Telling a story as complex and layered as ADHD in women is no small task. This week, we’re sharing an episode of “Hyperfocus with Rae Jacobson,” where Danielle dives even deeper into the topic as a guest on the show.

If you’ve listened to “Climbing the Walls,” you’ve already heard parts of Danielle’s ADHD story—but not the long version…

Women with ADHD are frustrated with a medical community that can’t answer their questions about how hormones impact ADHD. Searching for answers, they turn to online communities for information and support. Danielle talks to experts about the latest research on ADHD in women, and what the future of treatment could look like.

Danielle attends an ADHD camp in Michigan and hears stories from several women about being diagnosed with ADHD later in life. Many of them have one thing in common.

ADHD finds itself at the center of mental health discourse, and some see it not as a disorder but as a strength. Danielle investigates the origins of this theory and questions who benefits from the rebranding of ADHD.

As ADHD content explodes during the Covid pandemic, countless people seek care for the first time, including many Black women. mm But new telehealth rules also open the door for potential misdiagnosis. 

Sari Solden was looking for answers. Why was she having memory issues? Why couldn’t she get her life organized? Where did this feeling of deep shame come from? Sari’s books have changed the lives of generations of women with ADHD. Her early research uncovered the truth that the disorder looks different in women.

When Danielle Elliot finds herself among the many women diagnosed with ADHD during the pandemic, she gets curious. Why women? And why now? This question takes her to northern Michigan, to meet a friend’s mom.

From Understood.org, “Climbing the Walls” is an investigative limited-series podcast that explores why women were historically underdiagnosed with ADHD — and how the recent surge in diagnoses is reshaping our understanding of ADHD. Join host Danielle Elliot, a health and science journalist, as she digs into the recent rise of ADHD diagnoses among women. She weaves scientific insights with personal stories — including her own. Through candid conversations with mental health experts and women who’ve been through it, Danielle starts getting answers to some of her big questions around the surge in ADHD diagnoses, like: Why women? And why now?