Highly Sensitive ADHD Mom

Have you ever had anxiety about anxiety? In this episode, I’m opening up about a major milestone: working with my psychiatrist to very slowly taper off my antidepressant, Lexapro. After surviving an incredibly heavy year of stacked stress—including deep grief, financial uncertainty, and a major family rift—things have finally settled. But as I take this first step down, I’ve noticed a quiet intern...

Have you ever felt like your anxiety was the only engine keeping your life from falling apart? In today’s episode, I’m opening up about my conflicting relationship with medication as an HSP/ADHD mom, and why I’ve decided to slowly taper off my antidepressant, Lexapro, to transition solely to ADHD stimulant medication. I'm diving into the heavy reality of late-diagnosed ADHD, how the pressure to be...

Have you ever looked at your sensitive child and realized that the very things you struggle with are actually beautiful gifts? In this episode, I’m sharing the raw truth about our first family trip to Greece. As an HSP managing ADHD, travel anxiety and perimenopause used to derail me. I’m opening up about the reality of "medication jetlag" across an eight-hour time difference, the humor of rushing...

Have you ever felt a strange, quiet sense of loneliness as a mom, even when you're almost never physically alone? In this episode, I’m getting incredibly honest about why finding deep, soul-level friendships in our 40s feels so hard, especially for highly sensitive ADHD moms. I share the five realizations helping me build a beautiful tapestry of local connections without draining my battery, why I...

In this episode, I’m opening up about what it’s really like to navigate daily sensory overload as a highly sensitive person (HSP) and ADHD mom. I’m sharing my exhausting habit of absorbing everyone else’s stress just to make the frantic energy in the room stop. By untangling my own childhood history alongside the science of Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD) and ADHD emotional dysregulation, I lo...

Have you ever looked at an old childhood photo of yourself and felt a sudden wave of sadness instead of a smile? In this milestone 10th episode, I’m sitting right here in my closet, diving into a heavy but completely necessary topic: the grief we feel for our younger selves as late-diagnosed moms. It is a strange, heartbreaking thing to stand between two generations of ADHD—watching my 7-year-old...

Have you ever noticed that your body still feels tightly wound hours after a stressful moment passes? The morning chaos is over and the problem is fixed, but your nervous system is still stuck in absolute overdrive.  In this episode, I’m sharing a raw, honest look into my daily battles with morning-rush anxiety, sensory overload, late-diagnosis ADHD, and perimenopause. Grounded in the book Burnout...

Have you ever felt a shift in the room that no one else noticed, only to tell yourself you’re "just being sensitive"? In this episode, we’re getting real about Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD). For a long time, I rejected the RSD label because I didn't want to believe I was "malfunctioning." But I’ve realized the real danger isn't the diagnosis—it's the way RSD tries to internally gaslight us i...

Description:  In this episode, I’m talking about moving away from the frantic ADHD hyperfocus of "rushing for answers" and learning to actually sense the shifts in my own nervous system. After three months of diving into every book and podcast out there, I’m realizing that my highly sensitive system just needs a break from the noise. I’m sharing the ways I’m staying regulated from turning my iPhon...

I’m being really honest in this episode about a super hard, emotional week I’ve had and why my ADHD brain is constantly writing checks my HSP nervous system can’t cash. I wanted to talk about Spoon Theory through our specific lens as neurodivergent moms—navigating that weird tension where the ADHD side of us wants all the excitement while the high sensitivity is begging for a nap. I’m sharing how...

Ever wonder why a busy weekend leaves you feeling completely wiped out and agitated, even when it was "just" a soccer tournament? In this episode, I’m getting honest about transition fatigue and why shifting between environments is so draining for highly sensitive ADHD moms. I’m sharing how I’m finally stepping out of the guilt loop and learning to build a life that actually honors my biology—from...

Description: I’m Lisa Kelly-Willis, and in this episode, I’m talking about that heavy "mental load" we all carry—and why I finally had to stop holding everything in my head before it felt like it was going to explode. I’m getting honest about my own breaking point last summer and how I went from being a "super volunteer" numbing out my feelings to finally admitting that my sensitive ADHD nervous s...

For 45 years, anxiety has been my survival strategy—the engine I used to keep my ADHD brain from dropping the ball. In this episode, I’m sharing some of my hardest stories, from being a terrified kid in the dark to a sensory-overload moment at 23 that actually led to an arrest. I’m realizing now that these weren't character flaws or "troublemaker" moments; they were just a highly sensitive, undiag...

Description:  In my last episode, I shared my diagnosis story and let’s just say, wow, I had a total vulnerability hangover afterwards. This week, I’m being an open book again and sharing what my family actually sees. I asked my husband and kids for the "good and the hard" parts of having a highly sensitive ADHD mom in the house, and their honesty was both heart-warming and a little eye-opening. W...

I thought it was just perimenopause, a busy “mom” brain,” and my lifelong high sensitivity. But a single, confusing moment during my daughter’s piano lesson cracked the code to my entire life. Join me, Lisa Kelly-Willis, for the very first episode of the Highly Sensitive ADHD Mom Podcast. I’m sharing the raw, unfiltered story of how my 7-year-old daughter and I were both diagnosed with ADHD just t...