MissUnderstood: The ADHD in Women Channel

They unpack why taxes feel like a surprise attack for ADHD brains and how working memory and time perception sabotage planning. The conversation highlights scattered documents, procrastination spirals, and shame-fueled avoidance. Practical systems are discussed like automating finances, creating a document dumping ground, breaking tasks into short sessions, harnessing hyperfocus, body doubling, and hiring help.

Roberto Olivardia, PhD, a clinical psychologist who studies ADHD and comorbidities, critiques SPECT-based “ring of fire” claims. He describes patient harm from misdiagnosis. The conversation covers what SPECT can and cannot show, the ethics of selling scans and treatments, and how media and marketing spread unsupported brain-scan narratives.

They read messy Reddit love stories about memory being weaponized and signs of emotional manipulation. They unpack DARVO, how working memory issues get exploited, and when safety and exit matter. They talk loneliness, the pressure to pair up, and whether relationships equal acceptance. They explore new relationship energy, ADHD-driven novelty seeking, and alternatives to feeling stuck in boring routines.

They explore why guilt loops so loudly for people with ADHD and how emotional overdrive makes small slipups feel huge. They compare guilt with shame and pinpoint executive function failures that fuel replayed mistakes. Practical tactics like pause-and-label, systems for follow-through, CBT strategies, self-compassion practices, and boundary-setting get attention as ways to interrupt the guilt cycle.

Rae has a lifelong misconception about her dyscalculia turned on its head. And she learns why labels don’t mean limits. For more on this topic Listen: Kids are at a breaking point, and school policies might be to blame Listen: The uncertain future of special education in the United States The discrepancy model: What you need to know For a transcript and more resources, visit Hyperfocus on Understood.org. You can also email us at hyperfocus@understood.org . Listen to Everyone Gets a Juice Box, a new podcast from Understood.org where host Jessica Shaw has honest talks with parents raising kids who learn and think differently.Understood.org is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering people with learning and thinking differences, like ADHD and dyslexia. If you want to help us continue this work, donate at understood.org/give Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Division of labor between partners isn’t easy for anyone. Add ADHD and suddenly dishes come with shame. Trash becomes a crisis. And rest starts to feel sketchy.  Cate sits down with KC Davis to unpack the messy, deeply human reality of sharing work at home. They talk about resentment, perfectionism, time blindness, trust, and why keeping score almost never fixes anything. For more on this topic Listen: Managing expectations in relationships Read: How to Keep House While Drowning (KC’s book) For a transcript and more resources, visit Sorry, I Missed This on Understood.org. You can also email us at sorryimissedthis@understood.org. Listen to Everyone Gets a Juice Box, a new podcast from Understood.org where host Jessica Shaw has honest talks with parents raising kids who learn and think differently.Understood.org is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering people with learning and thinking differences, like ADHD and dyslexia. If you want to help us continue this work, donate at understood.org/give Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

For many people with ADHD, lying isn’t about dishonesty. It’s a stress response.  Some days your ADHD brain tells a tiny fib just to survive the social jungle. Saying “yes” when you mean “no.” Inventing excuses for forgetting something obvious. Lying isn’t villainy here — it’s impulsivity, executive dysfunction, and a dash of fear. In this episode of ADHD and, Dr. J digs into why ADHD makes dishonesty feel automatic. Plus clever ways to notice, pause, and try something different in the moment. For more on this topic Listen: The noisy ADHD brain — plus ADHD and lying Read: Why ADHD lying happens (from ADDA) For a transcript and more resources, visit MissUnderstood on Understood.org. You can also email us at podcast@understood.org . Listen to Everyone Gets a Juice Box, a new podcast from Understood.org where host Jessica Shaw has honest talks with parents raising kids who learn and think differently.Understood.org is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering people with learning and thinking differences, like ADHD and dyslexia. If you want to help us continue this work, donate at understood.org/give Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Last fall, I heard something that floored me: The tests we have for ADHD in adults don’t work very well. As an adult with ADHD, I think about this all the time because our diagnosis is so stigmatized and so misunderstood. It’s overdiagnosed. It’s underdiagnosed. Everybody has it. Nobody has it. If only there were a silver bullet or some test that could definitively say yes or no. So, I asked the two Chicago School faculty members who got me thinking about this after their presentation at the CHADD conference last year: Jessica Rosenfeld, a clinical psychologist, and Reneh Karamians, a  neurorehabilitation psychologist. They explained why adult ADHD diagnosis is so difficult, and how new scan technology holds promise for spotting ADHD in the brain.  For more on this topic Listen: Is ADHD genetic? We asked a Harvard scientist Listen: Understood Explains: ADHD in adults For a transcript and more resources, visit Hyperfocus on Understood.org. You can also email us at hyperfocus@understood.org . Listen to Everyone Gets a Juice Box, a new podcast from Understood.org where host Jessica Shaw has honest talks with parents raising kids who learn and think differently.Understood.org is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering people with learning and thinking differences, like ADHD and dyslexia. If you want to help us continue this work, donate at understood.org/give Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Dr. Mark Schrime, a surgeon and decision scientist, explains why choices feel exhausting and how values, uncertainty, and heuristics shape decision-making. He explores analysis paralysis, cognitive overload, and the 70% rule. Hear practical moves like trimming options, practicing small risks, and when gut calls are okay.

Small stressors that trigger sudden mood spirals and why they escalate so fast. How avoidance acts like short-term relief but creates bigger problems. Simple bodily and emotional signs to watch for and quick regulation choices to shift your state. Tiny actionable steps to start tasks and repair without aiming for perfection.