother words, I'm a therapist
and what that means for me isthat I actually already do a lot
(00:47):
of talking with people on adaily basis.
I see probably 20 to 25 clientsa week, uh, and I have been a
psychologist for like sevenyears since I graduated Um and
it's been a a fantasticadventure so far.
Um, but what's interesting andwhy I'm really excited about
this is that I have specificallyfallen into this love for
(01:11):
people with ADHD, primarilybecause I have ADHD myself,
which maybe, now that I say thatout loud, it is a little
narcissistic.
I don't know, that's not theintention, right, but I think
that a lot of therapistsactually fall into this thing of
what we almost call likeme-search, or in other words,
like you deal with the things inyour own life and then the
lessons that you learn, you know, go into future things.
(01:34):
So, for today, we're going totalk a little bit about like,
what is ADHD?
Why ADHD, real talk, what doesthat even mean to me?
In fact, maybe I'll even startwith that right, like when I was
thinking about starting apodcast, which is what I've been
wanting to do I actuallyannounced I was going to do a
podcast over a year ago,recorded like two episodes.
It was awesome, had a couple ofreally great interviews, one of
(01:55):
which, um, was with a goodcolleague of mine.
That I will release the episodeon here.
We release it, but, um, but thethe idea of like adhd real talk
, I think, is the vibe that Iwant to set for this show.
In other words, like.
I think that sometimes we canyou know, we get lost in all the
(02:18):
terminology and all of theclinical stuff, and I don't
necessarily.
I think that sometimes thereare some people who are like,
get really overwhelmed by stuff.
I don't want to water down thecontent that we're going to talk
about and to like I don't wantto like condescend, um, or like
patronize you guys at home whomaybe you know maybe there are
some listeners out there who arenewly diagnosed with adhd or
(02:42):
have had adhd for a long time orare suspecting, and they're
sort sort of like well, likethere's a lot of stuff here, and
even amongst psychologists ortherapists who do not specialize
in ADHD, it's one of thosetopics that's really challenging
to fully wrap your brain aroundbecause there's so many
different pieces.
Just as an example, you knowthe term procrastination gets
(03:07):
thrown around a lot with ADHD.
When people come to therapy,they're like I need to learn how
to stop procrastinating.
And immediately in my head I'mlike, okay, well, there are at
least half a dozen reasons justoff the top of my head why you
are not getting the thing thatyou want to get done done, and
part of what I do with people isto kind of tease those things
apart.
Each one of those things haslike different strategies or
(03:30):
things that you want kind ofwant to keep in mind when you're
dealing with those things Right.
And so I have found for myselfover, you know, the last seven
years that I am having similarconversations with people which
I don't mind doing Right, andespecially if the you know you
have like questions and thingslike that.
Um, by the way, if you are inEdmonton, um, or I guess just
(03:52):
Alberta in general, if you wantto go to recharge psychologycom,
recharge psychology is the uhis the sort of public facing
brand of me when that I foundedjust a little, I guess about a
year and a half ago, and, uh,that's what I do.
I've got like everything that Ido is under this umbrella of
recharge psychology.
But going back to you, you'llnotice, by the way and how I'm
(04:17):
talking, it is very much like anADHD meandering mindset or
topics.
Right, we're going to refine it, we're going to.
I do have notes here, but, um,but I'm having these
conversations really like veryoften, uh, with like repeated.
You know the same things and II really see a lot of value in
(04:39):
being able to distill thesethings and record them in a way,
uh, and in the future, you know, even offering like workshops
and um, and you know even likeonline courses and things like
that, for people to reallydistill this down in a way,
because therapy, as much as Ilove doing it, uh, there's a
couple of issues.
One, it doesn't scale very well.
(04:59):
A lot of it's one-on-one stuff,right, it's prohibitively
expensive for, I think, a lot ofpeople which I I I try to do,
like sliding scale as much as Ican, but I have a family to feed
, to be to be frank, right, andso I want to make these things
available for you people at homeas well.
Uh, and even if you know againthat I think that there's a a
(05:23):
lot of potential here, you knowagain, I think that there's a
lot of potential here, which,you know, potential is sort of a
four-letter word in my booksfor ADHD, but at least for a lot
of us ADHDers with, you know,childhood stuff, which we will
definitely unpack the childhoodexperience of ADHD in future
episodes.
Um, but yeah, that's my, thatis my goal for this is that I
(05:44):
want it to be practical anduseful and so, by the way, feel
free, you know, reach out to meon social media, on like
Instagram or Tik TOK, I thinkthose are the two main ones I'm
going to use.
Facebook, I guess, is the otherone that auto posts over there.
Feel free to reach out, uh, atrecharge psych, that's recharge
P S Y C H.
Reach out to me on there,follow me on those and, if you
(06:08):
want, to even DM me over thereand have discussions about
things, or just in the commentsof posts that I do over there, I
would love to craft this sothat it's as useful as possible
for the people at home.
On to today's topic, which isactually a little bit about like
what is ADHD, okay, like, whichis actually a little bit about
(06:29):
like what is ADHD, okay, likewhat is it actually, and I think
a lot of people at home we havethis idea of what ADHD is, um,
adhd, and so I'm not going tospend a ton of time on it, but I
do want to get to some of themain issues that come up, um,
beyond.
Just like diagnostic criteria,right, diagnostic criteria, in
other words, being the checklistthat exists in the DSM-5 here
(06:51):
in North America, right, whichis the Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of MentalDisorders.
It has very specific criteriathat you have to check off in
order to qualify for an ADHDdiagnosis.
Oh, I'm supposed to be mutingmy phone, by the way.
By the way, I'm going to berecording these live to hard
drive, simply because otherwiseI'm going to totally obsess over
(07:13):
things.
We're going to get through thistogether, part of so ADHD
diagnostic criteria.
There are three differentsegments or, sorry, three
different kinds of ADHD.
There is the hyperactive, slashimpulsive subtype.
We're going to talk about thatInattentive subtype.
That's the other one.
And then the third one is whatwe call the combined subtype.
(07:36):
Right, in other words, you'relucky enough, you pulled both
straws and you get both, bothkinds the hyperactive and
impulsive subtype.
I am going to be talking aboutadults.
In kids, this is thetraditional, like the kid
jumping all over the walls,right, like can't sit, still, um
(07:57):
, in girls sometimes, uh, itpresents more as, uh, maybe like
bigger, uh, you know, like very, very chatty or things like
that.
That's more of what thehyperactive subtype is Basically
.
It's like there's not a wholelot of brakes.
The impulsivity is that there'sa whole lot of acting without
(08:17):
thinking, a whole lot of a bunchof other stuff, right, uh, but
those are the basics.
Is uh, having a race car brainwith bicycle brakes?
And the hyperactive impulsivesubtype is um, externalizing.
In other words, all of thatinternal energy and the, the,
the, the franticness of the ADHDmind, co goes outward, um and
(08:42):
and shows up in like motoractivity in adults.
We used to think that that isn'tvery common in adults, but we
know now that actually is notnecessarily the case.
It's just that it looksdifferent it In adults.
It looks like restlessness.
It looks like we still see someof the same issues with, you
(09:04):
know, in terms of impulsivity,in terms of like, maybe like
impulse buying or, you know,difficulty with eating or
substance use or anger issues,or like emotion regulation
issues, right, gettingoverwhelmed easily.
All of those things very muchexist.
(09:26):
Not that we necessarily need toget super in the weeds on this,
but I'll quickly read throughthe words, through the
diagnostic criteria from the DSMhere.
Okay, I'll do this relatively,we're going to glaze over some
of these.
But squirms when seated orfidgets with hands or feet,
that's number one markedrestlessness that is difficult
(09:48):
to control.
Appears to be driven by a motoror, as often, on the go.
Lacks ability to play andengage in leisure activities in
a quiet manner, incapable ofseeing seated in class.
Again, some of these are likekids, right, or like incapable
of staying seated in a meetingor something like that right,
(10:08):
overly talkative, and then theimpulsive symptoms for this is
difficulty waiting your turnright, standing in line at the
grocery store, hanging out intraffic, interrupts or intrudes
into conversations andactivities of others and
impulsively blurts out answersbefore questions are completed.
So those are.
Those are all like reallyimportant to sort of keep in
(10:30):
mind.
They're all trying to paint apicture of somebody who just is
like the.
The way that I described thehyperactive, impulsive feeling
is like if you have been drivinga car's like you, the next time
you're sitting at a red lightand there's no like nobody else
around, go at night or somethingI don't know, go and sit at an
(10:51):
intersection and I want you tohold them down the brake all the
way, but I also want you topush the gas down and then like
kind of just like lightlyfeather off the the brake pedal
and feel your car sort of likesurging forward just a little
bit, this sort of uh, uh, uh, oh, wait, right, and you can't see
(11:12):
me, but I'm kind of likelurching forward but holding
myself back.
That is, I think, what it feelslike to have the hyperactive
and impulsive subtype of ADHD.
We're going to put a pin inthat.
That is.
That's that one.
The other one is inattentive,adhd or another one.
So difficulty with two things.
Actually, I like thehyperactive and impulsive, right
(11:35):
that's.
They've got two.
I recently saw somebody.
I wish I could remember who itwas, but my memory is terrible
and usually I'm just listeningto something and I'm writing it
down.
Anyway, all of that to sayhyperactive, impulsive is one,
inattentive is two differenttype, that's what we call it,
but there's two different thingshere.
There is difficulty maintainingattention, in other words,
(12:00):
getting distracted by things.
Right, I'm trying to payattention, I'm trying to focus
on things, but my mind'swandering, and then I should be
doing this homework and then itwanders over to something else
and then I get distracted bythis thing.
Having a hard time directingyour attention.
Uh, and the other one isactually disorganized, right, so
(12:21):
inattentive.
Often it also involvesdisorganization chaotic, messy,
difficulty with remembering, youknow, appointments, let's.
Let's read the list on this one, right.
So the first one displays poorlistening skills.
Second, loses and or misplacesitems needed to complete a task,
(12:43):
tasks or activities, right, solike, oh, I lost my glasses.
Actually, it's funny.
Before my dear sweet wifebought me a tile for my wallet
and an apple air tag for my keys.
I kid you not, I lost my keysand wallet, like for months at a
time, sometimes only to find it, like under the seat of my car
(13:05):
or something like that.
Um, tile, air tag, those kindsof things amazing time savers,
at the very least, right.
Anyway.
Loses or misplaces items, uh,sidetracked by external or
unimportant stimuli.
You may have noticed so farthat my way of talking sometimes
(13:26):
is I kind of meander right, getsidetracked by ideas.
I promise you my intentionsthey're all going to be related
and I think in the long run thisis going to make sense.
But I also trust you fellowpeople out there to keep up.
If I'm having issues, you know,let me know, but we're doing it
.
Live in the meantime.
(13:46):
Next one Forgets dailyactivities.
Diminished attention span,lacks ability to complete
schoolwork and other assignmentsor to follow instructions.
That's really interesting,right?
Think about this for a secondLacks the ability to complete
schoolwork and other assignmentsor to follow instructions.
So this is not a, this is not a.
(14:07):
Well, you just need to applyyourself, right?
This is something that, likepeople with ADHD, hear all the
time.
You just need to try harder.
You need to apply yourself.
It's like no, no, damn it, likethat's not what this is.
Are we swearing on this podcast?
It are we swearing on thispodcast?
It needs to be authentic, realtalk, right, I'm going to.
But for real, like this is notsomething that is like, eh, what
(14:27):
am I doing?
Like that's not, it's an actualdifficulty and this is
something that we're going tocome back to.
But ADHD is a neurodevelopmentaldisorder.
In other words, this has to dowith how somebody's brain is
wired and if the areas of yourbrain that are responsible for
(14:49):
following instructions, turningthose instructions into motor or
cognitive tasks, if those areasof your brain also known as
executive functioning, by theway if those areas of our brain
are not known as executivefunctioning, by the way, if, if
those areas of our brain are notwired in the same way and we
have a harder time with that,this is not a matter of just try
(15:10):
harder, right?
This is a part of ADHD and partof learning how to thrive with.
Adhd is learning how to shedthe negative and, uh like,
destructive narratives thatmaybe have been given in the
past and we're going to actually, like, adopt some new ones,
right?
So, again, inattentive ADHDlacks the ability to complete
(15:32):
schoolwork and other assignmentsor to follow instructions.
Two more here avoids or isdisinclined to begin homework or
activities requiringconcentration.
So, again, this is usingwording for like school but the
same principle applies Avoids oris disinclined to begin
(15:53):
homework or activities requiringconcentration.
If something is going torequire a lot of concentration,
my gut starts to churn becauseI'm like, oh, that's going to be
hard, like it's not evensomething that I necessarily
vocalize.
It, right, but the term thatoften gets used in those
situations is actually dread.
That's what it feels like.
The avoiding is the behaviorthat we see, but internally
(16:19):
we're avoiding because the ideaof doing this actually brings up
a lot of dread or inadequacy,um, and even just overwhelm.
Right, some of those things areADHD related, some of them have
more to do with anxiety anddepression and self-esteem and
trauma and all those sorts ofthings.
But, uh, very relevant.
Final, one fails to focus ondetails and or makes thoughtless
(16:39):
mistakes in schoolwork orassignments.
So, and then, if you're lucky,you get the combined subtype,
which is both Um.
So a couple of other additionalrequirements symptoms currently
, that the current diagnosticcriteria say the symptoms
present prior to age 12.
Um, this is important, that weneed this to not be the result
(17:03):
of like trauma, or likeimmediate trauma at least, and
that we need it to be somethingthat didn't just like show up
one day Now.
What's difficult about that isthat for a lot of people this is
actually I would put myself inthis category I was not
diagnosed until I was in my midtwenties, and part of the reason
(17:23):
for that is because, especiallywhen I was really young, I
loved to learn and I was like Idon class and just sort of like
listen and frantically do myhomework the morning it was due
as I walked into the school andI would, and I got like good
(17:57):
enough marks that I passed allof my classes.
I think there was one class Ithink it was physics 30, where
that really straight, I think Ijust passed that class by the
skin of my teeth, but I was onthe honor roll for like grade 10
and 11 and certainly throughthe rest of school, and so that
doesn't mean that my symptomsweren't there before age 12.
(18:18):
And one of the big issues that Ithink a lot of people with ADHD
have is that they uh a lot oflike uh the support systems that
exist out there.
I think part of it's a capacityissue that we don't have enough
people who are there to helpand support people with ADHD,
especially kids, but it's likewe often wait to listen.
We don't listen to people withADHD because, well, your life's
(18:42):
not on fire yet, you're doingfine.
But in the therapy room, what Ioften hear from people is, yeah
, but I am white knuckling myway through life, I am holding
on by my fingernails and yeah,sure, I'm getting by, but I'm
probably going to have a heartattack at like 40 years old
because I'm so stressed out andso this is a big issue, right?
(19:06):
And so when we say symptomspresent before the age 12, that
doesn't mean that the kid had tohave been struggling.
It just means that we can tracethese things.
If we're talking to an adult,we trace these things to earlier
in it, it actually can be veryeyeopening, right.
I mean, like, for me, verycommon red flag is that if the
(19:27):
person says you know, like Idon't know, I was always kind of
told that I had a lot ofpotential and that I just needed
to apply myself and I wanted todo well, but I just, I don't
know, I was just distracted andlike, did other things, like,
that is the quintessential, likefunctioning ADHD child in my
(19:48):
mind.
Um, symptoms also are not betteraccounted for by other, uh,
psychiatric disorders like amood disorder, anxiety disorder
or you know, if it shows uplater, you know, hyperactivity
and mania, for some people's can.
Sometimes there's overlappingsymptoms.
Right, we have to make surethat we're actually talking
(20:08):
about ADHD and not anxiety ordepression or something alone.
Um, although people with ADHD,especially untreated ADHD about
half of people with ADHD, um,have anxiety, depression or both
.
So you start to have to thinkabout what is the actual core
issue here, and the way that Ilike to ask it is if I could get
(20:32):
my shit together, if I couldfigure my stuff out and get
organized, would I?
Would my depression go away?
Would I feel less anxious if Icould just get myself to do the
thing that I need to do?
If the answer is yes, it mightactually be ADHD that we need to
(20:53):
deal with first.
Right, sometimes anxiety anddepression is what we're dealing
with instead.
But there you go.
So that's ADHD.
Now let's quickly talk about, orwe can slow down, by the way,
Zac, right.
I want to keep these withinlike half an hour.
So you know we're gettingpretty close, but I want to
briefly talk about two otherthings that are very common and
(21:20):
some of the most common thingsthat come up with ADHD.
One of them is a broad term.
We're actually going to spendall next episode talking about
executive functioning.
The other one is rejectionsensitivity.
So briefly, executivefunctioning is our brain's
ability.
It all there.
(21:40):
It's a set of differentcognitive processes that our
brain has to go through in orderto turn cool ideas into plans.
How to execute on to on things,how to keep us on track right.
If, uh, it's basically the partof our brain.
(22:02):
The way that I describe it tomy clients sometimes is that in
neurotypical people it's like ifyou have, if you go into a room
like, let's say, the kitchen ismessy and you know, you know
like a neurotypical person walksinto the room and it's almost
like their brain just prints offa list right through, gives you
(22:23):
a little list of things to do,and then they just start doing
it and then they stay on taskand all of a sudden, the
kitchen's clean.
It's amazing.
Meanwhile somebody with ADHDwalks into that same room and
looks around for a minute.
The app crashes in their brain.
This is what happens to me.
The app crashes in my brainbrain.
This is what happens to me.
The app crashes in my brain.
(22:43):
I see something else.
I walk away.
I forget that that thing evenexists and I the room has not
been done right.
That is what executivefunctioning does.
Is that executive functioningis?
Help, is involved in all sortsof things, and it's one of the
big areas where we know peoplewith ADHD struggle and it
(23:04):
impacts both the hyperactive,impulsive subtype, which has a
lot to do with, like, pumpingthe brakes and staying on task
and, you know, calming down allthose sorts of pieces, but it
also has to do with theinattentive and disorganized
subtype, which has all to dowith planning and staying on
(23:26):
task Again, a very similar thing, right?
So it impacts both.
We're going to talk a lot moreabout that next time, but that's
definitely something to beaware of.
Finally, the other big areathat comes up is rejection
sensitivity, and we will behaving another full episode
(23:46):
about this in the future.
But rejection sensitivity, orwhat some people refer to as
rejection sensitive dysphoria orRSD, that is something that
essentially is that people withADHD are highly sensitive and
experience very big feelingswhen they feel any sense of
rejection or judgment or shame,and my personal take on this is
(24:11):
that this is the result of twodifferent factors.
Number one most kids with ADHDtake a lot of flack from people,
from their peers, from theirparents, from their uh, from
other authority figures in theirlife teachers, and so, in fact,
(24:32):
some research shows that, uh,that kids with ADHD can have up
to 10 times as much negativefeedback from authority figures
in their life.
So that is something huge.
That already happens.
That's traumatic for kids,right and not.
And adults are just big kidsthat have stuff right.
So then not only that, but thenwe have big feelings as well,
(24:56):
right?
In other words, the like,emotion regulation is even more
difficult for adults with ADHD,or kids, frankly.
And so those two thingscombined, like rejection,
sensitivity, yeah, like, ofcourse that happens, right, so
we're going to talk more aboutthat.
So that is the first episode ofADHD real talk.
(25:20):
Let's real quick.
Before we finish up, I want tofinish with a little note about
self-compassion, and so, as wego through this journey together
, I want to invite you to bekind to yourself.
This is the kind of thing thatfor a lot of people with ADHD,
(25:40):
when we were growing up, right,people get frustrated with us.
I personally can be quiteobnoxious at times, I don't know
.
So I've been told.
I was told by somebody recentlythat I was kind of a hard kid
to have around, which you knowto take that for what it's worth
, um, but.
(26:01):
But I think that the importantthing throughout all of that is
that if that brings up likedifficult feelings for you as we
kind of go through this, whenyou're reflecting on how you
learned to see yourself, themessaging that you got back in
the day, the messaging maybethat you still get today, I am
going to invite you to practiceself-compassion, be kind to
(26:24):
yourself.
This is the kind of thing thathaving ADHD in and of itself is.
It's hard enough, right?
And as long as you can look inthe mirror and say you know what
, like, I am a hot mess and I'm,but I'm doing the best that I
can.
I am a hot mess and I'm, butI'm doing the best that I can,
(26:47):
that's, that's enough.
You know we, there are thingsthat we want to learn, and you
know skills to develop and youknow strategies to implement or
whatever, right?
But like, it's so valuable tobe able to start from a place of
curiosity and openness and tobe able to just be kind to
yourself.
So that is my invitation as wewrap up this first episode Go
(27:11):
over to rechargepsychology.
com and you can check out thewebsite there.
This is where I'm going to beposting all of my episodes and
if you have any questions orrequests, let me know and I will
and we'll work through some ofthose things in future sessions
of the future episodes of thepodcast.
(27:32):
So thank you so so much forlistening.
I'm really looking forward tothis journey together and I will
see you on the next one.
Buh-bye, see you on the nextone, bye, bye.
Hello and welcome to the first episode of ADHD Real Talk.
This is Zac Erickson.
I'm actually really excited.
This is the start of a newendeavor, a new project.
I am, of course, like I saidZac Erickson.
I'm a registered psychologist inEdmonton, alberta, and
exclusively now, like somepsychologists will do, like
(00:23):
assessments and things I willget more into, I guess, a little
bit about myself in thisepisode.
I think it's important for youto kind of get to know me, but
my goal for this podcast reallyis I exclusively do um
counseling psychology, right, inother words, I'm a therapist
and what that means for me isthat I actually already do a lot
(00:47):
of talking with people on adaily basis.
I see probably 20 to 25 clientsa week, uh, and I have been a
psychologist for like sevenyears since I graduated Um and
it's been a a fantasticadventure so far.
Um, but what's interesting andwhy I'm really excited about
this is that I have specificallyfallen into this love for
(01:11):
people with ADHD, primarilybecause I have ADHD myself,
which maybe, now that I say thatout loud, it is a little
narcissistic.
I don't know, that's not theintention, right, but I think
that a lot of therapistsactually fall into this thing of
what we almost call likeme-search, or in other words,
like you deal with the things inyour own life and then the
lessons that you learn, you know, go into future things.
(01:34):
So, for today, we're going totalk a little bit about like,
what is ADHD?
Why ADHD, real talk, what doesthat even mean to me?
In fact, maybe I'll even startwith that right, like when I was
thinking about starting apodcast, which is what I've been
wanting to do I actuallyannounced I was going to do a
podcast over a year ago,recorded like two episodes.
It was awesome, had a couple ofreally great interviews, one of
(01:55):
which, um, was with a goodcolleague of mine.
That I will release the episodeon here.
We release it, but, um, but thethe idea of like adhd real talk
, I think, is the vibe that Iwant to set for this show.
In other words, like.
I think that sometimes we canyou know, we get lost in all the
(02:18):
terminology and all of theclinical stuff, and I don't
necessarily.
I think that sometimes thereare some people who are like,
get really overwhelmed by stuff.
I don't want to water down thecontent that we're going to talk
about and to like I don't wantto like condescend, um, or like
patronize you guys at home whomaybe you know maybe there are
some listeners out there who arenewly diagnosed with adhd or
(02:42):
have had adhd for a long time orare suspecting, and they're
sort sort of like well, likethere's a lot of stuff here, and
even amongst psychologists ortherapists who do not specialize
in ADHD, it's one of thosetopics that's really challenging
to fully wrap your brain aroundbecause there's so many
different pieces.
Just as an example, you knowthe term procrastination gets
(03:07):
thrown around a lot with ADHD.
When people come to therapy,they're like I need to learn how
to stop procrastinating.
And immediately in my head I'mlike, okay, well, there are at
least half a dozen reasons justoff the top of my head why you
are not getting the thing thatyou want to get done done, and
part of what I do with people isto kind of tease those things
apart.
Each one of those things haslike different strategies or
(03:30):
things that you want kind ofwant to keep in mind when you're
dealing with those things Right.
And so I have found for myselfover, you know, the last seven
years that I am having similarconversations with people which
I don't mind doing Right, andespecially if the you know you
have like questions and thingslike that.
Um, by the way, if you are inEdmonton, um, or I guess just
(03:52):
Alberta in general, if you wantto go to recharge psychologycom,
recharge psychology is the uhis the sort of public facing
brand of me when that I foundedjust a little, I guess about a
year and a half ago, and, uh,that's what I do.
I've got like everything that Ido is under this umbrella of
recharge psychology.
But going back to you, you'llnotice, by the way and how I'm
(04:17):
talking, it is very much like anADHD meandering mindset or
topics.
Right, we're going to refine it, we're going to.
I do have notes here, but, um,but I'm having these
conversations really like veryoften, uh, with like repeated.
You know the same things and II really see a lot of value in
(04:39):
being able to distill thesethings and record them in a way,
uh, and in the future, you know, even offering like workshops
and um, and you know even likeonline courses and things like
that, for people to reallydistill this down in a way,
because therapy, as much as Ilove doing it, uh, there's a
couple of issues.
One, it doesn't scale very well.
(04:59):
A lot of it's one-on-one stuff,right, it's prohibitively
expensive for, I think, a lot ofpeople which I I I try to do,
like sliding scale as much as Ican, but I have a family to feed
, to be to be frank, right, andso I want to make these things
available for you people at homeas well.
Uh, and even if you know againthat I think that there's a a
(05:23):
lot of potential here, you knowagain, I think that there's a
lot of potential here, which,you know, potential is sort of a
four-letter word in my booksfor ADHD, but at least for a lot
of us ADHDers with, you know,childhood stuff, which we will
definitely unpack the childhoodexperience of ADHD in future
episodes.
Um, but yeah, that's my, thatis my goal for this is that I
(05:44):
want it to be practical anduseful and so, by the way, feel
free, you know, reach out to meon social media, on like
Instagram or Tik TOK, I thinkthose are the two main ones I'm
going to use.
Facebook, I guess, is the otherone that auto posts over there.
Feel free to reach out, uh, atrecharge psych, that's recharge
P S Y C H.
Reach out to me on there,follow me on those and, if you
(06:08):
want, to even DM me over thereand have discussions about
things, or just in the commentsof posts that I do over there, I
would love to craft this sothat it's as useful as possible
for the people at home.
On to today's topic, which isactually a little bit about like
what is ADHD, okay, like, whichis actually a little bit about
(06:29):
like what is ADHD, okay, likewhat is it actually, and I think
a lot of people at home we havethis idea of what ADHD is, um,
adhd, and so I'm not going tospend a ton of time on it, but I
do want to get to some of themain issues that come up, um,
beyond.
Just like diagnostic criteria,right, diagnostic criteria, in
other words, being the checklistthat exists in the DSM-5 here
(06:51):
in North America, right, whichis the Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of MentalDisorders.
It has very specific criteriathat you have to check off in
order to qualify for an ADHDdiagnosis.
Oh, I'm supposed to be mutingmy phone, by the way.
By the way, I'm going to berecording these live to hard
drive, simply because otherwiseI'm going to totally obsess over
(07:13):
things.
We're going to get through thistogether, part of so ADHD
diagnostic criteria.
There are three differentsegments or, sorry, three
different kinds of ADHD.
There is the hyperactive, slashimpulsive subtype.
We're going to talk about thatInattentive subtype.
That's the other one.
And then the third one is whatwe call the combined subtype.
(07:36):
Right, in other words, you'relucky enough, you pulled both
straws and you get both, bothkinds the hyperactive and
impulsive subtype.
I am going to be talking aboutadults.
In kids, this is thetraditional, like the kid
jumping all over the walls,right, like can't sit, still, um
(07:57):
, in girls sometimes, uh, itpresents more as, uh, maybe like
bigger, uh, you know, like very, very chatty or things like
that.
That's more of what thehyperactive subtype is Basically
.
It's like there's not a wholelot of brakes.
The impulsivity is that there'sa whole lot of acting without
(08:17):
thinking, a whole lot of a bunchof other stuff, right, uh, but
those are the basics.
Is uh, having a race car brainwith bicycle brakes?
And the hyperactive impulsivesubtype is um, externalizing.
In other words, all of thatinternal energy and the, the,
the, the franticness of the ADHDmind, co goes outward, um and
(08:42):
and shows up in like motoractivity in adults.
We used to think that that isn'tvery common in adults, but we
know now that actually is notnecessarily the case.
It's just that it looksdifferent it In adults.
It looks like restlessness.
It looks like we still see someof the same issues with, you
(09:04):
know, in terms of impulsivity,in terms of like, maybe like
impulse buying or, you know,difficulty with eating or
substance use or anger issues,or like emotion regulation
issues, right, gettingoverwhelmed easily.
All of those things very muchexist.
(09:26):
Not that we necessarily need toget super in the weeds on this,
but I'll quickly read throughthe words, through the
diagnostic criteria from the DSMhere.
Okay, I'll do this relatively,we're going to glaze over some
of these.
But squirms when seated orfidgets with hands or feet,
that's number one markedrestlessness that is difficult
(09:48):
to control.
Appears to be driven by a motoror, as often, on the go.
Lacks ability to play andengage in leisure activities in
a quiet manner, incapable ofseeing seated in class.
Again, some of these are likekids, right, or like incapable
of staying seated in a meetingor something like that right,
(10:08):
overly talkative, and then theimpulsive symptoms for this is
difficulty waiting your turnright, standing in line at the
grocery store, hanging out intraffic, interrupts or intrudes
into conversations andactivities of others and
impulsively blurts out answersbefore questions are completed.
So those are.
Those are all like reallyimportant to sort of keep in
(10:30):
mind.
They're all trying to paint apicture of somebody who just is
like the.
The way that I described thehyperactive, impulsive feeling
is like if you have been drivinga car's like you, the next time
you're sitting at a red lightand there's no like nobody else
around, go at night or somethingI don't know, go and sit at an
(10:51):
intersection and I want you tohold them down the brake all the
way, but I also want you topush the gas down and then like
kind of just like lightlyfeather off the the brake pedal
and feel your car sort of likesurging forward just a little
bit, this sort of uh, uh, uh, oh, wait, right, and you can't see
(11:12):
me, but I'm kind of likelurching forward but holding
myself back.
That is, I think, what it feelslike to have the hyperactive
and impulsive subtype of ADHD.
We're going to put a pin inthat.
That is.
That's that one.
The other one is inattentive,adhd or another one.
So difficulty with two things.
Actually, I like thehyperactive and impulsive, right
(11:35):
that's.
They've got two.
I recently saw somebody.
I wish I could remember who itwas, but my memory is terrible
and usually I'm just listeningto something and I'm writing it
down.
Anyway, all of that to sayhyperactive, impulsive is one,
inattentive is two differenttype, that's what we call it,
but there's two different thingshere.
There is difficulty maintainingattention, in other words,
(12:00):
getting distracted by things.
Right, I'm trying to payattention, I'm trying to focus
on things, but my mind'swandering, and then I should be
doing this homework and then itwanders over to something else
and then I get distracted bythis thing.
Having a hard time directingyour attention.
Uh, and the other one isactually disorganized, right, so
(12:21):
inattentive.
Often it also involvesdisorganization chaotic, messy,
difficulty with remembering, youknow, appointments, let's.
Let's read the list on this one, right.
So the first one displays poorlistening skills.
Second, loses and or misplacesitems needed to complete a task,
(12:43):
tasks or activities, right, solike, oh, I lost my glasses.
Actually, it's funny.
Before my dear sweet wifebought me a tile for my wallet
and an apple air tag for my keys.
I kid you not, I lost my keysand wallet, like for months at a
time, sometimes only to find it, like under the seat of my car
(13:05):
or something like that.
Um, tile, air tag, those kindsof things amazing time savers,
at the very least, right.
Anyway.
Loses or misplaces items, uh,sidetracked by external or
unimportant stimuli.
You may have noticed so farthat my way of talking sometimes
(13:26):
is I kind of meander right, getsidetracked by ideas.
I promise you my intentionsthey're all going to be related
and I think in the long run thisis going to make sense.
But I also trust you fellowpeople out there to keep up.
If I'm having issues, you know,let me know, but we're doing it
.
Live in the meantime.
(13:46):
Next one Forgets dailyactivities.
Diminished attention span,lacks ability to complete
schoolwork and other assignmentsor to follow instructions.
That's really interesting,right?
Think about this for a secondLacks the ability to complete
schoolwork and other assignmentsor to follow instructions.
So this is not a, this is not a.
(14:07):
Well, you just need to applyyourself, right?
This is something that, likepeople with ADHD, hear all the
time.
You just need to try harder.
You need to apply yourself.
It's like no, no, damn it, likethat's not what this is.
Are we swearing on this podcast?
It are we swearing on thispodcast?
It needs to be authentic, realtalk, right, I'm going to.
But for real, like this is notsomething that is like, eh, what
(14:27):
am I doing?
Like that's not, it's an actualdifficulty and this is
something that we're going tocome back to.
But ADHD is a neurodevelopmentaldisorder.
In other words, this has to dowith how somebody's brain is
wired and if the areas of yourbrain that are responsible for
(14:49):
following instructions, turningthose instructions into motor or
cognitive tasks, if those areasof your brain also known as
executive functioning, by theway if those areas of our brain
are not known as executivefunctioning, by the way, if, if
those areas of our brain are notwired in the same way and we
have a harder time with that,this is not a matter of just try
(15:10):
harder, right?
This is a part of ADHD and partof learning how to thrive with.
Adhd is learning how to shedthe negative and, uh like,
destructive narratives thatmaybe have been given in the
past and we're going to actually, like, adopt some new ones,
right?
So, again, inattentive ADHDlacks the ability to complete
(15:32):
schoolwork and other assignmentsor to follow instructions.
Two more here avoids or isdisinclined to begin homework or
activities requiringconcentration.
So, again, this is usingwording for like school but the
same principle applies Avoids oris disinclined to begin
(15:53):
homework or activities requiringconcentration.
If something is going torequire a lot of concentration,
my gut starts to churn becauseI'm like, oh, that's going to be
hard, like it's not evensomething that I necessarily
vocalize.
It, right, but the term thatoften gets used in those
situations is actually dread.
That's what it feels like.
The avoiding is the behaviorthat we see, but internally
(16:19):
we're avoiding because the ideaof doing this actually brings up
a lot of dread or inadequacy,um, and even just overwhelm.
Right, some of those things areADHD related, some of them have
more to do with anxiety anddepression and self-esteem and
trauma and all those sorts ofthings.
But, uh, very relevant.
Final, one fails to focus ondetails and or makes thoughtless
(16:39):
mistakes in schoolwork orassignments.
So, and then, if you're lucky,you get the combined subtype,
which is both Um.
So a couple of other additionalrequirements symptoms currently
, that the current diagnosticcriteria say the symptoms
present prior to age 12.
Um, this is important, that weneed this to not be the result
(17:03):
of like trauma, or likeimmediate trauma at least, and
that we need it to be somethingthat didn't just like show up
one day Now.
What's difficult about that isthat for a lot of people this is
actually I would put myself inthis category I was not
diagnosed until I was in my midtwenties, and part of the reason
(17:23):
for that is because, especiallywhen I was really young, I
loved to learn and I was like Idon class and just sort of like
listen and frantically do myhomework the morning it was due
as I walked into the school andI would, and I got like good
(17:57):
enough marks that I passed allof my classes.
I think there was one class Ithink it was physics 30, where
that really straight, I think Ijust passed that class by the
skin of my teeth, but I was onthe honor roll for like grade 10
and 11 and certainly throughthe rest of school, and so that
doesn't mean that my symptomsweren't there before age 12.
(18:18):
And one of the big issues that Ithink a lot of people with ADHD
have is that they uh a lot oflike uh the support systems that
exist out there.
I think part of it's a capacityissue that we don't have enough
people who are there to helpand support people with ADHD,
especially kids, but it's likewe often wait to listen.
We don't listen to people withADHD because, well, your life's
(18:42):
not on fire yet, you're doingfine.
But in the therapy room, what Ioften hear from people is, yeah
, but I am white knuckling myway through life, I am holding
on by my fingernails and yeah,sure, I'm getting by, but I'm
probably going to have a heartattack at like 40 years old
because I'm so stressed out andso this is a big issue, right?
(19:06):
And so when we say symptomspresent before the age 12, that
doesn't mean that the kid had tohave been struggling.
It just means that we can tracethese things.
If we're talking to an adult,we trace these things to earlier
in it, it actually can be veryeyeopening, right.
I mean, like, for me, verycommon red flag is that if the
(19:27):
person says you know, like Idon't know, I was always kind of
told that I had a lot ofpotential and that I just needed
to apply myself and I wanted todo well, but I just, I don't
know, I was just distracted andlike, did other things, like,
that is the quintessential, likefunctioning ADHD child in my
(19:48):
mind.
Um, symptoms also are not betteraccounted for by other, uh,
psychiatric disorders like amood disorder, anxiety disorder
or you know, if it shows uplater, you know, hyperactivity
and mania, for some people's can.
Sometimes there's overlappingsymptoms.
Right, we have to make surethat we're actually talking
(20:08):
about ADHD and not anxiety ordepression or something alone.
Um, although people with ADHD,especially untreated ADHD about
half of people with ADHD, um,have anxiety, depression or both
.
So you start to have to thinkabout what is the actual core
issue here, and the way that Ilike to ask it is if I could get
(20:32):
my shit together, if I couldfigure my stuff out and get
organized, would I?
Would my depression go away?
Would I feel less anxious if Icould just get myself to do the
thing that I need to do?
If the answer is yes, it mightactually be ADHD that we need to
(20:53):
deal with first.
Right, sometimes anxiety anddepression is what we're dealing
with instead.
But there you go.
So that's ADHD.
Now let's quickly talk about, orwe can slow down, by the way,
Zac, right.
I want to keep these withinlike half an hour.
So you know we're gettingpretty close, but I want to
briefly talk about two otherthings that are very common and
(21:20):
some of the most common thingsthat come up with ADHD.
One of them is a broad term.
We're actually going to spendall next episode talking about
executive functioning.
The other one is rejectionsensitivity.
So briefly, executivefunctioning is our brain's
ability.
It all there.
(21:40):
It's a set of differentcognitive processes that our
brain has to go through in orderto turn cool ideas into plans.
How to execute on to on things,how to keep us on track right.
If, uh, it's basically the partof our brain.
(22:02):
The way that I describe it tomy clients sometimes is that in
neurotypical people it's like ifyou have, if you go into a room
like, let's say, the kitchen ismessy and you know, you know
like a neurotypical person walksinto the room and it's almost
like their brain just prints offa list right through, gives you
(22:23):
a little list of things to do,and then they just start doing
it and then they stay on taskand all of a sudden, the
kitchen's clean.
It's amazing.
Meanwhile somebody with ADHDwalks into that same room and
looks around for a minute.
The app crashes in their brain.
This is what happens to me.
The app crashes in my brainbrain.
This is what happens to me.
The app crashes in my brain.
(22:43):
I see something else.
I walk away.
I forget that that thing evenexists and I the room has not
been done right.
That is what executivefunctioning does.
Is that executive functioningis?
Help, is involved in all sortsof things, and it's one of the
big areas where we know peoplewith ADHD struggle and it
(23:04):
impacts both the hyperactive,impulsive subtype, which has a
lot to do with, like, pumpingthe brakes and staying on task
and, you know, calming down allthose sorts of pieces, but it
also has to do with theinattentive and disorganized
subtype, which has all to dowith planning and staying on
(23:26):
task Again, a very similar thing, right?
So it impacts both.
We're going to talk a lot moreabout that next time, but that's
definitely something to beaware of.
Finally, the other big areathat comes up is rejection
sensitivity, and we will behaving another full episode
(23:46):
about this in the future.
But rejection sensitivity, orwhat some people refer to as
rejection sensitive dysphoria orRSD, that is something that
essentially is that people withADHD are highly sensitive and
experience very big feelingswhen they feel any sense of
rejection or judgment or shame,and my personal take on this is
(24:11):
that this is the result of twodifferent factors.
Number one most kids with ADHDtake a lot of flack from people,
from their peers, from theirparents, from their uh, from
other authority figures in theirlife teachers, and so, in fact,
(24:32):
some research shows that, uh,that kids with ADHD can have up
to 10 times as much negativefeedback from authority figures
in their life.
So that is something huge.
That already happens.
That's traumatic for kids,right and not.
And adults are just big kidsthat have stuff right.
So then not only that, but thenwe have big feelings as well,
(24:56):
right?
In other words, the like,emotion regulation is even more
difficult for adults with ADHD,or kids, frankly.
And so those two thingscombined, like rejection,
sensitivity, yeah, like, ofcourse that happens, right, so
we're going to talk more aboutthat.
So that is the first episode ofADHD real talk.
(25:20):
Let's real quick.
Before we finish up, I want tofinish with a little note about
self-compassion, and so, as wego through this journey together
, I want to invite you to bekind to yourself.
This is the kind of thing thatfor a lot of people with ADHD,
(25:40):
when we were growing up, right,people get frustrated with us.
I personally can be quiteobnoxious at times, I don't know
.
So I've been told.
I was told by somebody recentlythat I was kind of a hard kid
to have around, which you knowto take that for what it's worth
, um, but.
(26:01):
But I think that the importantthing throughout all of that is
that if that brings up likedifficult feelings for you as we
kind of go through this, whenyou're reflecting on how you
learned to see yourself, themessaging that you got back in
the day, the messaging maybethat you still get today, I am
going to invite you to practiceself-compassion, be kind to
(26:24):
yourself.
This is the kind of thing thathaving ADHD in and of itself is.
It's hard enough, right?
And as long as you can look inthe mirror and say you know what
, like, I am a hot mess and I'm,but I'm doing the best that I
can.
I am a hot mess and I'm, butI'm doing the best that I can,
(26:47):
that's, that's enough.
You know we, there are thingsthat we want to learn, and you
know skills to develop and youknow strategies to implement or
whatever, right?
But like, it's so valuable tobe able to start from a place of
curiosity and openness and tobe able to just be kind to
yourself.
So that is my invitation as wewrap up this first episode Go
(27:11):
over to rechargepsychology.
com and you can check out thewebsite there.
This is where I'm going to beposting all of my episodes and
if you have any questions orrequests, let me know and I will
and we'll work through some ofthose things in future sessions
of the future episodes of thepodcast.
(27:32):
So thank you so so much forlistening.
I'm really looking forward tothis journey together and I will
see you on the next one.
Buh-bye, see you on the nextone, bye, bye.
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