ADHD pt 1 | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

[Music]. hey everybody in today's episode and in. part two uh we talk very frankly about. ADHD and all that that means over the. lifetime of a person who has it so if. you're a parent with a kiddo who has. ADHD maybe considering listening by. yourself first before you share it with. them just a thought hope you enjoy these. episodes welcome to stuff you should. know a production of iHeart Radio.

hey and welcome to the podcast I'm Josh. Clark and there's Charles W Chuck Bryant. and there's Jerry Jerome Roland you put. the three of us together and you got. yourself a podcast called Stu you should. know that's right and this is the uh. sort of long simmering we've had it on. the back burner down to the as low as it. can summer for many many months the ADHD. what is now going to be a two-part.

episode because we've had uh I mean not. that's not why we're splitting it up but. we have had a lot of requests for this. over the years and uh it's you know it's. big there could certainly be more than. two episodes and as much as I wanted to. try and split this up into ad and HD for. fun and it just kind of doesn't work. that way so we're just GNA split it up. into two parts I think you're more. thinking of AC DC oh okay that's that's. what I think it is yeah I got you no.

Chuck instead today we're talking about. ADHD which uh stands for attention. deficit hyperactivity disorder kind of. wordy but it really does get the point. across because with ADHD I'm sure a lot. of people are familiar with it. especially the people who requested it. um it's a uh it I'm not exactly sure. exactly what kind of disorder it is. whether it's a mental disorder a. personality disorder an externalizing. disorder there's actually a lot of. debate about it but essentially it's. where people have a lot of trouble.

paying attention sitting still focusing. and a bunch of other stuff that we'll. talk about and you put it all together. and it can make life kind of hard to. navigate um and at first we'll talk. about it a lot more but kids it used to. be like little boys fidgeting. essentially was what ADHD or add at the. time was considered but over time it's. really kind of expanded we've realized. way more girls have it than we thought. before and we've also come to realize.

that adults have it too and that's a I. mean it's it's a really big huge. disorder and a lot of people just kind. of use it as shorthand like you know oh. I forgot my keys it's my ADHD or. something like that but the more you. know about it the more you realize it's. a genuinely debilitating disorder that. people have yeah and sometimes you may. lose your keys it's true that is a big. part of it I mean they're not wrong. about that one for sure so uh you know. when it comes to something like this. that is only in I mean honestly in the.

last like 25ish years really come more. into Focus as far as our understanding. of it uh when you look back through. medical and you know psychiatric. literature you're going to see it pop up. they just didn't know what it was at the. time and in this case you can probably. go back all the way to the 18th century. um with a Scottish physician named sir. Alexander uh kryon who in his 1789 book. talked about children who were unable. ble to focus uh on one thing at a time.

and you know it's it's one of those. clear cases kind of like oh well it was. probably somebody with ADHD it is not. just a modern condition because kids eat. too much sugar and they have screens in. their lives um screens can we'll talk. about that can certainly you know make. things worse but it's it's not like oh. because people are so busy and there's. too many distractions these days and. back in the olden times when there were. no distractions people didn't suffer. from something like this it's just not.

true when you hear about some of these. old. descriptions yeah no not at all and the. our understanding of it has progressed. like over the centuries but it is. interesting that it started in the 18th. century because I mean kryon nailed it. on the head like he's like there's. definitely something here uh and I guess. it just kind of stayed there for a. little while until 1902 when a. pediatrician from the UK named Sir. George Frederick still um ironically. yeah I thought that too he described. children who had a defect of moral.

control which is essentially saying that. these are kids who have trouble um. delaying. gratification um not thinking about. negative conqu consequences when they. carry out actions um and there that's. impulsivity that's what we call it today. is impulsivity and that's what still was. essentially describing at the time uh. yeah in the 30s uh some more descriptors. came along from uh the courtesy of some. German Physicians named France Kramer.

and Hans pno uh in this case talking. about more of the hyperactivity side of. things mhm and then about 5 years after. that still in the 1930s in 1937 a big um. I guess breakthrough came along when a. uh doctor for the Road Island facility. for children with neurological problems. named Charles Bradley was doing an. experiment where he was doing uh imaging. test on the brain uh and specifically in. this case with kids he was draining um. some brain or some fluid around the.

brain rather gave the kids headaches he. treated them with um benzidine which is. an amphetamine and what he found out was. wow this doesn't seem to make any. intuitive sense but giving these. children uh. amphetamines is at least for about half. of them made them less fidgety and more. focused and all of a sudden you were. onto a pharmaceutical potential. pharmaceutical treatment yeah I mean. what a way to accidentally stumble into. that because even today we're not.

exactly sure how. stimulants like take care of ADHD. symptoms we just know they really really. work luckily this doctor was like quit. complaining take some benad drain and. shut up little kids and back then the. kids. obeyed so um there was a so that was. actually kind of a diversion 1937 when. when Charles Bradley discovered this. that amphetamines treat ADHD um it. didn't like take off like wildfire. because there was interim period between.

then and like the 50s where. psychiatrists and psychologists were. like all this stuff needs to just be. talked out through psychoanalysis that's. how you treat you know mental disorders. and in the 50s finally people were like. no let's let's start prescribing drugs. and one of the first companies was siba. gagi pharmaceutical company yeah I mean. you're definitely going to go out of. business if that's the name of your. pharmaceutical company but they're the. first ones who developed riddlin.

and it turns out that the guy who. developed the drug Leandro. panon. panzone his wife was named Rita and he. named it after that's right lovely Rita. yeah so uh it was the first half of the. 20th century um when things started to. change you know you know not I guess I. could say begin in Earnest as far as re. uh researching this kind of thing um a. lot of like Research into brain injuries. were happening at the time and they. thought that um.

well hey this is what's going on um with. any kind of Developmental issue it's. it's almost certainly a brain injury uh. that can be the case for sure with all. kinds of developmental issues including. uh ADHD in this case but in the 1960s. that started to go out of favor a little. bit and they started to realize that hey. a lot of this stuff uh there are a lot. of actually distinct conditions and you. can't just lump them all in there and. say it's because a h a kid hit his head. when they were young no so uh in the. late 60s the dsm2 the SQL um introduced.

a diagnosis called hyperkinetic reaction. of childhood and it's essentially ADHD. that they were talking about and this is. the first time it showed up in um. Psychiatry it's like this is actually a. thing we just aren't clear what to name. it yet clearly because we're calling it. hyperkinetic reaction of childhood yeah. and within decade and a half we finally. had it nailed down to attention deficit. disorder add which people of our age.

that was what the name we were first. exposed to it was not ADHD this new. fangled version it was add and that's. the way it was and you liked it right. that's right uh add had a couple of. subtypes um depending on whether there. was hyperactivity involved but they it. wasn't like a part of the actual. definition at this point um I think. seven years later uh it finally landed. upon I guess this would be 1987 mhm I. was but a junior I'm sorry a sophomore.

in high school I was 11 oh you were just. a cute little 11-year-old I was a pimp. well I didn't get pimples luckily but a. wouldbe pimply faed uh teenager when. ADHD finally rolls through the door and. um I think if you had no hyperactivity. attached at that time it could it was. called undifferentiated add right am I. saying all this right I think so yeah. yeah you totally are uh and then in the. '90s another big breakthrough came.

through when they found out hey there's. a genetic component to all this um and. there are actually a lot of adults that. have this we thought kids just grew out. of this kind of thing um but now adults. are saying like when they're diagnosing. uh like gen xers basically diagnosing. their kids they're saying wait a minute. that sounds a lot like me um maybe I. have it and oh my goodness I do and that. maybe also why my kid has it yeah one of. the reasons why um they used to think it. was just a childhood disorder that you.

grew out of is because the first batch. of kids with ADHD or add they weren't. followed into adulthood they stopped. studying them after they were kids so. they just didn't think about it and then. also and this is really sad if you think. about this um the as an adult as you. grow up you get so good at masking your. symptoms in order to blend into society. totally that researchers were unaware. that there was a whole group of people. with a disorder that was was just went.

unrecognized because they were good at. at disguising it which is a huge part of. ADHD and it turns out um just being. neurodiverse in general yeah for sure. and we'll get to masking more uh in a. little bit but um another Revision in 94. in the DSM uh finally divided ADHD up. into three types the inattentive type uh. hyperactive impulsive type and then the. combined type which is. both yeah and that's where we are today. right. that's where we are today but you know.

the more we learn I feel like every 10. years that there's another change so who. knows where it's going to stop yeah. they're just going to keep adding. letters. maybe um so I say we take a break and. come back and talk about how this whole. thing kind of works in the brain as far. as we know let's do it. [Music].

lately I've been learning some stuff. about. insomnia or. alumia how about the one on borderline. disorder better yet bir order heard that. one before but it was so nice I learned. it. twice everybody listen. up oh it's Charles and. Joshua it's stop stop stop you should.

know Chuck I can't remember if I said it. already but I have ADHD myself what yeah. and then uh Jerry does too it turns out. and H this is the most amazing part of. this Jerry and I were diagnosed within. like a week of each other and we both. told you on the same day and you found. out that you were the only third of. stuff you should know that doesn't have. ADHD I know and I was like oh this is.

great to know here 15 years into our. career yeah I'm surrounded I'm. surrounded but you guys are both. wonderful and understanding this stuff. helps everybody understand things. because as you'll see throughout this. episode um ADHD affects you it affects. your your parents your loved ones your. partners your business partners and um I. think the more people understand all. this stuff the more empathy we can all. have for each other the s like a really. wordy children's book about ADHD yeah.

not a not a kids book writer even though. we have a kids book exactly that still. holds true um so Chuck uh there's like. it's clear like you said they have a. genetic or they found a genetic. component to this whole thing they've. also found that there are definite. differences in brain structure yeah uh. with people who have ADHD the brains are. just simply physically different um one. of the things is that they're smaller. places like they have less volume maybe.

some parts are thinner some parts may be. thicker and it's really important to. point out that brain size is not. relative to intelligence so if your. brain smaller doesn't mean like you. aren't intelligent and maybe here's a. really good place to point out that one. of the things I think is kind of. overlooked about people with ADHD is. they have the same um thoughts and. feelings and emotions that anybody else. does uh it's just that they have trouble.

regulating those emotions and regulating. those behaviors that the same impulses. that everybody else gets can slip. through with a person with ADHD that. that damper that's like well I can't do. that because it's socially unacceptable. that neurotypical people have is kind of. absent for the most part in people with. ADHD unless they're really paying. attention and trying to hold it back yes. absolutely um and what's you know. fascinating is that uh they can detect. some of these different is like you know.

with brain scans physical differences as. early as age four yeah um which you know. it suggests at least that like this is. innate like you you were probably born. with this uh if you can be you know four. years old and detect differences and uh. brain scans um another big big one and. this is kind of the the real Crux of the. whole thing is if you were a person with. ADHD then that means that you have a. deficit of two things uh that really.

make a big difference in your life. dopamine and norepinephrine uh two. things that we've talked about quite a. lot over the years um but you know we we. know what dopamine does and part of the. challenge of. ADHD um is if you're not getting a. dopamine hit and this is just a sort of. a a big generalization but I think if. you have ADHD you can probably relate. right if you if you're not getting that. hit of a dopamine which is a you know. part of Reward Center like hey you did a.

a great job cleaning that room and. making that bed and just look at it um. my dopamine is hitting and I feel great. about that if you're not getting that or. that's um you know uh dampered in some. way then you're not going to be as. interested in cleaning that room or. making that bed it's it's not that your. kid doesn't care or is lazy or loves a. mess is because they literally don't get. that same reward or adults uh that same. reward that uh someone who doesn't have.

that neurodiversity does and so they're. not going to be incentivized to do that. thing yeah and as we talked about in the. dopamine episode it's not like dopamine. gives you that that hit of feeling good. it's the thing that comes along with. whatever makes you feel good and says. this is important learn this and. remember this so that the next time. you're faced with cleaning a room you. can remember oh there's there's some. some good feeling at the end of this and. if you don't have that yeah there's. there's no reason whatsoever for you to.

um get up and clean a room especially. there's like as we'll see there's actual. like brain function that's missing or. impaired in people with ADHD that allows. them to self arouse and be like I should. really do this I'm going to get up and. do this yeah and fatigue is another uh. sort of I guess co- symptom of ADHD. sometimes uh because maybe you don't. sleep as well maybe the hyperactivity is. just wearing you out or your anxiety. which can also come long so not only are.

you not getting that dopamine hit and. and your body isn't learning and your. brain isn't learning like hey here's the. reward that comes with making that bed. um if you're fatigued at the same time. and let's say you're an adult and it's. not just like make your bed small child. if you have a huge amount of things on. your plate and you're fatigued and. you're not getting that dopamine hit it. can I'm sure feel like the weight of the. world is coming down on you and you. could go into shut down. yeah so uh one thing I saw is that there.

they don't think that people with ADHD. produce less dopamine the current. understanding is that people with ADHD. have more dopamine Transporters so that. dopamine gets moved out of the brain. faster so you have less of it at any. given point in time not that you make. less of it the other one you mentioned. is norepinephrine and that's usually the. thing that allows you to kind of Rouse. yourself um and it helps you also very. importantly regulate emotion regulate.

self-control regulate attention and so. those are the neurotransmitters the big. ones that definitely in some way shape. or form affect ADHD we just don't fully. understand it but one of the other big. things that has to do with the brain is. the um typically the frontal lobe or the. um frontal. cortex contains like our higher thinking. our higher behaviors and that's usually.

put together in something called. executive function which is a suite of. behaviors and cognitive abilities that. essentially let us just be you know. functioning people in society as far as. the terms of society require yeah like. how you prioritize your tasks um how you. handle distractions that come your way. how you control what impulses that come. your way that may or may not distract. you from those tasks mhm um and you know.

we're going to talk about I guess like. six broad executive functioning um. components and if you have. ADHD um one or all of these are going to. be dinged in some way doesn't mean you. can't you have zero executive. functioning by any means but it just. means with these six things some of them. may be worse than others because ADHD. like most things sort of exist on the. Spectrum as far as how severe it might. be for each individual. uh the first part of that executive.

functioning is um working memory um of. course that's just your you know that's. your working memory it's just like. thoughts at any given moment about what. you're doing and what you are. remembering to do right you usually. think of working memory with like. remembering a phone number while you're. going to write it down you know but it. also involves everything from like. engaging in a conversation planning a. vacation like anything where you're. having to hold a bunch of thoughts like. in the front of your mind while you're. kind of working it all out that's.

working memory and it's really important. and it's very frequently impaired in. people with ADHD another classic um. executive function that is essentially. Universal as far as ADHD symptoms go is. H self-restraint or inhibition control. and not just physically but also. emotionally and intentionally too like. staying in a. conversation um not blurting out. something offensive about someone's. hairstyle even though you don't mean to. hurt their feelings M it's another one.

too um being on a diet and then just. being like I'm just going to eat a bunch. of cookies too who cares a lot of all of. those things have to do with inhibition. control and that's just a big part of it. yeah and you can still say like geez who. wears a mullet these days just say it. very quietly to your friend or just. think it and that's another thing too I. think that's why a lot of people who. don't have ADHD. recognize the it because they were. thinking the same thing but they know. not to say it this person says it you. know what I'm saying that's the that's. the difference yeah like if you've ever.

heard anybody say something like oh I I. got no filter that person has no filter. uh that person may have ADHD is a good. chance you know or they're they're just. irresponsible one of the two yeah that's. true you can also just be a jerk uh. planning organizing and problem solving. is another big one uh if you have a goal. for work or life or whatever school um. what you usually do uh when you're. executive and. when you're an executive no when you're.

when you're functioning executively uh. is you take that goal you look at it you. break it down into steps and smaller. parts uh you do an evaluation of like. what's the best way to tackle this thing. and that's a big big part of problem. solving um if that is impaired with ADHD. and you're thrown a big task or a big. work or school project it you may kind. of just freeze for a while and you know. uh you know this sounds bad but you. might just sit there and think about.

something entirely different for a. little while yeah you might go to Great. Lengths to avoid that task and also not. just procrastinating but like really. genuinely having trouble focusing. because you don't know what to do you. don't know where to start yeah like you. can't do it it's not there a disinterest. or anything like that right uh another. one's decision-making which kind of ties. into that where you know you you can't. just say yes to everything that's not. how life works so you have to take into. like a account future consequences and.

you have to figure out do I have time to. do all of these things and if not which. one's more important like all that goes. into decision making um and that can be. largely impaired to not just not like. necessarily all the time but you were. just kind of mentioning something called. ADHD paralysis that where like things. can get so overwhelming you cannot know. where to start you're you you know like. your boss is coming down the hall to get. this report you haven't even started on. and like you just shut down you can't.

decide anything you can't really focus. on anything that's called ADHD paralysis. and that can come from having to make. decisions yeah and that's where as a. parent uh or as a partner a business. partner or life partner to someone if. you don't have that challenge that's. when you can really step up and sit down. with your kid or your friend or partner. and say all right let's sit down and. look at this uh let's talk about the. steps like maybe what a good first step. might be maybe get a little help. organizing something um those are like.

to be a really active involved parent or. partner is key to uh everyone you know. doing the best they can in life yeah. totally and we'll talk more about like. what parents and like family members and. spouses and all that can do later on. down the road but that's a great that's. a great thing to hit multiple times you. know yeah uh time management is another. big one uh that kind of ties into a. little bit of the planning and. organization and stuff like that but. just being able to allocate your time.

keep track of the deadlines uh it's may. seem counterintuitive but if you or a. person with ADHD uh you might do much. better with a deadline instead of some. just amorphous task that's handed to you. right uh so like knowing the deadline. may be really good for you or the. deadline may just come and go sometimes. as well yeah and it's not necessarily. because they're like I don't care about. this deadline they may have literally. forgotten about it um I read a Horror. Story Chuck about a guy with ADHD an.

adult whose boss came to him and said. hey you know why don't you run Monday's. meeting I'm not going to be there and. the guy was like I knew that this was. like a step toward like getting me ready. for like the next level for a promotion. into management so he was really excited. about it and then over the weekend he. totally forgot about it when the Monday. meeting came around he sat down with. everybody else waiting for the boss. wondering where the boss was and they. all just left the meeting and went back. to work and his came and asked him how.

the meeting went and he's like what are. you talking about and it finally sunk. into him like what had just happened and. think about that like he just probably. totally scuttled any chance of that. promotion yeah because he just forgot. about it and that's just something that. can happen with it that's the frequent. reason people with ADHD Miss deadlines. they just forget that they have one you. should have saved that for. Halloween that Horror Story yeah where's. the knocker didn't that just turn your. stomach it does imagining that guy for.

sure uh and then the last part of. executive functioning that can be. impaired is another big one uh it's. called task shifting um and it leads. into a couple of things we're going to. talk about uh that means you get out of. your default mode uh which we'll expand. on here in a second uh and doing. something called set shifting which is. you know being able to switch from task. to task uh being flexible as you're. doing that um maybe realizing like.

different tasks and different situations. require different rules uh and if you. don't have that if that's impaired you. might be really rigid in how you think. something has to be done a very black. and white thinking uh that can come. across to others as stubborn uh but in. the ADHD mine uh you just have a hard. time task shifting right exactly and. that's a huge classic one too like you. just focus on one thing or you can't. start another thing too and if you put. all that together in in life people with.

ADHD um they have trouble remembering to. pay bills they forget that they have. homework they say or do inappropriate. things like not waiting for their turn. to speak um they have trouble. self-motivating staying on task they. misplace things they have false memories. which is a really big one that we'll. talk about um they they can't remember. important dates or that they're supposed. to run a meeting and another big one too. is that they'll they'll very fre. frequently ADHD causes you to walk into.

a room and you have no idea what you. went in there for you knew you went in. there for something that happens to me. sometimes too like but imagine every. time yeah now I can't cuz it's it's. frustrating and it can also be. alarming yes that's another thing too is. especially as you age with ADHD you can. be like okay is this ADHD or am I. developing early on so dementia like. they there's a lot of overlap and it can. be very scary but. you also learn tricks like you just.

leave the room and go back out to where. you just were and you're going to see. like a clue that that will prompt you to. remember and then you just think about. it while you're going into the room and. and then you remember it usually just. amounts to an extra trip back out of the. room and then back into it but it is. just frustrating for sure you know what. they call that in the old film Biz do. you remember a McGuffin no you go back. to one oh okay yeah that's right that's. right I remember Chad saying that he. would always pinch the bridge of his. nose saying yeah back to one just means.

first position of that scene like if the. scene starts and you're in the doorway. go back to one you go back to that. doorway so maybe that's a a fun a fun. way to remember that kind of thing yeah. I love that Chuck way to go um let uh no. let's not take a break yet because I. think we should talk I mentioned uh. default mode um default mode network is. a a very big part of this uh at least. understanding of this um the the brain. Reg collectively that function when.

you're just hanging out um when you're. hanging out on the couch you don't have. anything to do in the moment uh I mean. people with no children um can identify. with this maybe I can't but the times of. the day where you can just sit around. and introspect and daydream and zone out. a little bit uh that's called default. mode and when you're doing that there. are parts of your brain that become. really active and light up uh during. default mode and if you have. um if you're a neurotypical person going.

between uh default mode because once you. have to kick into action mode that. default mode turns off and switching. between those uh if you're neurotypical. is you know it works as it should if you. have. ADHD and the problem is that default. mode stays on sometimes uh they've like. shown this in image brain Imaging. studies so right uh if you're doing a. task um that requires Focus your default. mode still may be on and that's active.

at the same time and those two things. are not. sympatico no and like by sometimes it's. pretty much all the time like you're it. just does not shut off so that amounts. to there's a a psychiatrist named Ned. Hollowell MD um who put it as a a. persistent magnetic pull away from the. task at hand into distraction so you're. because your brain is like no no no. we're over here we're going to daydream. because you're default mode network is. on um you can't focus for long periods.

on the task at hand or if you can it's a. constant struggle to resist your letting. your mind wander you have to actively. keep it focused on the thing you're. doing because your like you said the. Action Network didn't take over and the. default mode Network go down um you know. proportionately to one another now. they're just both on default Network go. down. turned into Tuk Tuk for a minute yeah.

that's how Tuk Tuk says so and we'll. talk about medication in you know uh I. guess probably in part two um but uh. aside from medication if you uh are. trying to help turn that default uh mode. Network down or off uh breathing. techniques are a big part of that um. like trying to stay in the present bring. yourself back to the present through. breathing techniques and mindfulness. exercises those can go a long way yeah. for sure um do you want to take a break.

and then come back and talk some more. about you know. ADHD yeah sure since we're. [Music]. here. lately about. insomnia or. Alia how about the one on borderline.

disorder better yet bir order heard that. one before but it was so nice I learned. it everybody listen. up oh it's Charles and. Joshua it's St it's it's you should. not all right so uh this is a big one um. maybe one of the biggest sort of. downsides to. ADHD uh and don't worry there are some.

upsides too uh cuz you know there are. some quote ADHD superpowers mhm uh here. and there that we're going to talk about. so take heart um but uh one of the. biggest drawbacks is called uh rejection. sensitive dysphoria or RSD it's a very. destructive thing if you have it it's. very destructive to people around you um. it's the basically it's basically when. any any kind of rejection or even. appearance of rejection even if it's not. rejection will trigger a very very um.

intense flood of emotion that. is it almost has and can feel like it's. having and can have an actual physical. effect that is so strong um a not just a. fear of rejection just a um because no. one likes rejection but uh if you have. ADHD and RSD um anything like that can. bring a real flood of negativity around. you yeah it can be actual rejection but.

it can also be something like. constructive criticism which is. important to be able to take um a. perceived slight maybe a madeup slight. um somebody's fleeting facial expression. and off-hand comment your own false. beliefs and then there's two ways. generally that a person with RSD or we. should just say ADHD will respond to. that to that perceived rejection they. can internalize where they'll just. emotionally curl up into a ball um and.

just shut down or they may also lash out. and they'll have a meltdown or an. outburst or they'll become angry that's. called. externalization and so to really kind of. put it in perspective imagine either one. of those being the response that you get. when you ask someone to not leave their. dirty dishes in the sink yeah like. that's RSD that's what it's like living. with RSD that's what it's like having. with RSD and the big problem is the. whole thing is instantaneous it's not.

like I'm going to have an out burst I'm. going to melt down I'm going to. emotionally ball up it just it just you. it goes from trigger to response with. nothing in between yeah and then you. know the person in your life may end up. uh even if their understanding of what's. going on may end up walking on eggshells. may not want to criticize or. constructively or otherwise anything. about that person uh in fear of like a. meltdown or or an emotional Outburst or. something like that uh because it can.

you it can really disrupt like a. relationship so you know you've got one. side where someone can't help something. and you've got the other side where uh. even if that person can't help it it's. destructive to the relationship so I'm. just going to do everything I can to. avoid any sort of Confrontation yeah it. makes it really hard to have a. connection with somebody who might just. melt down at you at the slightest. provocation right yeah um and and you. said something the person can't help it. the person with RSC cannot help this. they're not being a jerk like they can't.

not do this and one of the problems with. it is that it's really fleeting it's a. Hu it's like a tidal wave or getting. punched in the stomach that's what it. feels like the overwhelming emotion like. you said but that's fairly fleeting and. then that gets replaced by regret and. then feelings of Shame every time. because you're just so ashamed you you. can't control yourself right so um some. people who have RSD will become people. Pleasers where they don't share their.

thoughts their true emotions their true. opinions they don't share themselves at. because what they're doing is cutting. off as much risk as possible of being. rejected and thus triggering um an a. bout of RSD yeah yeah that's a vicious. cycle it is it's and so initially they. used to think that it was comorbid with. ADHD that it was a separate thing and. it's not even recognized in the DSM yet. it's that that recently recognized but.

apparently Studies have found that. essentially a 100% of people with ADHD. also have RSD so they're just basically. coming to the conclusion that it's it's. a it's a terrible symptom of ADHD yeah. exactly um we mentioned some benefits. and positive things uh hyperfocus is one. of them uh it's sometimes called a. superpower of. ADHD uh if you and seen this with with. all kinds of people in my life that have.

ADHD uh if it's there if it's something. they're into and they're interested in. and they can zero in on that thing uh it. is like I mean hyperfocus doesn't even. begin to describe it they can tune out. everything um and sometimes to to their. own detriment you know if it's like. other things in their life that need. attention uh hyperfocus can distract. away from those but um it can also be a. great thing uh if you are. uh someone with ADHD you may have a a.

real like um a real skill for like. zoning in on something maybe a. particular kind of job might be really. really good for you right or particular. tasks may be really really great for you. and you can get a lot done sometimes. that way yeah it's like the exact. opposite of your inability to. self-motivate right yeah um I saw a. corporate study bandied about um the. statistic all over the place but. essentially this this one company found. that a person a neurodiverse person who.

is locked into something that interests. them in their work will essentially do. the job of two people they produce. between 90 and 140% more work than their. peers in the same say department and. that their um work is consistent and. error free typically because they're. just totally laser focused on that thing. so if you can find a job that holds your. interest like that you're you're very. much in luck because unfortunately one.

of the things that is a huge challenge. for people with ADHD is finding a job. when you have to find a job that doesn't. hold your interest it's it's very. difficult to arouse yourself to do that. even though you know like you have to do. this and you should be doing it and you. feel terrible for not doing it it's. really hard to do sometimes yeah which. is why sort of understanding uh yourself. and your challenges is like really key. when you go out into the world and join. the workforce um like it's important for.

anyone to to go into the job search. thinking like all right what am I really. good at and what are my challenges but I. just think it's probably times a million. if you have. ADHD yeah and um yeah for sure another. um kind of something related to this is. is you can become laser focused on just. everyday tasks that end up catching your. interest somehow surprisingly um and so. people with ADHD if they're doing a task. and they in hyperfocus it'll take them. way longer to do it frequently um but.

that's because they're doing a a perfect. job of it so like say vacuuming the car. you just go to vacuum the car and you're. like huh this caught my interest and now. I'm totally focused on making this car. immaculately clean in every way shape or. form um so of course it's going to go. from taking 15 minutes to taking an hour. and a half you know but when when you're. done the car looks awesome yeah so maybe. um they're probably CEO all over the. place now trying to staff up certain.

departments yeah that's actually a thing. and there are probably uh people that. should be auto detailers and start up. your own small business that way yeah. well one of the things I saw I read a. Dell watt or Del how do you say that. that consulting firm I don't know it. doesn't matter I I read one of their. reports and they were saying that um you. know traditionally people think like. okay there's there's got to be a good. job for a neurodiverse person like maybe. program or coding or something like that. just let them go off and be themselves.

by themselves and they're starting to to. recognize like no like you you can put. somebody that's neurodiverse in any job. and if they find something interesting. in it they're going to excel at it it's. not necessarily a specific field that. applies to neurodiverse people yeah yeah. for sure um and you know kind of tagging. on to what we were just talking about um. viewing yourself as you know not having. a some sort of defect or deficit uh and. like hey this is who I am um this is how.

I like I have no choice but to operate. this way uh and try and work you know. with within that framework not the. framework of somebody who doesn't have. this uh who doesn't have ADHD like it's. a the world and jobs a lot of times are. kind of structured around um I mean yeah. the entire world is structured around uh. people who aren't neurodiverse so. fitting into that world can be a real. challenge no matter what your. neurodiversity is so kind of uh working.

with who you are and understanding that. is a real key to moving forward in life. yeah and there are a lot of positives. upsides to having ADHD that kind of give. you talents that other people don't. necessarily have um like one of them is. is I saw it described as you're getting. so much noise at any given time you're. inevitably going to also get more data. points than other people at any given. time and people ADHD have a a typically. an ability to connect dots that other.

people make connections that other. people can't see um that's a big one um. another one is like if you are. multitasking and you actually get those. projects done that kind of Boundless. Energy that's synonymous with the. hyperactive part um of ADHD uh you're. going to get a ton of stuff done in any. given day way more than like a. neurotypical person who you know poops. out halfway through the day yeah for. sure uh another potential positive is.

you know earlier when we were talking. about some of the impaired executive. functions and U being super just sort of. black and white and rigid uh when you. apply that to a moral code uh you may. have a very strong moral compass uh. whereas somebody who's a little more um. sees like the gray instead of the black. and white might be like well you know. it's really not so bad if if this kind. of if you do this kind of thing uh. whereas if you have a very strict of. view of right and wrong and a black and. white sense of that you may be like no.

that's just wrong Chuck there was this. one time where I tried to fight two guys. who I thought were throwing rocks at a. manity and um like I I was I was seeing. red Yumi was even like it's not a manity. stop and I didn't even hear and um those. guys were like it's a rock we're not. throwing rocks at manties I was like oh. all right and luckily they were cool. with it but I was ready to fight two. dudes for throwing rocks at a manity. like my sense of justice was just that. stricken I wish I would have been there.

I might have we might have fought him. anyway. Josh just because I've never been in a. fight right so like I don't know it'd be. fun to get in a fight with you right. sure oh yeah back to back yeah yeah. exactly the two. musketeers another one Chuck is if a. person with ADHD gets excited it's. infectious typically if they're in a. place where they feel safe and. comfortable like just showing their. excitement and just letting it hang out. you're probably going to get excited. along with them because it's just so it.

just spills over it's it can be really. nice to be around for sure uh one more. thing uh if you have ADHD you very. typically catastrophize as far as. thinking goes you're just constantly. expecting the worst just because over. and over and over again in your life the. worst has come around because you forgot. to do something or whatever um so that. catastrophic thinking can actually be an. asset in. you can look at something that. everybody's about to do and be like well.

we're all going to die if we do this. that no one else saw and you can find a. safer option in that way um it's it's. actually a huge benefit of having ADHD. even though you have to suffer with. catastrophic thinking in order for that. to be an asset too you know yeah uh. Chuck I say that we end part one here. yeah just getting cooking too and then. we're going to pick up part two and. we're going to talk some more about ADHD. in part two. and then um while we're talking about. ADHD we'll eventually finish part two.

and then that will complete part one and. two of ADHD what do you think about that. for a plan I think that sounds great and. uh as is custom here we don't do uh. listener mail or anything for these two. parters so I guess we'll just say see. you Thursday yeah and finish on that. dramatic pause like the very special. episode of Different. [Music]. Strokes stuff you should know is a. production of iHeart Radio for more. podcasts my heart radio visit the iHeart. Radio app Apple podcasts or wherever you.

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