Hacking Your ADHD

Hey Team! This week, we’ve got an incredible guest, Dr. Stephen Faraone, one of the world's foremost experts on ADHD. Let me just give you a quick rundown of just how influential Dr. Faraone is: He has authored over 700 journal articles, editorials, chapters, and books Listed as the eighth-highest producer of High Impact Papers in Psychiatry from 1990 to 1999 as determined by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI). In 2005, the ISI listed him as the second-highest cited author in the area of ADHD. In 2019 and 2020, his citation metrics placed him in the top 0.01% of scientists across all fields. In 2002 he was inducted into the CHADD Hall of Fame Currently, Dr. Faraone serves as a distinguished professor of psychiatry, physiology, and neuroscience at SUNY Upstate Medical University and president of the World Federation of ADHD. So yeah, this guy knows what he’s talking about when it comes to ADHD and if you only listen to one episode of the podcast this year, I’d suggest this one. One of the focal points in this conversation is the ADHD Evidence Project, which Dr. Faraone started to help fight misinformation about ADHD and give free access to the information we have about ADHD. On the site - which can be found at ADHDevidence.org - you can find the International Consensus Statement, which provides 208 statements strongly supported by ADHD research. In the episode we get more into what went into the process of making the statement and the standards of research. In the episode, we also discuss evidence-based treatments, debunk common myths, and discuss what really works when managing ADHD. If you'd life to follow along on the show notes page you can find that at HackingYourADHD.com/202 This Episode's Top Tips Stick to treatments that have been proven effective through rigorous studies. Large studies and meta-analyses are more reliable than small studies when determining ADHD treatments. Not all ADHD treatments you find online are helpful—be cautious of sources that aren't peer-reviewed. Beware of misinformation as well as misleading information that can lead you down the wrong treatment path. While some alternative treatments may help, their effects are often significantly smaller compared to standard stimulant medication. When thinking about approaching what we do to help manage our ADHD, we want to think about the magnitude of the effect and do the things that will help the most first.

Hey Team! This week we’re following up our last episode on misinformation—and this is going to be our last episode in the research saga that I’ve been working on for the last… couple of months? Yeah, I think I’m ready for something new as well although as a preview for next week, I had an amazing researcher as a guest and we do cover a lot of similar topics, but don’t worry, it’s a fantastic episode, great capstone to the series. But today we're diving into a topic that’s critical for navigating life with ADHD—understanding and protecting ourselves from myths and misinformation. There's a big difference between outdated myths like, 'ADHD is just laziness,' and actual misinformation, which can mislead us into making risky choices about treatment. In this episode, we’re getting into how to spot these traps, why myths stick around, and what makes misinformation so tricky. If you'd life to follow along on the show notes page you can find that at HackingYourADHD.com/201 This Episode's Top Tips ADHD myths tend to be long-standing cultural beliefs, while misinformation often appears more credible and is linked to misinterpreted research or can be part of a specific agenda. There are a lot of pitfalls to watch out for when consuming information about ADHD. Oversimplication, sensational headlines, anecdotal evidence, secret information and even how the information is framed can be indicators that you might have to double check the information. Avoid spreading misinformation by verifying where your information comes from, especially if you see it on social media or from non-expert sources.

Hey Team! We’re kicking off 2024 with the incredible Jessica McCabe - creator, writer, and host of the award-winning YouTube channel How to ADHD. I’m sure a lot of you are already familiar with Jessica’s work as her YouTube channel has more than a million subscribers, but for those of you who haven’t, her channel contains a wealth of knowledge about ADHD and is one of the things that kicked me in the pants to start taking my ADHD more seriously. And now she’s coming out with a book: How to ADHD: An Insider's Guide to Working with Your Brain (Not Against It) - which is coming out on January 2nd - so tomorrow if you’re listening to this when this episode comes out. In our conversation today, Jessica and I discussed how we want to go from surviving our ADHD to thriving with it, to get past some of our issues with executive function and universal design. We also get into a lot of stuff about her book and how she was able to use a lot of the strategies that she wrote about in the book to also help her write that same book. Honestly, this episode was a blast to record and I hope you enjoy as much as I did putting it together. Be sure to check out howtoadhdbook.com to find Jessica's book Feel free to ask me a question on my Contact Page Find the full show note at HackingYourADHD.com/164 This Episode's Top Tips  When we want to move from surviving to thriving we want to start looking at not just how we can get more things done, but what’s worth doing. Even projects we’re interested in can be difficult for us to work on, so it's important for us to keep them exciting with variety. When planning out those big projects, work backward from where you want to be to figure out all the steps in between so that we can see that path to done. Effort for us is not the problem, so trying harder is not the answer.

Hey team! This week we’re celebrating a milestone for Hacking Your ADHD - 200 episodes… also 5 years of running the podcast. I honestly don’t know exactly what to say about how far this podcast has come. It’s been an incredible run so far and I have a lot of plans for the future as well, which, honestly is a little scary, but also exciting that even with ADHD I’m sticking with it. For this episode, I’ve invited Brendan Mahan, the voice behind the ADHD Essentials Podcast, to help mark the occasion by interviewing me on the ins and outs of podcasting with ADHD. We talk about the early days, what has changed, and how past failures have paved the way for success. It’s a bit more of the behind-the-scenes look at the podcast and how I got here. If you’d like to send me a question answer on the show feel free to head over to hackingyouradhd.com/contact and click the orange button Support me on Patreon Ask me a question on my Contact Page Find the show notes at HackingYourADHD.com/200 This Episode's Top Tips  Allow past failures to become stepping stones to success. Learning from “crappy rough drafts” makes getting started on what you’re currently doing so much easier. It’s incredibly important to allow for empathy for yourself when trying to work with your ADHD. Viewing your problem-solving through the lens of “I have ADHD, and I need to account for my ADHD” can make finding that next step so much easier. Go check out Brendan’s podcast, ADHD Essentials. While his podcast focuses more on parenting and ADHD, I haven’t listened to an episode without getting something out of it, truly excellent stuff.

Hey Team! This week we’re talking misinformation which is an interesting topic because it feels like it should be something where its easy to define and identify. We’ve all seen stuff online where we looked at it and felt, “how the heck does anyone fall for this kind of stuff?” And that’s actually something that plays right into the hands of falling for misinformation. When we think we’re immune to something, we’re not on the lookout for it when it isn’t quite as straightforward. It’s the stuff that rhymes with the truth that is often the easiest for us to get trick by. While it is easier than ever for us to get  access to ADHD information it also means we’re exposed to more misinformation about ADHD than ever as well. But with a little bit of caution I think we can muddle through fairly well. And what I mean is that we just have some rules that we should apply when we’re evaluating the information that we’re presented with. If you’d like to send me a question answer on the show feel free to head over to hackingyouradhd.com/contact and click the orange button Support me on Patreon Ask me a question on my Contact Page Find the show note at HackingYourADHD.com/199 This Episode's Top Tips Always verify the credibility of the information, especially when it relates to health - it’s easy for misinformation to spread, especially when it’s got some aspects of the truth to it. Be aware that misinformation often stems from oversimplifications or well-meaning errors, not malice. This doesn’t mean it can’t still cause harm, but it does mean the need to be extra vigilant even when it comes to trusted sources. We all mistakes, I know I do. Use the question, “compared to what?” to help you understand the full context and relevance of advice. Try and focus on implementing wins instead of focusing on the minutia.

Hey Team! We’re diving right back into the world of ADHD research, continuing on from what we were talking about a few episodes back. In this episode, we’re going to be more focused on what goes into making ADHD research reliable. I go in-depth into what you can expect to find when reading a study and then also into what thing to look out for when trying to determine what’s really going on in those studies. We’ll discuss how to navigate the sometimes confusing world of peer-reviewed journals, why sample sizes matter, and what to watch out for when it comes to conflicts of interest (I mean, everyone is interested in how ADHD research is funded, right?). This piece was also initially going to cover misinformation, but with how much ended up going into everything else, I’m saving that for next week. If you’d like to send me a question answer on the show feel free to head over to hackingyouradhd.com/contact and click the orange button Support me on Patreon Ask me a question on my Contact Page Find the show note at HackingYourADHD.com/198 Check out Sunsama This Episode's Top Tips The first step in examining a research paper’s credibility is to ensure that it is peer-reviewed. The peer-review process will cover many of the other steps that we discussed in this episode. While there is value in some non-peer-reviewed work, it’s important that we approach it with a skeptical lens. However, with that first tip, we should also know that we shouldn’t view peer-reviewed journals as a beginner’s source. They are written with the expectation of other experts as the intended audience, and without the prerequisite knowledge, it can be easy to misinterpret what is being said. One of the largest concerns about ADHD research comes from worries that pharmaceutical money will introduce bias into many of the studies; however, most research is actually funded through government grants, and the peer-review process is designed to help identify conflicts of interest and eliminate any bias that may be present.

Hey team! This week, I’m talking with Dr. Judy Ho, a clinical and forensic neuropsychologist with a PhD in clinical psychology. She focuses on mental health, ADHD, and various psychological disorders. She is triple board-certified and is a tenured associate professor at Pepperdine University, where she teaches graduate-level psychology. In our conversation today, we talk about how ADHD can impact self-esteem, the importance of understanding your brain’s wiring, and practical ways to manage attention and relationships. Dr. Ho shares insights into how cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) can help train your attention and how reframing your thoughts can reduce self-sabotage. In our conversation, Dr. Ho also shares some of her favorite strategies for improving focus, managing emotional regulation, and mindfulness to tackle ADHD challenges. Whether you’re struggling with self-sabotage or finding it hard to keep up with tasks, this episode is packed with tips that will help you thrive with ADHD. If you’d like to send me a question answer on the show feel free to head over to hackingyouradhd.com/contact and click the orange button Support me on Patreon Ask me a question on my Contact Page Find the show note at HackingYourADHD.com/197 This Episode's Top Tips  Train your attention like a muscle. Use a simple task and set a timer for 15 minutes, gradually increasing the time to strengthen focus. You can also work on capturing distracting thoughts by keeping a notepad nearby while working, jotting down distractions without letting them derail your task. Try using multimodal mindfulness, which involves engaging multiple senses to stay focused, such as reading or taking notes, and then combining those activities with visual or auditory elements. If you’re procrastinating, ask yourself why and address the underlying reasons—whether it's fear of failure or overthinking. Often, procrastination is a sign that you have some need that is being unmet. Addressing that need can often help to get you unstuck.

Hey Team! This week we’re going to look at what is entailed in ADHD research—what it is, how it works, and what it all means for us. Before we get going though I wanted to start with a brief explanation of what really drove my thinking about this topic—which now looks like is going to end up as a multi-part series. So there’s an idea called the illusion of explanatory depth, which occurs when people believe they understand something but, when asked to explain it, realize that they don’t quite understand the underlying mechanism as well as they thought. Classic examples are things like how a computer works, how a bicycle stays upright, or how a toilet functions. If I were to ask you how any of these things work I expect most people would say they could. But let’s take the toilet example—I know personally, I’d probably start with something about the flush adding water and maybe creating a difference in pressure and… okay maybe I don’t know how a toilet works. And that’s the point here: with the illusion of explanatory depth, we have some understanding of what’s going on, but when pressed for details, we often find those gaps in our knowledge. And this was something that I was feeling about ADHD research and had me questioning what I really knew. That isn’t to say that I didn’t know anything but we hear all the time that new studies are coming out about ADHD, but what does that really mean? How is this research being conducted? Who’s funding the research? What are ADHD scientists actually studying? Who's doing this research? What kind of research are they even doing? And what even makes one research study better than another? We all have some semblance of feeling like we know some of the answers to those questions, but this is also where the illusion of explanatory depth comes in because the answers to all of those questions is far more complex than our initial assessment would grant. In this series, we’ll be examining these questions more closely. And in this particular episode we’ll be focusing on the different types of research, the methods used, and some the challenges that researchers face when studying ADHD. I also want to emphasize that I will not be able to cover everything in this series, but that’s not the goal. What I’m hoping you get out of this is a better understanding of what goes into the making of the science of ADHD. Find the show notes at HackingYourADHD.com/196 This Episode's Top Tips  ADHD research is comprised of three categories: basic research, clinical research, and behavioral research. Basic research seeks to better understand the underlying causes of ADHD through genetic and neuroscience studies. Clinical research tests different treatment options, such as proper medication levels and the effectiveness of non-pharmacological interventions. Behavioral research studies how ADHD impacts daily life through observational and longitudinal studies. As a spectrum disorder, ADHD manifests differently for everyone, making it important to recognize that symptoms and challenges vary across individuals. Combined with the high levels of comorbid conditions with ADHD, means that researchers have to be cautious when determining what’s actually a factor in ADHD interventions. Because there’s no definitive medical test for ADHD, diagnosis relies on behavioral assessments, which can be influenced by cultural and societal factors, leading to both over- and under-diagnosis in certain populations. This creates challenges in ADHD research as it limits who should be included in studies. 

Hey Team!  I’m excited to bring you my conversation with Nikki Kinzer and Pete Wright, hosts of "Taking Control: The ADHD Podcast." If you haven’t checked out their podcast before, Nikki and Pete have been a mainstay in ADHD podcast realm with over six hundred episodes across twenty-nine seasons - if there’s an ADHD topic you’re interested in, they’ve probably covered it. And Nikki and Pete recently released their new book, Unapologetically ADHD, A Step-by-Step Framework For Everyday Planning On Your Terms. In our conversation, we explore how their personal experiences and professional expertise in managing ADHD shine through in their work, providing both structure and understanding. Whether it’s tackling procrastination, enhancing organizational skills, or simply learning to partner with your ADHD, this episode is packed with practical advice and real-life strategies. Unapologetically ADHD: A Step-by-Step Framework For Everyday Planning On Your Terms Checkout Sunsama If you’d like to send me a question answer on the show feel free to head over to hackingyouradhd.com/contact and click the orange button Support me on Patreon Ask me a question on my Contact Page Find the show note at HackingYourADHD.com/195 This Episode's Top Tips  Embrace your ADHD and plan your day around it to avoid unrealistic expectations and the ensuing shame. When looking for a system, we need to recognize that no one-size-fits-all tool exists. Try to avoid the trap of looking for the best options; focus instead on eliminating the worst options to simplify decision-making. When we recognize the importance of revisiting and adjusting our systems regularly rather than constantly switching to new tools, it’ll help us acknowledge that every tool or system will have days it fails. With that in mind, we can focus on embracing resilience so we can get back on track when things do go awry.

Hey Team! It’s that time of year again where I feel like I need a kick in the pants. My kids are back in school and it feels like I have a glut of time available. It feels like I should be knocking things off my todo list left and right. But I’m not. I’m tired and I’m not getting things done. And it’s frustrating because it feels like now that I have this time, I’m wasting it. It feels like if I take this time for rest that I’m going to look back later and regret that I didn’t push myself harder. But rest is important even when it feels like I don’t have time for it. Rest can feel like a foreign concept when your brain’s always on the go. It can feel like trying to sit on a treadmill that’s still running. In this episode, we’re going to explore why our ADHD brains find rest so uncomfortable and how we can use pacing to finally make it part of our day. We're going to explore why our brains resist rest and how we can try and work in those much-needed breaks without feeling guilty. If you’d like to send me a question answer on the show feel free to head over to hackingyouradhd.com/contact and click the orange button Support me on Patreon Ask me a question on my Contact Page Find the show note at HackingYourADHD.com/194 Check out Sunsama This Episode's Top Tips  It’s important to recognize that rest can feel uncomfortable because we aren’t getting enough stimulation in our restful activities. To solve for this we can seek ways to add low levels of stimulation so that we can better recover during our relaxation time. We need to build white space into our calendars and schedule intentional downtime in our day to allow for rest, transitions, and unexpected events. Coming up with ideas in the moment can be hard so prepare a go-to list of activities like reading, stretching, or listening to podcasts to help you relax when needed. If we can shift our mindset to see rest as part of your productivity routine, it can help us reframe it into something that will better help recharge and avoid burnout without the guilt.

Hey Team! I was recently thinking about some of the ways that ADHD can manifest in seemingly opposite ways. One moment, we're laser-focused, and the next, we're completely derailed by the tiniest hiccup. In this episode, we’ll be exploring the idea of the dichotomy of ADHD. How it can feel like even our symptoms are inconsistent. We’ll be looking at how our ADHD brains can take us from hyperfocus to total distraction, from being impulsive to utterly paralyzed, and why sometimes we thrive in chaos but crumble over minor setbacks. And we’ll also be looking at how while many of these ideas may feel like they are in total opposition, that they may in fact have a similar root cause. Support me on Patreon Ask me a question on my Contact Page Find the show note at HackingYourADHD.com/193 This Episode's Top Tips  Realize that many of the dichotomies of ADHD actually come from the same source, such as hyperfocus and being unable to focus both stem from a lack of ability to regulate our focus. Often, when we encounter one of these dichotomies, we need to work on reframing what’s going on so that we can apply an appropriate strategy. Regardless of what you’re doing, but especially when you are over-functioning, it’s important to take care of your needs.

Hey Team! While AI has become a buzzword that has lost much meaning, there are still many use cases that can help with our ADHD. One of the places that I have been enjoying exploring is how I can outsource some of my executive functions to these applications so that I can save my brain for the important stuff. In today’s episode, we’ll first examine executive function so that we know what we’re really working with here. Then, we’ll explore a number of tools that we can use—from large language models (LLMs) to tools to help with your calendar, and even smaller tools fit for goblins. Also, before we get into anything about AI, I do want to make a quick disclaimer about some of the ethics of using these tools and also how they were created. While these tools can be great in assisting with what we create, it’s also important that we’re still doing our own work and not passing off what LLM did as our own work. I have been using some of these tools to help create episodes, and even cite some of the ways I am doing so in this episode. But what I’m not doing is feeding a prompt into an LLM and just using that. That would be lazy, irresponsible and not something that anyone wants. However, just because I’m not doing that doesn’t mean that other people aren’t—this is something to particularly look out for with new books about ADHD that aren’t coming from established authors and creators. Additionally, there are ethical concerns about how the training data for many of the LLMs was obtained. This is especially a concern in regard to the lack of content used to source this material. This has been seen more in terms of art and how those models are trained without the artist's knowledge, but it also applies to written word. While I still have been using these systems, I think it is important that we encourage more ethical sourcing of training data and only using data with consent. If you’d like to send me a question answer on the show feel free to head over to hackingyouradhd.com/contact and click the orange button Support me on Patreon Ask me a question on my Contact Page Find the show note at HackingYourADHD.com/192 This Episode's Top Tips We can better understand executive function through the lens of self-regulation. There are three core areas that we can look at here: working memory, cognitive flexibility, and inhibitory control. Tools like LLMs can help us create starting points for our work. By prompting the LLM to ask us questions instead it can help us better think through our problems. When looking to add a new tool to your repertoire, think about what problem it is going to be solving for rather than just looking for the new shiny.

While ADHD is described as life on Hard Mode, that phrasing got me thinking about what would life look on easy mode. And more importantly, how can we make our lives feel more like that? In this episode, we’re going to explore what life on easy mode might look like and discuss actionable strategies to shift the dynamic of living with ADHD so that it doesn’t always feel like an uphill battle. How we can take steps to shift our ADHD from making life a struggle to something more manageable. From simplifying routines to harnessing the power of small changes there are a lot of ways that we can work on dialing down that difficulty. If you’d like to send me a question answer on the show feel free to head over to hackingyouradhd.com/contact and click the orange button Support me on Patreon Ask me a question on my Contact Page Find the show note at HackingYourADHD.com/191 This Episode's Top Tips  We can use the focusing question from the book The One Thing: "What’s the ONE Thing I can do such that by doing it, everything else will be easier or unnecessary?" to help us identify not only what would be most impactful for us to do, but what we should prioritizing With the focusing question, we can also leverage the Domino Effect. We often don’t need to focus on the big things that we need to do but rather on the small and significant tasks that can set off a chain reaction of success, making other tasks easier or unnecessary. Focus on progress, not perfection. Aim for small, consistent improvements rather than drastic changes, and celebrate every small win along the way.

Hey team!  I’ve recently been seeing a lot more stuff around the concept of dopamine fasting. Now, I’m going to start by saying that I’m entering this conversation with a bit of trepidation because it comes from a side of the internet that… well, they tend to have good intentions, but this basically amounts to bro science despite the backing it does have. The idea behind dopamine fasting is to reduce or eliminate activities that provide instant gratification and a quick release of dopamine. So, someone going through a dopamine fast might give up using their phone, watching TV, video games, junk food, and alcohol, plus anything else they see as their go-to dopamine activities for, say a 24-hour period. I know, sounds like torture. The idea here is that because we’ve glutted our brains on all these easy dopamine activities, we want to try to “reset” the process to regain a more sensitive system that isn’t seeking that quick hit all the time. In today’s episode, we’ll break down this concept and examine whether it works (hint: I already called it bro science) and what, if anything, we can still gain from the ideas. Support me on Patreon Ask me a question on my Contact Page Find the show note at HackingYourADHD.com/190 This Episode's Top Tips  When dopamine fasting, you are trying to reduce or eliminate activities like watching TV, playing video games, eating junk food, and drinking alcohol that would give you a quick release of dopamine. While there may be some benefits in abstaining from these activities, the idea of doing a dopamine fast to reset your system doesn’t hold much water. Instead of trying to use a dopamine fast to create a quick fix, it’s better to examine your habits and daily activities that lead to feeling like you need one and see how you can modulate those. With ADHD, we often are understimulated, and by doing something slightly stimulating, like playing with a fidget toy, can help improve our focus and concentration.

Hey team! This week, we’re diving into another listener question. “Hi, William. I'm Emily, and I live in Chicago, Illinois. I'm a lifelong gardener and love growing flowers, veggies, houseplants, and more. As someone with ADHD, plant care is something I either hyperfixate on or procrastinate and ignore because of all the things that my plants need to thrive. For some reason, creating routines around plant care has been really challenging for me.” Hey Emily, I love this question because there are always all these things that we want to do that we find so difficult to get into unless we’re falling into hyperfocus. And really, I think that this addresses a key piece of ADHD: getting started can be the hardest part, even on the things that we want to do. So, I’m going to expand this to talking about more than just gardening, although I’ll try and keep your specifics in mind as I go. There are these things that we love to do yet find ourselves unable to do consistently. For a lot of hobbies, that isn’t always too much of a problem, but with plant care… well, I think we’ve all had a plant or two that we’ve lost because we forgot to water it for a week or two. Honestly, as I started answering this question, I figured that I’d be adding a couple of other questions into this episode, but as I got going, there were a lot of things that I was able to get into. From the different types of fun, to blocking fun out on our calendars to how we can work on lower the resistance to getting started. So, while gardening might not be your thing, there is still a lot you can get out of this episode because we cover a lot of ground. If you’d like to send me a question answer on the show feel free to head over to hackingyouradhd.com/contact and click the orange button Support me on Patreon Ask me a question on my Contact Page Find the show note at HackingYourADHD.com/189 This Episode’s Top Tips Block off dedicated time for gardening in your calendar to ensure it's prioritized and protected. Our brains are going to make time for us to take time off regardless, so be proactive and choose how you want to spend that time. To balance enjoyment and satisfaction, differentiate between Type 1 (immediate fun) and Type 2 (retrospective fun) activities. You can break down tasks into three parts: setup, doing, and clean-up to reduce resistance and ensure a smoother start (and finish).