ADHD just keeps finding itself in the news. It can feel like a lot for those of us who have it or care for someone who does. Recently, Hyperfocus host Rae Jacobson sat down with a couple colleagues at Understood.org for a livestream to discuss the news and take community questions. Her guests were Dr. Andy Kahn, a licensed psychologist, and Dr. Keona “KJ” Wynne. Together, they chatted about the controversy surrounding Tylenol, what we really know about the cause of neurodevelopmental disorders, and how to talk to your kids about scary or misleading messages in the news. On this week’s Hyperfocus, we’re sharing that conversation in full.

Inattentive ADHD often goes unnoticed. It’s an easier type of ADHD to miss because it’s more internal and less outwardly visible than its hyperactive, impulsive counterpart. But left unaddressed, inattentive ADHD can be just as disruptive. Boys with the inattentive type are especially overlooked — they don’t match the stereotype of what an “ADHD boy” is supposed to look like. So when Brandon Saiz wrote to us about his experience getting diagnosed with ADHD later in life, we knew we had to talk to him. After meeting with Brandon, it was clear his story needed to be shared. Content warning: This episode includes discussion of suicide. Please skip it if that’s not something you’re up for right now.

Artificial intelligence has cemented itself as the latest world-altering technology. It follows the same lineage as electricity, the television, the internet — the list goes on. Depending on who you talk to, AI is the greatest thing ever or the thing that will destroy the world, with lots of room in the middle for discussion and experimentation. But within the bigger AI fascination, there’s a smaller yet critical conversation about how this technology might help or harm people who learn and think differently. That’s why we brought in Dr. Amy Gaeta for this week’s “Hyperfocus.” She’s an AI ethicist and researcher who also has autism, giving her a unique insight that she shares on our latest episode.

Craig Thomas is best known for his work on TV. He co-created the sitcom “How I Met Your Mother” and has written for “American Dad” and more. He’s penned songs for “Sesame Street” and essays for “The New Yorker.” He’s less known for being a dad. For now, at least. He has a daughter, Celia, and a son, Elliot, who was born with Jacobsen syndrome, a genetic condition causing physical and developmental disabilities. When Elliot was born, Craig’s career was taking off with “How I Met Your Mother.” “I was living an hour drama show at home and then driving to work and doing a sitcom,” Craig says. His upcoming novel, “That’s Not How It Happened,” is based in part on his family’s experience. If you heard our series on the resurgence of the R-word, you’ll recognize Craig’s voice. The conversation with him was so good that we’re sharing more!

To celebrate this holiday weekend, we’re reposting one of our early favorites. It’s a fascinating — and heartbreaking — deep dive into one of the most important studies ever done on girls with ADHD. Check out Rae’s interview with Dr. Stephen Hinshaw, leader of the famous Berkeley Girls study, and learn why Dr. Hinshaw himself calls the findings “devastating.”

One of the most inevitable questions that comes with early adulthood is also one of the most fraught: “When are you having kids?” The question is loaded with assumptions and pressure. It also seems to ignore the fact that having kids is supposed to be a choice, not a requirement. For neurodivergent people, especially those with ADHD, deciding whether to become a parent can be even more complex. On this episode of “Hyperfocus with Rae Jacobson,” we talk with author and editorial director Jordan Davidson. She’s interviewed hundreds of people about their decision on whether to become a parent.

We’re picking up where we left off last time on Hyperfocus for the conclusion of our two-part series on the R-word’s resurgence. Today, we meet a comedy writer who shares his personal evolution with the word and hear from a disability advocate. We’ll also learn more from our research correspondent, Dr. KJ Wynne, and have producer Cody Nelson back on to hear from host Rae Jacobson about what she’s learned.

Last year, Rae and Cody at Team Hyperfocus noticed something unnerving: The R-word was coming back into public discourse. People, especially people in power, seemed to be using it more often, and more freely. We weren’t the only ones who’d spotted this upsetting trend. Researchers, disability advocates, and other journalists were also concerned. If this word, long considered a slur, was being used by some very powerful people, what did that mean for people with disabilities? So we dove in, talking to researchers, members of the community, and even a famous comedy writer. (You’ll see!) And we surfaced with another, deeper question: If the R-word can, and does, cause harm, how do you get people to care?

Happy summer, everyone! Because of the holiday weekend, we’re re-airing one of our favorite Hyperfocus episodes yet, which happens to be our very first one. We’ll be back in your feeds with a fresh show in two weeks. After her daughter was born, Rae Jacobson was hit by a bout of severe postpartum depression. Back then, there wasn’t much out there about ADHD and women, let alone ADHD and postpartum mental health. Rae had heard that there was a link between ADHD and postpartum depression. But with a tiny baby to care for and a life to navigate, she had more pressing things to deal with. But the question kept bugging her: Does ADHD make you more likely to have postpartum depression? This week on Hyperfocus, Rae finally gets some answers to questions she has had for years. Her guest is Dr. Catherine Birndorf, an expert on postpartum mood disorders and co-founder, CEO, and medical director of The Motherhood Center of New York.

When you think about someone taking a psychedelic drug like magic mushrooms, the first images that come to mind probably don’t involve a medical professional in a white coat or any sort of clinical setting. However, the perception of these drugs is changing as researchers and health professionals continue to learn new ways these drugs can treat a variety of mental health conditions. Much of the research has to do with microdosing, or taking such a small dose of a drug that it doesn’t produce a “trip.” One of the more commonly microdosed drugs is psilocybin, the naturally occurring psychedelic compound found in “magic mushrooms.” That led our small-but-mighty team at Hyperfocus to wonder, “What could this all mean for ADHD treatment?” So, we looked for someone who might know, and it led us to Dr. Richard A. Friedman. He’s a professor, psychiatrist, and director of the Psychopharmacology Clinic at Weill Cornell Medicine, Cornell University’s medical school. Richard has also written about his areas of expertise for The New York Times and is a contributing writer at The Atlantic.  On this week’s episode of Hyperfocus, he sits down with mental health journalist Rae Jacobson to answer all her questions on microdosing, psychedelics as medicine, and what it could mean for ADHD and more.

ADHD gets mentioned a lot in the new report from the Make America Healthy Again commission. It’s pitched as part of the ”childhood chronic disease crisis,” and the authors make a lot of big claims: - Food additives cause behavioral disorders - Time outside can help treat ADHD - ADHD is overdiagnosed and overtreated But are any of these claims legit? We asked a licensed psychologist who specializes in learning and thinking differences like ADHD. Dr. Andy Kahn also happens to be Understood’s Associate Director, Behavior Change and Expertise. He’s spent decades working with kids and families with ADHD, and he joins this episode of ”Hyperfocus” to talk us through more of the MAHA report and what it has to say about kids with ADHD. (PS…if you didn’t listen to our last episode breaking down the science in the report, definitely  go check it out.).

On this bonus episode of “Hyperfocus,” we dive into the controversial new “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) report, released by a commission led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The 73-page document claims to explain what it calls a rise in “childhood chronic diseases” like ADHD, by pointing fingers at antibiotics, food dyes, and even a lack of outdoor play. But there’s a major catch: some of the report’s sources don’t actually exist.   In the first of a two-part series, Dr. KJ Wynne — a Harvard-trained population health researcher — joins the conversation to unpack how the report was assembled and where it falls short, particularly regarding ADHD. From debunking flawed claims to clarifying what real research actually says, this episode sets the record straight. 

If you haven’t heard of financial therapy before reading this, don’t worry. It’s new for us, too. But when a past “Hyperfocus” guest told us to look up Dr. Christine Hargrove, we listened, and were so curious we had to get her on the show. Fortunately, she was game to share her expertise with us and our listeners. She kindly answered our basic questions (what is financial therapy, really?) and some of the trickier ones, like how to manage finances with a partner when one of you has ADHD and the other doesn’t. Listen or watch now for a truly enlightening episode.

For decades, ADHD was generally thought of as something only boys could have. But in the 1990s, a group of trailblazing women discovered that what they were feeling and experiencing was indeed ADHD. So, they wrote books, conducted research, and gave speeches, paving the way for women with ADHD.

“Thriving” is often held up as something to work toward in life, the gold standard for existence. If you have a learning difference or you’ve experienced mental health issues or even just went through a tough time, you’ve probably gotten some advice on what it takes to thrive.   But for me, it’s never been clear what it means to thrive. It’s an abstract concept with many definitions. As someone with ADHD, it feels like thriving can be a codeword for hiding parts of myself that aren’t exactly desirable to the rest of the world.  Yet thriving remains a constant point of discussion in mental health. It’s a conversation my colleague Sarah Greenberg and I have been having on and off for years. That’s because Sarah’s been working on a new way to understand and measure thriving, and she has a take on it I’ve never heard before. Sarah is the vice president for expertise and strategic design at Understood.org. She’s a licensed psychotherapist and has been a leader in digital mental health for many years. She’s also really smart, thoughtful, and has a very different perspective on thriving than I do.  So we decided it would be a good idea to record one of our conversations for an episode of “Hyperfocus.”  

We have a special treat for you this week on the usual off-week in our feed. It’s an episode of a brand new, investigative podcast called “Climbing the Walls.” If you caught our last episode, you heard from the podcast’s host, Danielle Elliot. She’s been working with a team of us at Understood.org to put together the limited series, which just launched. On “Climbing the Walls,” Danielle digs into the reasons behind the rise of ADHD diagnoses in women since the pandemic and uncovers what going undiagnosed for so long has cost women. The first episode is called “I didn’t want to have ADHD.” Give it a listen and if you like what you hear, check out “Climbing the Walls” wherever you get your podcasts.  See you next week!

If you follow ADHD news, you might’ve heard that diagnosis rates in women nearly doubled during the pandemic. Danielle Elliot was one of them, receiving her diagnosis just before she turned 37.  Danielle is also a science and health journalist. So, she did the thing that many reporters are inclined to do — she began investigating this big, new thing in her life and how it fit into the world around her. As she dug in deeper, she landed on two big questions relating to the pandemic diagnosis boom: Why women? And why now? Her answers culminated in a new podcast from Understood.org called “Climbing the Walls.” It’s a six-episode series and the first installment is out now.  This week on “Hyperfocus,” Danielle visits the show to talk about her ADHD experience and what it’s like reporting a story where you’re one of the characters. 

It often seems that the more complex a subject is, the more people tend to oversimplify it. If your social media feeds are anything like mine, that’s definitely the case. Especially when it comes to science.  One of those often-oversimplified things is dopamine. This neurotransmitter, or brain chemical, has become a target for catchy headlines promising new ways to “hack your dopamine.” Seriously. If you don’t believe me, type in “dopamine hacks” on YouTube and enjoy the endless scroll. This week on “Hyperfocus,” we take a deep dopamine dive with psychologist Dr. Ari Tuckman and sort out fact from fiction.

We’re back with another episode from our “Hyperfocus” field trip to San Diego. While we were at the APSARD (American Professional Society of ADHD and Related Disorders) conference, one of the talks that really piqued our interest was on genetics and neurodevelopmental disorders, including ADHD.  Genetic science is tough to understand. And, as you’ll hear in this interview, we had a lot to learn and a lot of questions. Is ADHD genetic? And if it is, what does that mean for people who have it? What does it mean for treatment?  Luckily, Dr. Anne Arnett, a scientist at Boston Children’s Hospital and assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical school, was kind enough to brave a chilly, windy outdoor recording. In this conversation, she help us understand more about what we know (and what we don’t) about ADHD and genetics.