Refocused, A Podcast All About ADHD

This week, we continue our look at ADHD and depression with our guest, friend of the pod and Mentavi Health and ADHD Online business development representative Ian Hoefelmeyer.    As a kid, Ian was labeled the 'ADHD kid' and even though his teachers observed some of ADHD traits, it wasn't until years later when he was struggling in college that he sought out a diagnosis and then medication. Like s...

The comorbid connection between ADHD and depression is strong. While both ADHD and depression involve issues related to mood, concentration, and motivation, they do differ. ADHD is a lifelong neurological disorder that impairs executive functions, attention, and self-control; depression is a mood disorder that causes sustained periods of unprovoked sadness, irritability, fatigue, and hopelessness....

Did you know that ADHDers are four times more likely to develop depression than neurotypicals? In fact, some experts think that as many as 70 percent of ADHDers will be treated at some point in their lives for depression. Today we continue our series on ADHD and it's comorbidities, this week discussing depression. Joining us is Lakeisha Love, a Board Certified Nurse Practitioner in Family Medicine...

In last week's episode we met Ashley Jacobs, who had never looked at ADHD and OCD as coexisting together until we chatted. This week we continue our look at ADHD and OCD, and our guest Katy Collister has a different story to tell. What happens when you have ADHD and Anxiety, you're in middle school, AND you start having dark and frightful intrusive thoughts? Katy Collister is a listener of the sho...

Did you know that an estimated 30 percent of patients who have OCD also have ADHD? Dr. Roberto Olivardia shared this statistic 2 weeks ago in our first episode about OCD. We know there is a strong connection between ADHD & OCD, and it is really important to us to not only share clear, precise info about these co-morbidities but also real life examples of how they play out in our lives. This week w...

This week we continue our conversation with Dr. Roberto Olivardia and talk about how & why ADHD and OCD can get mixed up. What are the biggest connections between the two? What is the difference between external and internal distractibility and what that means for a person who could have both? Don't miss out on this episode because it is full of useful information.   Dr. Olivardia is a Clinical Ps...

What is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)? Is OCD common with ADHD? What are the types of OCD? Roughly 80% of people with ADHD will be diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder, a comorbidity, at some point in their lifetime. This episode is the first of 2 parts with an expert on both ADHD and OCD, Dr. Roberto Olivardia. Before we go deep and discuss the relationship between OCD and ADHD, let's firs...

We're trying something a little different this week. We've just finished back-to-back episodes with Dr. Marcy Caldwell talking about ADHD & Anxiety, and we thought that it would be good to revisit some of the things in those episodes that resonated with us as neurodivergents. Joining us is Jaye Lin, an ADHD coach, educator, speaker, and podcaster based in the Seattle area. Like many of us, she too...

Today we continue our conversation with Dr. Marcy Caldwell about ADHD and its lovely comorbidity buddy, anxiety. You will learn about what mental health providers like Marcy take into account when they're working with a patient who has ADHD and anxiety. We'll hear how stimulant medications fit into the equation, plus Marcy offers up a long list of coping strategies we can all add into our own live...

Episode Title: Understanding ADHD & Anxiety with Dr. Marcy Caldwell, Part I   Like Sully from the Pixar movie "Monsters, Inc", anxiety can be the monster in the closet. What is anxiety? Maybe more importantly, how does it show up in a person's life? Join us as clinical psychologist and ADHD advocate Dr. Marcy Caldwell talks all about anxiety and then helps explain why anxiety can be a bigger conce...

We have an incredible lineup of brand-new episodes kicking off on July 10th that we are so excited to share with you! Today, we're revisiting an episode from last year's Refocused, Together that is incredibly special to us.  Today, we're reconnecting with the ADHD story of John Smith.  Like many, John discovered his ADHD during the pandemic. Everything slowed down but he kept going and that was hi...

We're wrapping up Pride Month by bringing back another friend of the podcast, Candace Lefke. We met Candace when she shared her ADHD story with us for Refocused, Together 2022 -- Candace and her Many Passions .  Learn more about the language guidelines to follow when talking about suicide , set by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto. Jess Corinne's article for Learnfully.com, The...

Can you identify with how Kim Livingston felt when she wanted to clean, but was somehow unable to attack the chaos? Simple tasks seemed complex because she couldn't find a starting point, and didn't see a clear set of steps ahead. Let's set aside the judgment that the title generates and in the nearly 20 years since this all took place Kim has had plenty of time to reflect back on that moment. She...

In recognition of Pride Month, we continue our discussion about ADHD and queerness. In today's episode, friend of the podcast Emily Howarth shares openly about surviving a suicide attempt and how it led to her finding out about her ADHD. If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts, there is help. Call or text the number 988 to connect directly to the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. I...

Happy Pride Month! On today's show, we revisit our conversation with Dylan Alter, an advocate for ADHD awareness and the founder of NeuroQueer.org, a community that supports adults who are LGBTQ+ and neurodiverse. Dylan shares their personal journey, starting from a decade-long struggle with depression to finally being diagnosed with ADHD. They discuss how ADHD intersects with the queer experience...

How can we raise kids that are independent, confident, kind, empathetic and happy? By talking to them. Sounds easy, right?  According to  Rebecca Rolland , it can be -- as long as we use the right kind of talk. Rebecca is a speech pathologist and  Harvard lecturer  but it's her role as a mother of two that led her to write  The Art of Talking to Children . In her book, Rebecca introduces the conce...

What difficulties might children with ADHD experience in sports? Are some sports better for kids with ADHD? Are individual or group sports a better fit? We're diving into the role that sports and athletics can play in the life of a neurodiverse person with Michael Shipper. If you are in the midst of signing your kids up for all of the summer activities, this is one you won't want to miss. And if y...

Michael A. Cohen is a columnist for MSNBC, a fellow for the Eurasia Group Foundation and is the publisher of the newsletter Truth and Consequences . He also has ADHD and is one of the many Americans who has struggled to fill his Adderall prescription over the last few years. On April 29th, he published the opinion piece, "The Adderall Shortage is the Mental Health Crisis No One's Talking About" on...

Does exercise help with ADHD symptoms? How important are consistency and personal accountability in exercise? How do I stay motivated to exercise as a neurodiverse person? Alli Cost, MS, OTR-L, joins the podcast to answer these questions and provide additional insight into how to live your life without pain. Whether you're an athlete looking to improve your performance, a desk worker looking to re...

What does it mean to be at capacity? After the last five months, Refocused host Lindsay Guentzel is there -- but if she's honest, she's probably been living at capacity for years. And that's an incredibly difficult place for a person with ADHD to be.  Today's episode is full of honesty, some very exciting news and some oversharing, for sure. It's not how the Refocused team wanted to highlight Ment...

Did you know that a problem accurately processing sound is often mistaken for an attention problem? What Is the Relationship Between ADHD and Auditory Processing Disorder (APD)? Who diagnoses APD? Is APD genetic? For those who may not be familiar with APD, of all the processing disorders, this one is most often missed or misdiagnosed. Dr. Melissa Karp, Au. D., and Lindsay discuss how hearing and p...

Is Object Permanence a symptom of ADHD? Are Object Permanence and "Out of sight, out of mind" the same thing? Did you know that Object Permanence is not a recognized medical condition or a symptom of ADHD? What does Donald Trump have to do with any of this? These questions, and more, are answered in this episode with Dr. John Kruse: Neuroscientist, Psychiatrist, and Author. We'll be discussing ADH...

Does ADHD cause sleeping problems? Should adults get recess like school kids? Did you know that 70% of people with ADHD have some type of sleep problem? This includes problems that are behavioral, medical, and neurological. In this episode of Refocused, we continue our discussion with two sleep experts, Dr. Stephen Lange and Dr. Sanford Auerbach. This week's focus is on sleep problems, sleep archi...

Hey! We're talking about sleep and we want to hear from you! Share your thoughts on ADHD and sleep with us -- your stories and experiences -- and we'll share them on episode 76, coming out Monday, April 17th. It's super easy. Record yourself on your phone. Tell us your name, where you live and then just start talking. If you make a mistake, don't worry about starting over! We'll make you sound ama...

Right now on Refocused, we're talking all about sleep, the science behind it and why it is so important for us.   What does it take to get good sleep? What happens while we are sleeping? What obstacles are we up against when it comes to having good sleep hygiene? How does life and the changes we've seen as humans play a role in our sleep patterns?   We're diving into all of that with two sleep exp...