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ADHDUK Podcast episode 1
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Do not adjust your set! We have rebranded to the ADHDUK podcast. We will still cover the science of ADHD but alongside news and interviews from the wider world of ADHD.
We also welcome a new co-host, the amazing Lauren Jennings!
But where is Tess? Listen to find out!
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Transcript
00:00:07
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the podcast previously known as ADHD Science, now known as ADHD UK podcast, if that makes sense. My name is Max Davey.
00:00:19
Speaker
And my name is Lauren Jennings. So you some of you, the more perceptive of you will have noticed that the second voice on this podcast is no longer Tess. um Tess is now doing her undergraduate degree in psychology and she's just not here basically. And she doesn't want to do it remotely. um So Lauren has very kindly, ah well we i've persuade well, we sort of were talking about it and Lauren has joined the podcast. to see to see where things go. at Lauren, do you want to introduce yourself because the the content of today is essentially your story and my story leading up to where we are now as a as a as a podcast.
00:00:54
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. So I'm Lauren. and I have been a part of ads UK as a volunteer in the ambassadors group for nearly three years. um And recently I became a trustee and back at the end of last year for ADHD UK, and which is really exciting. and So i was actually diagnosed with ADHD at 25 years old, and so four years ago. And before diagnosis, and I struggled a lot, especially with disorganisation.
00:01:25
Speaker
um social connections you know um my emotional dysregulation and I didn't really know what was happening i i was always told that I would seem to grow out of the emotions that I was feeling which is actually quite negative looking back at looking back at that um but as soon as ah i found out about ADHD especially within women um from the research that came to light um straight away sort of knew um that I had ADHD and so did my family and it was actually my family that were like you know what Lauren um we think you might have ADHD and then I was like
00:02:03
Speaker
Yep, I think so too. So after going for my diagnosis, it was literally like a lightbulb moment. And um ever since then, I've been wanting to create change for other people because of my own lived experiences.
00:02:17
Speaker
Yeah. And i mean, we'll sort of jump straight into your story, really. It's a great great summary. What was the first, what was, how did it all start for you in terms of ADHD? Because you were sort bumping along and and ah you've told me some things before about how things were quite difficult.
00:02:32
Speaker
What was the thing that kind of made you think, huh? So some of the things that actually came out about ADHD and women, and especially sort of the more information that came out, especially around COVID time, um,
00:02:45
Speaker
So some of the things that I constantly struggled with, which was especially actually friendships and relationships and those social communication barriers that I always thought were just me.
00:02:56
Speaker
I just thought that everyone, you know, had those difficulties. Everyone and was the same. And actually, when it comes to relationships and not just sort of romantic relationships, but also friendships and with the people around me, the people I lived with, I was constantly... and tamed as Deemed as messy. I'd leave a trowel everywhere that I went behind me. and and And again, I thought that that was an everyone thing, but it turns out that that it's not. and But it was mainly it was mainly the friendships and relationships. And and i think for me, some of the things that i really struggled with was keep keeping those
00:03:38
Speaker
friendships and relationships i didn't always understand you know social constructs and the same way that someone else would um getting birthdays um forgetting big large events and it it was obviously never intentional but to someone that may be um not neurodivergent or have an understanding like myself I didn't have an understanding at the time I couldn't understand why I couldn't retain information like everyone else um But once I once I did find out about ADHD, I was then able to advocate for myself, which then made me want to advocate for others.
00:04:12
Speaker
Yeah. ah ah What it's interesting, isn't it? Because you said relationships was a big problem when you before you were diagnosed. What was it about the diagnosis that improved your relationship? Because, of course, we haven't got a pill for that. You see what I mean?
00:04:25
Speaker
Of course. Or any kind of therapy for that. Yeah, absolutely. It's so true. and One of the things that I actually was able to do was advocate for myself. to So the more I learned about ADHD, so I had no clue what emotional dysregulation even meant. I really didn't know much about it all. I didn't know much about ADHD at all.
00:04:45
Speaker
and But the more i the more I researched, the more I found out. And i was able to then explain to my family, explain to my friends, and what that emotional dysregulation actually meant for me on a day-to-day basis, not just from a from a fact, but from a feeling perspective of the emotions that I actually feel when when I am you know in a, wouldn't say melt meltdown mode.
00:05:09
Speaker
and i've i've I've struggled with with that previously. um I say previously, it's still something that happens more internally rather than externally. oh I see. But then that can, that I can also, you know, sidetrack. So if i'm if I'm thinking about something and I'm overheated in my brain, then i won't be focusing on whatever event is happening, whatever is happening for other people. And sometimes that that can seem a little bit selfish, but but it's it's not intentional.
00:05:39
Speaker
And it's actually something I was able to explain. I know, it's terrible. at meet In meetings, and particularly meetings online, if they're not one-to-one or very short and very small numbers, I just drift off.
00:05:49
Speaker
ah just oh i can't I just can't. Absolutely. it's It's one of the things that I never realised that could even be a reasonable adjustment in the workplace was around sort of shorter meetings. and And especially when it comes to events, you know, knowing when to say, you know, I need to go now. And social battery draining is something that I've i've discovered since knowing about ADHD.
00:06:11
Speaker
And it's now something that I'm able to protect. And I've felt a lot better for it. Yeah. So I think it's not it's interesting. It's you understanding your limits and and almost giving yourself forgiveness for the fact that not everything will go according to plan socially when you have ADHD and other people forgiving you for that as well. it' Because it's not, it doesn't it doesn't, just having the diagnosis isn't going to take away those social mistakes or those awkwardness, you know, those awkward moments. It it isn't.
00:06:41
Speaker
100% and I didn't realise how much, you know, being a woman and hormones and having ADHD, you know, the cycles, I didn't really understand much about that.
00:06:53
Speaker
But knowing more information about the actual science part of it, I'm now able to give myself more understanding. which Yeah, yeah. it yeah I think it's ah i mean it's an area where I think the science of ADHD is pretty strong compared to a lot of kind of mental health science, for instance.
00:07:10
Speaker
But I think that' the science of particularly around sort of hor you know hormonal influences, the menstrual cycle, all of that stuff is it's so it's such an early stage. um So you've got you went from a diagnosis to volunteering for us very, very quickly. Yeah.
00:07:29
Speaker
I absolutely did. And one of the reasons that I actually found out about volunteering about about charity work was because I've been a part of something called pageantry. and it And it wasn't actually... um ah So no, sorry, to the life.
00:07:44
Speaker
and I started to... That's pageantry and in the sense of beauty pageants, not pageantry in the sense of the queen riding around a horse. that That's it. Just to be fair, just to be clear about that You weren't one of those soldiers with a big hat.
00:07:58
Speaker
No, I wasn't. But I was a mace bearer for a mare. were cool. That's what my job has been for the past three years, yeah. nice. Was that just bearing the mace? Did you have any other duties? carried the big gold stick and I supported the mare. Presumably you weren't doing, this is a bit of a sidebar, but presumably you weren't doing that every day.
00:08:19
Speaker
No, only at at large fence. I've done it through um Westminster Abbey. Oh, amazing. No, that really would be amazing. Yeah, so I have um almost almost been in pageantry, not really, but that's... Yeah, anyway, you're a beauty pageantry. anyway so So through that, I was able to get more confidence, but previous to actually even pageantry, I started to speak about my own lived experience online, which then transcended with that newfound confidence into wanting to advocate further. And then I found out about ADHD UK when I was sort first going through my diagnosis, so I really wanted to get involved But after being a part of pageantry, I was enabled to utilise that confidence into applying to become an ambassador and also seeing the things that were happening at the time, you know, in terms of ADHD, in terms of medication shortage. Yeah, that was that time, wasn't it? coming on it was a yeah it was ah It was a lot. So I thought, you know what, I can i can really get involved in making a difference here. And that's when I then become an ambassador and met Henry and then become a lead ambassador.
00:09:22
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. So it's probably worth explaining to for the listeners what an ambassador is in a sort of ADHD UK sense. It's not much to do with the Ferrero Rocher kind of, you know, ambassador's reception. It's it's it'ss it's ah it's ah it's in a very important job and a very important part of the organisation, actually.
00:09:41
Speaker
Absolutely. Ambassadors are at the heart of ADHD UK, I believe, because they are fundraisers. So obviously ADHD UK's pillars information, research, support, awareness and advocacy are at the heart of everything that we that we do um in terms of fundraising. So ambassadors have done things such as skydives to charity events that are and not as not as thrilling, and but also just as impactful, such as... you know, like karaoke nights. I know i I've done a few as well and they've and they've been quiet quite good. and And then we also are in the media talking about our lived experiences. and i I think that's right.
00:10:18
Speaker
yeah yeah yeah yeah The ambassadors not only raise money and and now obviously we have no kind of big support. We've got no we know government support, no industry support. We we rely on small donations. So the ambassadors are really important.
00:10:33
Speaker
financially but also they they represent us they represent the community in their areas and online um so they're absolutely vital part of of how we kind of grow up our presence and and stay viable within know it's a very tough world out there for for charities um particularly for adhd at the moment which we'll return to so you became the leader when did you come when did you become the lead ambassador it was pretty much straight away um do you have a crown um i have a pageant crown i don't have don't know you should have lead ambassador crown to go with your pageant crown that's that's that's what we need to do i'll wear my i'll wear my ambassador badge i think that'll be all right that's fine yes you do get a badge i forgot about that i don't get a badge just for being trustee no get back to be an ambassador not for a trustee yet No, we don't have those badges, but that's fine.
00:11:25
Speaker
Okay. And so what are you what are you hoping for out of... what What do you think ADHD should be doing? what we What should we be doing as a community? What are you hoping for for the future from ADHD and ADHDers?
00:11:37
Speaker
I think that in terms of awareness, a lot of us have have been advocating and using our voices for change. And I think that the next sort of phase is is gaining more understanding, especially within corporate worlds, especially within, you know, different different streams of of the everyday, I believe. because The more understanding we have, we then go into that acceptance phase. And that's where we really need to be, you know, to accept that everyone, even if they do have ADHD as individual, and ADHD is something that affects the everyday life of an individual.
00:12:16
Speaker
I think that's right. And it's all spheres. It's not just health or education. And I think that, you know, Henry's been very good. I think Henry's been, you know, at the very forefront of the getting that sort of awareness into the corporate world.
00:12:28
Speaker
um i don't i take no credit at all for any of this. um And um I think it's an interesting time to be saying that because, of course, I think we're at the point of a little bit of a backlash with some of the things that have been in the news, which I think is... um
00:12:48
Speaker
It's a real moment of real peril, I think, to that because if if that backlash gets embedded, then we could really find a lot of the progress that we've made going into reverse in the next few years. i worry about essentially just politically and culturally will start to be dismissed again.
00:13:06
Speaker
I think sometimes, you know, if if if someone had broken their arm, for example, you can physically see that their arm is broken. If it's something physical, you you can actually see it. But whereas a lot of us throughout lives have masked and a lot of because it's always it's usually hidden unless there's a situation where it becomes broken.
00:13:27
Speaker
physically you know you're physically aware of someone's you know if they're if they're emotional if if they're speaking about their experiences then you can see it but if you can't always see it it doesn't mean it's not there and that's what we do as ambassadors as adhgk we make the visible invisible visible Yeah, yeah I think that's right. And, and you know, i think that the sort of the the fad of any ADHD, the the the moment in the sun that we're enjoying will pass. But I think those people, the ambassadors and the people who are actually living it day to day, they will remain. So I sort of look i sort of look forward to it being a little bit less of a media darling in a sense.
00:14:05
Speaker
Because then we can actually kind of just coalesce as ah as as a community, I think, a bit a bit better. Absolutely. That's the idea anyway. um All right. um i think I've asked you most of the things I was planning to ask you. shall i i think you were going to I think I was going to tell my story a little bit because you asked.
00:14:24
Speaker
um Absolutely. tess will be spitting because she's always threatened to interview me i always refused um but here you go um shall i just shall i just start what do want where do you want to start if you could tell me about your stories to realizing that you do you do have adh she in your in your journey to diagnosis Well, it's a tricky one, really. i think i mean, in a way, you have to sort of start in medical school, in a way. I'd always been a fairly annoying student. um
00:14:55
Speaker
not you know i sort of worked hard towards the exams, but not the rest of the time, and had been... kind of gobby and and sort of you know talking back a lot to lecturers and stuff so i was hanging in there um and I think some of my colleagues well when I say colleagues that's such an old man thing to say some of my mates when I was at uni would you know would sort pick but whatever diagnosis that I would fit me when we were doing psychiatry and it was all very funny um But there was even then a kind of jumping into things and a kind of, um as you were saying, emotional dysregulation. And actually looking further back, ah found my I found some school reports from, obviously this was from the mid 80s. So a long time ago, actually early eighty s um
00:15:42
Speaker
And it was all about the fact that i was losing my temper all the time. um And if I had a less understanding, well, deputy head, actually, the deputy head was a particular friend to me. And and um and late he's now he's he's now passed away, but he was a very good friend to my mum as well, actually. um And he really just batted for me. I think if it wasn't for him, I might well have been kicked out. um but there' you know you And I think about that with with the kids who I now look after as a pediatrician who are in schools where there's no one batting for them.
00:16:16
Speaker
um It doesn't mean, it doesn't, maybe only needs one or two people, but if they have somebody, if you have somebody who gets you in that environment, it makes all the difference. Yeah. so So, sorry, coming back to, you know, when I realised I had ADHD. So then I went into paediatric training, um having sort of got through my exams, and um I sort of realised that I didn't really like hospitals that much, which is a bit unfortunate because I was training as a paediatrician. I just didn't like hospitals. So I started working in community paediatrics, which is the sort of developmental bit and the sort of child protection-y bit.
00:16:57
Speaker
And I became really, really interested in autism. I think autism i still think autism is a fascinating sort of neurotype. and and And I'm really pleased that we've, I've always slightly thought the way that we think of it now, the neurodiversity movement, i've I've always sort of instinctively felt that about autistic people. So I'm really glad that that's sort of how we think about them now.
00:17:17
Speaker
um But I think alongside that, I got very interested in ADHD, basically, because I had do some ADHD because I wanted to study paediatric mental health, effect essentially.
00:17:31
Speaker
And so i i I was trained by this wonderful man, Carsten Vogt, in Reading, um And he was just fantastic, he was so inspirational, and he was an ADHD specialist. um So I learned under him, i sort started helping him with some of his ADHD caseload just found these kids absolutely fantastic, the patient's absolutely fantastic, and really vibed with them, I suppose would be how you'd put it. I just got on with them, I found it really easy to get on with these kids, um just naturally, I didn't need to have any effort to to do so. um And then Carsten had this thing called the QB check, which um i think lots of people are now using. He was one of the first in the country, I think.
00:18:12
Speaker
Wow. and Because this is now nearly 20 years ago. um And he was, ah he said, well, don't you have a go? Because it's really, you know you need, if you're going to administer it and give it to your patients, you need to know what it's like. And let me tell you, it was the most boring 20 minutes of my life because the QB is essentially like, um it's just a screen and either ah a circle comes up or a cross comes up. And if your cross comes up, you do not press. If the circle comes up, you'll press. And that's it. It's so boring for 20 minutes. um So I really, ah because I want to say I failed the QB, but you can I would never allow my patients to say that.
00:18:50
Speaker
ever don't fail the qb um but uh i i showed strong indicators for adhd but so that for a while i thought well okay i've got that kind of brain and i've always also thought this you know there's adhd is com composed of two things one is the sort of brain you've got and then how much trouble that brain is causing you in your life and that kind of brain you've got is just biology that's just how it is but the how much trouble it's causing in your life is is bound up with your environment, which is why environmental stuff is really important in ADHD, although it's a biological thing, if that makes sense.
00:19:23
Speaker
So I thought, well, you know, I'm very privileged. I'm very lucky. I've got a great job and I've got a supportive family and work and I'm fine. I'll be all right. Then I sort of wasn't.
00:19:35
Speaker
I sort stopped being fine about 2019, just before the pandemic. And very, very lucky, got a very quick and NHS diagnosis. I think I sometimes say facetiously, i was I was ADHD before it was cool.
00:19:49
Speaker
I think what I mean is i was ADHD before the rush. um essentially before it was known because of course i had the i was like i'm in a very good position to to work out what's going on um i was treating the condition at the time and still am um so yeah that was that was that was a fun moment i think um i went on to medication for a bit now i don't take medication i didn't didn't get on with it that's all right um and um Yeah, i suppose i like I suppose that's how I became aware that I had ADHD. And for me, it's interesting listening to you because a similar thing happened. I i sort of started to understand my behaviours. Even before I take medication, things start to get better because the people around me also understood why I was the way I was a little bit better.
00:20:42
Speaker
And... Yeah, um things things started to get better quite quickly um after that, although there have been some seem really significant ups and downs since that time, six years or so. That's it, isn't it is it? is like up and down, and it's almost sometimes like grieving parts of yourself. I really do resonate with a lot of what you've you've said, you know.
00:21:08
Speaker
I think as well. Treating people with ADHD whilst also navigating your own journey to to diagnosis. Could i ask you about how how that was for you?
00:21:20
Speaker
I don't really, i don't think I really thought about it at the time. I've changed a lot over the last few years. I think now I would be able to reflect on it. But at the time I had relatively young children and a full-time job. And it was just something that I did. And i went around the corner. Weirdly, I got diagnosed within about 200 yards of my house because they happened to be running a clinic in the in the so literally i just walked around the corner met with a psychiatrist she said yeah you probably do have adhd would you like to come back and talk to me next week about medication and i was like oh okay yeah okay but it was just like oh i've done that and to come back and you know do the washing up or you know take one of the kids to one of some club or something you know what i mean so it was just like it was just one of those things that happened i was too busy at the time and i think i think
00:22:09
Speaker
the kind of levels of meaning of what ADHD means and has meant to me and how it's difficult it's made some things and and whereas other things it's made easier and my creativity and energy may well come from ADHD, I think.
00:22:24
Speaker
um So I'm still, I'm still excavating in a sense what it all means. And it, and it's never like, it's never like the fact that I used to fight with my brother.
00:22:36
Speaker
Hello, Ben. He probably, he might well be listening. although he doesn't me Okay. anymore um fact that used to fight with him might be related to my ADHD a little bit and, and his and, um but also our relationship with the rest of our family and our relationship with each other. And yeah,
00:22:53
Speaker
you know, how I felt about myself and how he felt about me, you know, all of those sorts of things. And the fact that I was, you know, I was like the the gold, bit relatively golden boy and he was struggling. So, you know, all of those things happen. So yeah I don't think you can ever come to terms.
00:23:07
Speaker
and I ah find it difficult to know how have I come to terms with ADHD because it's sort of have I come to terms with myself? And I think, well, that's a work in progress and probably will always be a work in progress.
00:23:18
Speaker
But that's the thing, isn't it, about about life in general, I feel, is that yeah every day we learn something more about ourselves. And I know for a fact that even from from learning small parts about what ADHD actually is to today, I'm still learning relatively small things now. you know like Yeah.
00:23:38
Speaker
For example, adjustments for myself that once worked for me at the beginning don't work as well now. And that could be anything from the light changes to giving myself a little bit of a break in between yeah know just before meetings, just after, just to re-centre. So I i really um resonate with what you've said there.
00:23:59
Speaker
as well and you know the hyperactive mind is just constant isn't it it's it's really constant but once you're able to give yourself that forgiveness it's really it's really interesting one of the things that i wanted to ask you about was sort of because you are obviously um co-founder of adhc so after after receiving your your diagnosis can tell a little bit about the journey of of starting adhc uk well well Well, again, i feel very much like a fraud because I was not very much the the driving force of this. um So i published ah a ah blog post initially, which then turned into an article in a paediatric journal called How I Found My Tribe, which at the time was quite an original um um title, but now everyone says it. But that's ah ah fine. um i didn't invent it but i i don't know of anyone who it before me i don't know anyway um and it was a blog post about me becoming and becoming adhd no that's not right but my transformation like like man or whatever
00:25:02
Speaker
that's ah That's a reference that you will get later in the year when the film comes out, but up until now you don't it. Anyway, that's right. Grow off on He-Man. um um So basically Henry wrote howny read it.
00:25:17
Speaker
um We hadn't been in contact. we I don't know that I'd seen Henry for nearly a decade, I think, at that point. and We had been friends for a long time, so Henry and I went to school together. um And um yeah, any questions? I will take questions on that to a degree. um And we were friends then and we sort of stayed in touch a bit after that. And then we sort lost touch, as you would sometimes do. um and he sort of, we went to a pub.
00:25:42
Speaker
um I guided him to this pub. We got we all both we've got quite lost were quite late because the pub was much further away from London Bridge than I thought. But I thought that was a good moment. We all kind of, we kind of managed to get through that and we had a nice chat.
00:25:57
Speaker
And he just said he wanted to do he wanted to do this, he wanted to help, he just had a diagnosis himself. um And i mean, from that day, his commitment to this has been remarkable.
00:26:09
Speaker
um And the work he's put in has been remarkable. And that's really where it started. We had a few meetings and in pubs and cafes around South London um and came up with the name. He discovered discovered it was free.
00:26:23
Speaker
and we we made the logo. And and um yeah, I've um more or less just been a kind of I don't know, Eminence Gris, I suppose. I am grey enough to be in Eminence Gris. But um yeah, i've been I've been a kind of sounding board for Henry throughout the the process. But um yeah, i mean I think my main achievement in ADHD UK is that I'm still here. um I'm still still on the board. Still on the board.
00:26:50
Speaker
still on the board some Sometimes things start with with an idea and it's and it's collaboration that pushes pushes that i idea forward as well. So the fact that we're able to come together and and think about... Because, you know, we've every um I've just become a project manager, so I'm thinking from a project manager's perspective... okay well in a Starting a project, there needs to be a business case. There needs to be a starting point. So the fact that you were able to develop that together and Henry does work incredibly, incredibly hard. really, really does. And the fact that I'm the trustee board is a really big deal as well. I'm really proud of that. I think I've told nearly everyone that I know. you earned it. You worked really hard already. There you go.
00:27:36
Speaker
So, would you mind just explaining a little bit about sort of ADHD UK trustees and what and what that's like and how it's sort of expanded over the years, if that's okay. so I mean, I think the trustees, in a way, the trustees, a good trustee should really not be noticeable and it's like a suppose it's like it's like a good chief of staff for the prime minister shouldn't yeah no one should know what who they are and this is why it's a long time since we're good chief of staff and no anyway that's that's one of the things isn't it to think about things from a different perspective and and and our brains are great at that i believe i didn't know something this isn't about adhd it's actually about dyslexia but i heard about um three-dimensional thinking and it made me think about the way that adhd brains work and
00:28:21
Speaker
that some of us have obviously see the hyperactive brain. So our brains go so fast that we can think quite literally outside of the box as well when it comes to comes to things. And I think that that for for a trustee, well, it's really important as well because you're looking at things from all different perspectives. So, you know, you're you're a great chair of the of the trustees.
00:28:41
Speaker
Yeah. Well, ah we're trying. Um, and anyway, this isn't, this isn't, this podcast is not just a, an advert for ADHD UK, although obviously please do wait listeners go to ADHD UK and, um, make any donation you feel is appropriate. If for instance, you have been an ADHD science podcast, uh,
00:29:00
Speaker
listener for 25 episodes of high quality scientific content and you haven't given to the charity yet now is your chance um because it's all funded by the charity the charity pays for the podcast hosting so um perhaps Tess and I have not really plugged it enough um but now is the time ah probably worth finishing up by talking about some of the things we have planned for the podcast because it's not just going to be i' talking about the charity every episode um so what what what what what do you what are you bringing what would you what are you thinking that we're going to do
00:29:33
Speaker
So one of the things that I'd love to bring to the ADHD UK podcast is our fantastic ambassadors. So we have over 100 ambassadors within the group and it's forever expanding and forever growing. and But that means that there's individual stories to be told. And for me, one of the things I think is really important is to raise have have a point of raising awareness within ADHD UK and So the ambassadors will come on to the podcast and tell their stories and from their individual perspectives and also around themes.
00:30:06
Speaker
So recently we've had and a theme around intersectionality, and which was which is really important. And I know that we've got some some plan for the future as well as that. We have a junior ambassadors and program and I know that they're very keen to to be on a podcast as well.
00:30:23
Speaker
Oh, wow. Okay. Yeah, that would be amazing. Okay. Well, i yes, that definitely. All of that sounds brilliant. and And I think that's the sort of lived experience sort of end of things. I don't think I've given up entirely on interviewing scientists. oh i haven't I think I probably will do some in scientist interviews just one-to-one and then bring them into the podcast um as recordings to just splice into podcast episodes. Yeah.
00:30:49
Speaker
I think they'll probably be shorter and just asking people a little bit more about more broadly about their work rather than about a specific paper. um I think that was an interesting approach, but I think it's... unless you happen Well, you know not many people are going download the paper after they've listened to a podcast because most people, let's face it, are listening podcasts while they're just driving around or you know walking the dog or something. You're not going to download from Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.
00:31:16
Speaker
psychology and psychiatry um while you know while that's going on i know there's a lot of people that are interested in in more adhd science and podcast episodes because i know some of the ambassadors have um plugged them already into the chat previously and have listened to them themselves and found it really really interesting well the yeah the idea has been to try and make that sort of thing accessible so i just think we need to double down on that and i think the other thing that is worth saying is that we do have access to quite a lot of experts now because we've met quite a lot of people so if listeners have any questions at all oh newsflash we have a we have ah an email address yes we have an email address
00:31:57
Speaker
um It's podcast at adhduk.co.uk. So that's podcast at adhduk.co.uk. So you can ask email us your questions. you can If you found this episode on social media, you can comment and answer any questions at all. And we've we've got access to ah just everyone, really, um because you I know some people, you know some people, and um Henry knows people. So um between us we can probably answer any question that you might have and who knows I might even know the answer which is something that happens sometimes um so that's very important and also suggestions I think we need to be you know if people want us to go in a particular direction just let us know let us know what it is and it's a new start we're you know it's our first episode together so we'll probably you know get get get to know each other and get comfortable and maybe sort of
00:32:50
Speaker
um go in a direction ourselves i don't can talk about hats a lot i don't know something I'll try not to make too many jokes because I'm not actually that funny. Well, you are quite funny. And i think I think you should feel free to make... I mean, I think what I do is I really show... By making all of the jokes I can possibly think of without having any filter particularly, I'm really sort of showing... an i'm It's really... I'm being an example here. So therefore, you shouldn't feel in any way kind of like you should be kind of censoring yourself because I'm not sure I really do. Yeah.
00:33:25
Speaker
gets to a point where that there's no there's no filter, you know, at first I'm like, oh yeah. And then all of a sudden it just goes and goes. I think that's very similar for a lot of us because we are able to then, you know, just just be. And I think that that's really important.
00:33:40
Speaker
Yeah, I don't think you go to a podcast with two ADHD people ah looking for filtered conversation. Exactly. You want to have that that real you know depth of conversation and understanding. This is exactly what this is for, you know to talk about talk about everything and anything. So listeners, please send in your questions. No question is a silly question. No, absolutely not. And I think i think that's the other thing. i think that's the thing that... I mean, I think we've sort of...
00:34:08
Speaker
by circumstances, ended up making this change from ADHD science. But I think for me, we're at such an important moment for ADHD and we're getting these horrible articles written in all of the papers and people from different political parties saying they'll take benefits away from people with ADHD and it's overdiagnosed. And there's this whole kind of inquiry into whether we're overdiagnosing it.
00:34:31
Speaker
We're not, we know this, but fine. um You know, it's a moment where as a podcast and as an organization, and as an organization, we've never stood by, but as a cold pop podcast, we just sort of, if we have any kind of platform, we shouldn't just be using for saying, oh, here's a really interesting paper. We should be saying, this is what's happening for our community and this is not right. And this is, you know, this is, this is what we want.
00:34:54
Speaker
i always I've always thought, you know, whenever I've seen an article about overdiagnosis that it's not overdiagnosis, it's underrepresentation for far too long, you know, and now we are understanding more.
00:35:06
Speaker
That's why there has been an increase in people going for assessments, but now there is a there is a halt with that. So the more we're able to be open, the further understanding we'll have. But I also um wanted to just say if anyone is listening and wants find out any further information you probably already do if you if you found our podcast um but there are support groups on adhgk oh yeah very good point very very a dizzying variety of but of of support groups have been set up um most mostly online um but yeah but fantastic it's one of the real strengths that we have and have from very beginning actually
00:35:45
Speaker
Right, I think that just about wraps it up. I think a relatively short episode. um So yes, please, please um tell your friends, subscribe. I don't know do you know, do whatever you do. Review us on iTunes if you want. um I don't know. No, do that. um do do Do review us on on whatever your podcast provider of choice is.
00:36:08
Speaker
um So yeah, until next time, goodbye.