Each shift begins the same way: I eyeball my patients, assess the severity of their cases, and decide who needs me first. In bed five, a four-year-old boy has hives climbing all over his neck. He says his throat feels funny and is becoming short of breath.

He’s number one, of course.

Place IV. Push medication. Wait. Eventually the redness fades. His mother finally takes a deep breath.

OK, who’s next? Bed six. A man with a kidney stone is writhing in pain. IV fluids, pain medication, Flomax.

Another patient comes through the door clutching his chest. A heart attack. Suddenly we’re moving fast, prepping him for the cardiac catheterization lab.

I loved my time in the emergency department. I loved the focused concentration it took to keep several urgent situations moving at once, and the strange calm that came over me when everything was in chaos.

I loved holding a frightened person’s hand, reading a face, staying when someone needed another human to simply stay. I even received an award for patient- and family-centered care.

At work, I could manage a trauma bay. But at home, I could scarcely manage a Tuesday.

[Read: The Benefits of ADHD in a Crisis — Hyperfocus, Creativity, Resilience & More]

My mailbox was so full that the letter carrier kindly asked me to empty it so she could keep delivering my mail. Most mornings involved three trips back into the house for something I’d forgotten. Dates, phone numbers, appointments, paperwork — ordinary life seemed harder for me than an emergency department full of sick people.

I never understood the contradiction.

Then one morning, a younger nurse I worked with asked me a question that changed everything. I had jokingly blamed a mistake on “my ADHD.” He replied, “You have ADHD? So do I. What medication do you take?”

I thought to myself: Could I really have ADHD? And more unsettling, could I admit it to myself?

Calm Under Pressure Is My Default

After I was diagnosed with ADHD at age 57, I told a woman I knew. Her immediate response was, “And you’re a nurse with ADHD?” The implication was obvious. How could someone with ADHD possibly be trusted with that kind of responsibility?

At the time, I was still trying to integrate the diagnosis into my understanding of myself. Saying it aloud felt vulnerable. Her reaction shut that door quickly.

[Read: “You Couldn’t Possibly Have ADHD!”]

But the diagnosis was real. Once I began medication and cognitive behavioral therapy, I felt as though a heavy weight had been lifted from my shoulders. For the first time, I understood that my difficulties weren’t evidence that I was careless, lazy, flaky, or incapable. My brain simply worked differently.

The emergency department had given my brain exactly what it loved: urgency, novelty, movement, and demands for my full attention. But everyday life — with its delayed consequences, repetitive tasks, paperwork, calendars, mail, and a hundred small things competing for attention without any of them screaming, “Do this now!”— was far more difficult to manage.

ADHD Does Not Determine My Competence

The more I understood my brain, the more I started building days that ran more like my work shifts. Three things helped the most:

• Nothing lives in my head. An appointment goes into my calendar the moment it is set, not later, like when I get into my car. (Because I will not do it when I get to the car.) If it isn’t in the calendar, it does not exist.
• One landing spot. Keys, badge, wallet, and glasses go into the same bowl by the door, every time. This step matters most when I’m rushing, which is exactly when I want to skip this step.

The emotional part of the diagnosis has taken longer to manage. I grieve when I look back at all the years I had misunderstood myself.

Nowadays I work in the cardiac catheterization lab, the place we rush heart attack patients to.
Still urgent, still fast, still the kind of room where my attention does exactly what I need it to do.

Several years after my diagnosis, I’m beginning to understand something much simpler: Other people’s assumptions about ADHD do not determine my competence.

I am an accomplished woman and an experienced nurse. I can manage a trauma bay. And yes, I may still struggle to manage a Tuesday. Both things are true. Neither cancels out the other.

Calm Under Pressure with ADHD: Next Steps

• Read: How Hyperfocus Helps in an Emergency
• Read: “I’m a U.S. Army Aviator — and I Have ADHD and Anxiety.”
• Read: “But I Went to Law School! I Couldn’t Possibly Have… Oh.”

ADDITUDE IS HUMAN
Artificial intelligence does not create or edit any written content published by ADDitude. Our editorial team is 100% human, and our mission is simple: listen to and serve our readers with hand-crafted, expert-informed resources. To support ADDitude, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our commitment possible. Thank you.

The following is a personal essay that reflects the opinion of its author.

As America watches the Lindsay Clancy trial, I keep hearing the same comment from mothers online and in my own circles: That could have been me.

Many of us recognize ourselves in her story. The lack of support, the sleepless nights, the panic and desperation, what it feels like when no one is listening, and losing yourself and not knowing where to turn.

As I write this, jurors are deliberating Clancy’s fate. I am not on the jury, and I am not a psychiatrist. I cannot tell you what happened that day. I am not equipped to judge her, nor do I aim to turn Clancy into a folk hero. Three children are dead, and of course, their lives should remain at the center of this story.

But I am a neurodivergent mother who recognizes a distress flare when I see one. Modern psychiatric care is still frighteningly ill-equipped to treat women whose brains sit at the intersection of neurodivergence, mental illness, and hormonal change, and women with ADHD should be paying very close attention to that fact.

After following what happened before Clancy’s children died, I believe so much more could have been done. I think modern psychiatry should be brave enough now to reflect on what happened and ask how to prevent such tragedies.

Treat ADHD mothers as the high-risk group we are.

For years, women with ADHD have been telling doctors that their brains seem to change with their hormones, including during periods, pregnancy, postpartum, perimenopause, and menopause. Science is finally beginning to catch up, but not nearly fast enough.

A 2023 Swedish study found that women diagnosed with ADHD before pregnancy were about five times as likely to be diagnosed with postpartum depression and more than five times as likely to be diagnosed with postpartum anxiety as women without ADHD. That’s significant.

Nearly 17% of mothers with ADHD developed postpartum depression and almost 25% developed an anxiety disorder. (Side note: I had both, but the outdated Edinburgh scale used to measure postpartum depression symptoms, which hasn’t been updated since it was developed nearly 40 years ago, didn’t catch them.)

An even newer U.S. study also found higher postpartum psychiatric distress among women with ADHD.

This means women with ADHD are not only more likely to develop postpartum mental health problems, but the ones they do develop are likely to be more severe. Why are we not changing the standard of care for these at-risk groups?

Why were there no warnings from my doctors, no mention of this risk during prenatal visits? So often, the mother is treated as a vessel for a person in need of care, not a person in need of care themselves.

The vulnerability is not limited to just postpartum life, though. A 2025 study found women with ADHD are nearly three times more likely to experience premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). Another detail I didn’t know when I needed to, but probably because it is just now being studied.

Fill in the care gaps to mend a broken system.

Mental illness does not operate on a referral timeline and often patients are given the runaround trying to find in-network providers who are accepting new patients with availability within a reasonable timeframe.

When somebody finally says they need psychiatric help, we should treat that moment as an intervention point, not the beginning of an administrative waiting period or mental health care scavenger hunt. Unfortunately, I know the hunt well. I first saw a therapist. Then I needed someone else to assess me for ADHD. Then I needed another provider to prescribe medication, but the wait was too long, so I sought support from my primary care doctor. All of this took precious time while I was struggling. Imagine navigating that system while your brain is in psychiatric distress.

We need bridge care between referral and specialty treatment. We need urgent perinatal psychiatric consultation. We need systems that let obstetric and primary-care clinicians get real-time psychiatric expertise instead of handing a patient a phone number and hoping for the best. Perinatal psychiatry access programs already offer a model for doing exactly that. This is not some futuristic healthcare fantasy. We already know how to do it.

Finally, we need to stop treating postpartum like a definitive six-to-eight-week period. The postpartum effects on a mother’s body, mind, health and identity last closer to eight years — with women experiencing elevated levels of anxiety and depression for that duration. We need more postnatal check-ups before and after the six-week-postpartum visit for all mothers, but especially those at higher risk for developing psychiatric issues.

Stop making the sickest person in the room coordinate her own care.

In the months leading up to her children’s deaths, Clancy was prescribed 13 different psychiatric medications by multiple providers, including psychiatrists, nurse practitioners, emergency department doctors, and inpatient psychiatric staff.
This should make every healthcare provider ask one question: Who was seeing the whole picture?

Psychiatry desperately needs better collaboration and continuity of care. If a provider leaves a practice, a patient with significant psychiatric risk should get a warm handoff. Instead, they are often left with little notice and the feeling that they have to start their entire mental healthcare journey from scratch. If somebody is discharged from inpatient psychiatric care, the next appointment should already exist. The onus should not solely be on the patient to make sure that happens. If an OB-GYN, therapist, psychiatrist, and primary-care physician are treating the same postpartum mother, they should not operate in silos.

A systematic review published in The Lancet Psychiatry found that perinatal mental healthcare is hindered by barriers at multiple levels, including unclear referral pathways, inadequate collaboration and lack of continuity. In the corporate world, nobody would accept handing a high-risk client from team to team without a clear owner. Yet in medicine, we routinely make vulnerable patients become their own case managers.

Treat postpartum psychiatric risk before it becomes a crisis.

From 2017 through 2019, mental health conditions accounted for nearly a quarter of pregnancy-related deaths in the majority of states, making them the most frequent underlying cause. Psychiatric risk should be monitored as closely as blood pressure.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends screening for depression and anxiety at the initial prenatal visit, later in pregnancy and postpartum; screening for bipolar disorder before starting medication for depression or anxiety; and providing immediate medical attention when postpartum psychosis is suspected. Just as important, ACOG says screening should be paired with systems that ensure timely assessment, treatment, monitoring and follow-up.

This sounds great on paper, but is this happening? We currently have no system in place to ensure those recommendations are followed. If a woman has a significant psychiatric history, she should leave pregnancy with a postpartum mental health plan just as surely as she leaves with instructions about bleeding, blood pressure and incision care. Who is monitoring her? When is her first psychiatric follow-up? Who does her partner call if she stops sleeping? What happens if her symptoms suddenly escalate? What medications is she taking? Who is responsible for looking at all of them together? This is maternal healthcare. We need to stop treating it as optional.

Quit letting insurance companies practice medicine.

Your psychiatrist may be brilliant, but that doesn’t matter much if you cannot see them. Your therapist could be perfect for you, but what if they are not in network? Your medication might be working, but what if administrative barriers interrupt your access to it? So often, insurance is the end-all-be-all when it comes to mental health outcomes. We need to stop letting insurance companies have the final say.

In psychiatric medicine, continuity itself should be part of the treatment, yet our system routinely makes patients change clinicians because of network rules, navigate prior authorization while in distress, or choose among providers based on who accepts their insurance rather than who best understands their condition.

For me, it happens often that my 90-day prescription gets adjusted to a 30-day supply — one that is exceedingly less convenient for my ADHD brain to manage — because my insurer changed some rule without notice. My insurance company should not have more influence over my psychiatric care than the doctor treating me.

Get with the times and, for goodness’ sake, study women.

We have a long way to go in women’s health, especially at the intersection of neurodivergence, mental health, and hormonal shifts. A 2025 systematic review of ADHD and female sex hormones found just 11 eligible studies. The researchers concluded that hormonal changes may affect ADHD symptoms, but major hormonal milestones, including menopause, need much more study. While we wait for the research, women are still having babies and entering major life transitions, medical decisions, and hormonal shifts essentially in the dark.

Here is perhaps the most astonishing detail in all of this: Postpartum psychosis still isn’t included in the DSM as its own distinct diagnosis. At the same time, researchers studying women with ADHD continue to describe major unanswered questions about menstruation, pregnancy, postpartum hormonal changes, and menopause.

This is 2026. Women should not still be walking into doctors’ offices describing predictable changes in our brains during major hormonal transitions only to discover that we are explaining a phenomenon that medicine has barely sniffed. Study us! Study ADHD across the menstrual cycle. Study ADHD medications across hormonal states. Study PMDD and pregnancy and postpartum conditions. Study perimenopause and menopause. And then translate that research into standards of care.

As I say this, unfortunately, federal policy is making women’s health research harder to conduct. In 2025, the Trump administration terminated thousands of NIH grants, with women researchers disproportionately affected, and federal agencies have subjected research proposals to political screening for disfavored language. At the National Science Foundation, reported screening terms included words such as “women,” “female” and “females.” If women’s bodies and brains have been understudied for generations, this is precisely the wrong moment to pull back. We should be pouring money into understanding women’s health, not making scientists fight to keep studying it.

It’s time for change.

The lesson I take from the Lindsay Clancy case is that mental illness can become dangerous when under-supported by bad systems. Most women with postpartum depression, ADHD, anxiety, PMDD, or other psychiatric conditions will never hurt their children. Postpartum psychosis itself is rare. We should say that loudly because stigma also prevents women from asking for help. But rare does not mean unforeseeable.

In Clancy’s case, I believe there were opportunities to intervene earlier, coordinate better, monitor more closely, and recognize that a woman’s rapidly deteriorating psychiatric health after childbirth demanded a different level of response and care.

Three children died in a wealthy and technologically advanced country. We should be willing to ask whether our system gave their mother every possible chance to get well before the unthinkable happened. So much needs to change from policy to societal expectations on mothers and maternal mental health support. But when I think about the standard of care we’ve allowed to persist in modern psychiatry, I’m, frankly, appalled.

It’s about damn time to make Lindsay Clancy’s story the last of its kind.

If you or someone you know is in immediate danger or experiencing a mental-health crisis, call or text 988. For postpartum mental-health support and resources, contact Postpartum Support International  or 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline

ADHD Moms and Postpartum Health: Next Steps

• Read: Postpartum Mood Disorders — Do You Know the Early Signs?
• Read: Postpartum Care for Mothers with ADHD — A Guide for Clinicians
• Read: What Causes Postpartum Depression?

ADDITUDE IS HUMAN
Artificial intelligence does not create or edit any written content published by ADDitude. Our editorial team is 100% human, and our mission is simple: listen to and serve our readers with hand-crafted, expert-informed resources. To support ADDitude, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our commitment possible. Thank you.

Some days I am unstoppable. Other days I cancel everything.

In the moment, both energy and overwhelm feel like permanent states.

On a good day, I can write an article, book a Pilates class, make plans with friends, apply for an opportunity I probably have no business applying for, reorganize half my house and decide that this is it: I’ve cracked life. This is who I am now and forevermore, how could it ever be another way?

Then another version of me wakes up.

Everything is heavy. The social plans I enthusiastically made feel impossible. The project I couldn’t stop thinking about sits untouched. Noise is louder… so much louder. People are more exhausting and my motivation has disappeared. I look at the calendar the other version of me created and think: What the hell was she thinking?

This version feels permanent too. I could never do all of that.

For years, living in these two states made me feel like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I couldn’t understand which version was actually me.

It turns out the answer is both.

[Read: “A Living Contradiction” — The AuDHD Experience]

When the Present Feels Like Forever

As a late-diagnosed woman with both ADHD and autism, one of the hardest things I’ve had to learn is that I cannot always trust my current state to predict my future one. Truth be told, most of the time I can’t trust a mood, a thought, or a reaction until I’ve had time to reflect.

ADHD already complicates my relationship with time. There is now, and then there is some vague fictional land called later. Hyperfocus makes this even more obvious.

I can tell myself I’ll write one sentence before I leave the house. I have an hour before school pick-up. Loads of time.

One sentence becomes a paragraph. The paragraph becomes a page. Suddenly I have five minutes to leave.

And now my autistic side is furious.

[Read: “I Thought My AuDHD Made Me Unique. Then I Went on TikTok”]

Because leaving late doesn’t just mean leaving late. It means I might not get my usual parking space. There might be more people there. I don’t have the extra 10 minutes I need to regulate myself and mentally prepare. The predictable plan has changed. Everything feels ruined and overwhelmed. Why do I always do this to myself?

The infuriating part is that I knew this would happen. I know exactly how flustered I’ll become. Yet an hour earlier, absorbed in what I was doing, that future version of me didn’t feel quite real enough to influence present me.

That’s one of the strange contradictions I’ve found in AuDHD: The part of me that craves stimulation and novelty can create the exact circumstances that overwhelm the part of me that craves predictability.

Emotional Weather Can Start Feeling Like Identity

When I’m low, I struggle to remember emotionally what it feels like not to be low.

When I’m burned out, overstimulated, or depleted, I look at goals I set when I was energized and genuinely wonder who on Earth thought I was capable of them.

The opposite happens, too. When the dopamine is flowing and I’m hyperfocused, the state feels like forever.  Suddenly, I should join a new Pilates class. Actually, I should join several. Obviously, I need the outfit. And a water bottle. And probably a new gym bag. Maybe I’ll become an instructor.

Present-me is delighted. Future-me then has to walk into an unfamiliar building full of strangers wondering why present-me has once again signed us up for a new personality.

“Why Do I Keep Doing This?”

The damage came in treating every state as evidence of my character.

When I was productive: See? You’re finally getting your life together.

When I struggled: See? You never really change.

When I wanted people: You’re an extrovert.

When I wanted silence: You’ve become antisocial.

When I was ambitious: This is the real you.

When I burned out: No, this is.

It was exhausting. I kept treating temporary states as permanent identities.

And because each version of me made decisions the next version had to live with, they started to feel like enemies. The superhero and antihero/villain of my own story.

ADHD Wants Expansion. Autism Wants Protection.

This is an oversimplification of two neurodevelopmental conditions, but it is one of the easiest ways I’ve found to understand my own AuDHD.

My ADHD often pulls me toward expansion. New things. New people. Big ideas. Freedom. Creativity. Novelty. Let’s see what happens.

My autism often pulls me toward protection. Preparation. Familiarity. Predictability. Recovery. Knowing where I’m going, what will happen, and preferably where I’m parking when I get there. Let’s play it safe.

Neither is wrong.

The problem comes when I build my entire life around the needs of whichever one is shouting loudest today.

If I satisfy every expansive impulse, eventually my nervous system demands payment.

If I build my entire life around avoiding unpredictability and overstimulation, another part of me becomes restless and miserable.

For years I thought the solution was figuring out which version was the “real” one and becoming her permanently. But I now know that that was the wrong approach.

I Don’t Need to Pick a Side

There aren’t actually two of me. There is one person whose needs and capacity change.

That sounds painfully obvious written down. But recognizing it took years. The two things that have helped me most aren’t particularly glamorous: discipline and forgiveness.

Discipline used to sound like punishment. Now I think discipline creates freedom. I use alarms because hyperfocused me cannot be trusted to accurately judge when we should leave. I try not to let an energetic version of myself completely fill the calendar of a future version whose energy I cannot predict.

I deliberately leave room for spontaneity because too much structure eventually makes my ADHD want to blow up the whole system.

Instead of choosing between structure and freedom, I try to accommodate both.

But none of that works without forgiveness. Because I will still get it wrong. I’ll forget the alarm. I’ll overbook myself. I’ll retreat too far into safety. I’ll start something I don’t finish. The difference now is that I try not to turn either state into a verdict on who I am.

Some days I am expansive, energetic, social, and convinced I can do anything.

Other days I need routine, quiet, familiarity, and considerably fewer humans.

Neither version is the real me.

They’re both me.

Energy Levels and AuDHD: Next Steps

• Read:When Neurodivergent Burnout Reaches Its Breaking Point
• Read: The Daily Missteps That Are Sucking Away Your Energy
• Read: The Antidote to ADHD Fatigue and Exhaustion? Stacking Habits (and Spoons)

ADDITUDE IS HUMAN
Artificial intelligence does not create or edit any written content published by ADDitude. Our editorial team is 100% human, and our mission is simple: listen to and serve our readers with hand-crafted, expert-informed resources. To support ADDitude, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our commitment possible. Thank you.

Q: “I’m trying to teach my kids mindfulness techniques to quiet their busy ADHD brains, but I get lots of resistance, or I hear, ‘That’s so boring.’ How can I counter this?”

Mindfulness is cognitive fitness training that aims to build real-time and compassionate awareness of our lives. It is an antidote to remaining lost in distraction. Getting kids engaged with mindfulness requires meeting them where they are in their development. Try to make the practice familiar first, rather than expecting intense practice. That often means letting go of common mindfulness misconceptions.

The Value of Building Self-Awareness

Encouraging a child to try mindfulness starts with developing our own practice. We act as role models by normalizing meditation and by demonstrating that practicing mindfulness doesn’t mean trying to stop thoughts or bad feelings. Instead, it’s about learning to relate to whatever is happening in our lives with a sense of clarity, patience, and care.

[Free Download: Mindfulness Techniques for Stronger School Focus]

With teens, it works to frame practice around their adolescent experience. They may be old enough to understand the value of building concentration or making room for self-compassion to quiet their inner critic. I find that teens are more receptive to mindfulness when they learn about it from peers, coaches, athletes, or even online influencers.

For younger kids, instead of explaining the deeper concepts of mindfulness, engage in play that builds related skills. For example, focusing awareness on the sound of a woodpecker or the scent of a blossom while outdoors. Your child’s bedtime routine may include a short body scan that encourages them to relax from their toes to their forehead, without asking for complete stillness. Try to balance your efforts with lightness and laughter, since meditation can seem, well, boring.

Mindfulness is not about shutting down our minds or staying unflappably calm. Initially, it is more about building awareness and patience. If you’re distracted, frustrated, or even very, very bored, you’re giving yourself permission to take a few minutes to sustain awareness of that experience without immediately acting on it. As you develop this powerful skill over time, it fosters resilience and growth and helps you move away from reactive or impulsive behaviors.

Mindfulness for Kids with ADHD: Next Steps

• Free Download: Easy Mindfulness Exercises for Kids with ADHD
• Read: Bite-Sized Mindfulness for Kids
• Read: 6 Emotional Regulation Activities for Creative Kids with Big Feelings

Mark Bertin, M.D., is a developmental pediatrician in Pleasantville, New York.

ADDITUDE IS HUMAN
Artificial intelligence does not create or edit any written content published by ADDitude. Our editorial team is 100% human, and our mission is simple: listen to and serve our readers with hand-crafted, expert-informed resources. To support ADDitude, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our commitment possible. Thank you.

What does gut health have to do with ADHD?

More than you might think. Emerging research points to surprising connections between the gut microbiome, neurodivergence, and overall health.

“When [gut microbiota] eat the food you’re eating — when they digest the fiber you’re eating, the healthy oils you’re eating — they produce certain molecules that will be beneficial for the whole body, including for ADHD,” said Dr. Miguel Toribio-Mateas, a clinical neuroscientist, applied microbiologist, and nutrition researcher, during his August 2026 webinar, “How Gut Health Impacts ADHD Symptoms.”

Here are our takeaways from his presentation on the link between the brain and body, and what people with ADHD can do to support their gut health.

A Primer on the Gut-Brain Connection

The brain and gut communicate constantly, and most of that information travels from the gut to the brain. The vagus nerve is an important pathway in this communication. Food acts as information; it influences gut-brain signaling, which affects appetite, energy, mood, stress, and body cues.

“What happens in the gut does not stay in the gut,” Toribio-Mateas said. “The gut will contribute to conditions such as ADHD as well as other coexisting conditions… in the neurosphere, anxiety, depression, and so on. Food is one of the factors that affect the risk of developing these conditions.”

[Free Download: ADHD Brain Food]

Gut-Brain Axis and ADHD: What’s Known

Research on ADHD and the gut-brain connection is still in its early stages. Some studies suggest that people with ADHD have different gut bacteria profiles than do neurotypical people. These differences may explain in part why rates of gastrointestinal issues are higher in people with ADHD. “The gut cannot really be disentangled from the immune system,” he said, noting that what gut microbes do with the food we eat can help support the body and may affect inflammatory processes.

It’s also known that gut microbes can influence neurotransmitters implicated in ADHD, such as dopamine, which affects focus and mood.

“It’s not that they are going to give us more dopamine,” Toribio-Mateas said. “It’s going to make dopamine work better.” In other words, a healthier gut may help support brain functions relevant to ADHD.

What to Eat

There is no “magical ADHD diet” that can control symptoms outright, Toribio-Mateas said, warning that “the science is not there.” Nutrition can support a healthier lifestyle, but it cannot and should not replace ADHD medication.

[Read: 5 Foundational Habits That Benefit ADHD Brains]

“I’d like to step away from all-or-nothing thinking, that it has to be meds only or nutrition only,” he said. “They can very well be combined.”

That said, foods that support a healthier gut microbiome — and may benefit people with ADHD — include plants and vegetables, which provide microbiota-accessible carbohydrates, or MACs. MACs help microbes produce short-chain fatty acids, which support neurotransmitter balance and the immune system.

“They are like fertilizer for the good bugs that you have in your gut that will help you to stay healthy, active, and keep your nervous system ticking,” Toribio-Mateas said.

Fiber-rich and fermented foods can also help, though individuals with IBS or inflammatory conditions may need to monitor their intake. Ultra-processed foods may disrupt the gut microbiome and worsen health over time.

Kefir, which supports gut health, may be beneficial for people with ADHD, though not necessarily for symptom control. In his study, Toribio-Mateas found that children with ADHD who drank kefir slept better than those who did not, suggesting that nutrition may be a supportive part of ADHD care rather than a stand-alone treatment.

So while the gut-brain axis matters, nutrition is only one piece of the puzzle. Environment, genetics, and other factors also play a role in ADHD and overall health.

For more insights on the gut-brain connection and foods that may support ADHD brain function, watch the full webinar at additu.de/082526.

Gut Health and ADHD: Next Steps

• Read: “How to Unlock the Power of the Food-Dopamine Connection”
• Read: Build a Better Relationship with Food to Benefit Your Brain
• Read: Can Eating Healthy Improve ADHD Symptoms?

ADDITUDE IS HUMAN
Artificial intelligence does not create or edit any written content published by ADDitude. Our editorial team is 100% human, and our mission is simple: listen to and serve our readers with hand-crafted, expert-informed resources. To support ADDitude, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our commitment possible. Thank you.

The following is a personal essay that reflects the opinion of its author.

As a psychologist, I hear regularly from female clients who are categorically denied life-altering treatment. They bring my clinical ADHD assessment and diagnosis to their prescriber, only to be told their symptoms actually stem from being tired, overwhelmed, or overcommitted. The more successful the women appear, it seems, the more likely their physicians are to dismiss their ADHD diagnosis.

One primary care provider told my client that she was exhausted and overwhelmed from working and caring for her “too many children.” He refused to treat her ADHD, despite my clinical diagnosis and her own detailed explanation of how her symptoms interfered with daily living. Instead, the provider prescribed an anti-anxiety medication.

Another client, who had several Ivy League degrees and was, by all measures, a high-achieving professional, handed her psychiatrist my clinical report of her ADHD diagnosis. Drained by years of masking, and Herculean efforts to climb the corporate ladder, she asked for medication to treat her symptoms. Her provider’s response: “What’s the point of treating this now? You’ve gotten this far.”

[Read: Don’t Let Them Talk You Out of Your ADHD]

Men are not excluded from physicians’ misdiagnoses and lack of knowledge, or their full-on consequences. I had an autistic patient who has battled severe allergies and gut issues for years. He went to his allergy immunologist recently and asked for mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS) testing. His doctor said that the emerging research linking autism and MCAS was an “Internet trend” and shrugged off his concerns.

The High Stakes of Lower Functioning

For decades, women, girls, and minorities, in particular, have been overlooked and underdiagnosed for ADHD. As research has shown, failing to receive a proper ADHD diagnosis and treatment can raise the risk for mental health issues, substance use, criminal convictions, unintended pregnancies, domestic violence, motor vehicle accidents, and lower educational and vocational achievement.

It’s not surprising that neurodivergent women are more likely to report that their doctors dismiss ignore, or invalidate their concerns, As a group, they have been systemically marginalized and the effects are almost universal”: They mask, harbor self-doubt and low self-esteem, and exhibit people-pleasing behaviors at the expense of their own needs.

When people with ADHD and autism feel “less than” for their entire lives, they internalize the nagging sense of shame and negativity that comes from the challenges associated with the condition. Regardless of their intelligence and education, these individuals are more susceptible to second-guessing their own medical concerns when they are dismissed by a physician.

[Read: On Medical Gaslighting and ADHD]

It can be terrifying to challenge an authority figure, especially a clinician who seems to be in a rush, and explain that they’re not being heard. Many women would rather not push back for fear of unleashing their own anger or feeling embarrassed.

The End Game

My client with the Ivy League degrees sought out providers who listened to and respected her. Advocating for herself as a patient helped her in other areas too. She is speaking up for herself in her job, socializing with more confidence, and setting boundaries in her relationships.

The woman whose provider blamed her symptoms on caring for too many children, and diagnosed her with anxiety, did not fill her benzodiazepine prescription. Instead, she sought the expertise of a different provider who confirmed her ADHD diagnosis and prescribed stimulants. She now knows what it’s like to function with more predictability.

The man with autism and suspected MCAS is still searching for a provider with knowledge and experience in this burgeoning area of research.

Why Are Doctors So Dismissive? Next Steps

• Read: “It’s Probably Just Stress:” When Doctors Dismiss ADHD Symptoms
• Read: “Medical Gaslighting Convinced Me That I Didn’t Have ADHD”
• Read: “15 Ways to Make ADHD Patients Feel Seen and Heard.”

Karen A. Saporito, Ph.D., is the founder and clinical director at Integrative Psychology Associates of South Jersey.

ADDITUDE IS HUMAN
Artificial intelligence does not create or edit any written content published by ADDitude. Our editorial team is 100% human, and our mission is simple: listen to and serve our readers with hand-crafted, expert-informed resources. To support ADDitude, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our commitment possible. Thank you.

It’s normal for children to avoid annoying tasks like cleaning their room. But what about avoiding a casual invitation for ice cream, a greeting (with the expectation of a reply), or even the body’s signals that it needs the bathroom? These can be signs of pathological demand avoidance (PDA), which causes people to go to great lengths to resist, evade, or ignore everything they perceive to be a demand.

PDA is not a formal diagnosis. It is often discussed in relation to autism and other forms of neurodivergence. Often mistaken for willful defiance, PDA is more productively viewed as a nervous system difference shaped by anxiety and rooted in an overwhelming need for autonomy.

For these reasons, many prefer calling PDA a “pervasive drive for autonomy.”

Life’s Everyday Demands

For people with PDA, “demands” include direct orders, like “Wash your hands,” and questions such as, “Want to watch a movie?” People with PDA also struggle to meet self-imposed or internal demands – eating a meal, taking a shower, engaging in a hobby, or even talking. Avoidance can be evoked by enjoyable activities, too: A child might look forward to a birthday party or a vacation for weeks and still find it hard to participate when the day arrives.

Beyond refusal, children with PDA may use strategies like these to delay or avoid demands:

• Distraction and diversion (e.g., changing the subject)
• Role-playing (e.g., pretending to be an animal that “can’t do human things”)
• Negotiation and bargaining (e.g., “I’ll pick up my toys if you make my favorite food.”)
• Physical and functional avoidance (e.g., “My legs don’t work!”)
• Yelling, meltdowns, or becoming non-verbal.

Some strategies are so subtle that it takes years to recognize them as patterns of demand avoidance.

[Take This Self-Test: Is Your Child Showing Signs of Pathological Demand Avoidance?]

What Gives Rise to PDA?

PDA most often develops in people with a highly sensitive, easily activated nervous system.

• Sensory processing differences. Many people are deeply empathetic and easily absorb the emotions around them. Filtering environmental stimuli can be difficult, and processing sensory input requires great time and energy. These differences can make everyday environments exhausting and overwhelming.
• High anxiety. Challenges in navigating social interactions, difficulty predicting what comes next, and stress around uncertainty make anxiety a core part of the PDA experience. A strong need for control often serves to manage worry.

Taken together, these factors mean that a PDA nervous system is primed to perceive any limit to autonomy and control as a threat, which can trigger a fight-flight-freeze response expressed as avoidance.

People with PDA may share the following traits and experiences as well:

• Hidden social challenges. People with PDA often crave social interaction and may demonstrate surface-level communication skills, yet still struggle with social dynamics and relationships.
• Rapid mood shifts and impulsivity, likely related to hypervigilance, sensitivity, and intense emotions. They may appear dominating and controlling when anxious, and confident and engaging when they feel secure and in control.
• Fluctuating capacity. A child may easily manage a task or situation one day but not the next.
• Differences across settings. A child may seem fine at school yet show extreme demand avoidance and be dysregulated at home.
• Indifference to hierarchy. Social expectations about deference or rank may not carry weight.
• Intense or persistent focus (often on other people). For example, a child may fixate on a classmate and try to prevent them from playing with others.

[Read: The Parents’ Guide to Dismantling Oppositional, Defiant Behavior]

Oppositional Defiant Disorder vs. PDA

Supporting Demand-Avoidant Children

Supporting a child with PDA is less about quick strategies and more about a mindset shift that respects their sensitive nervous system.

• Teach self-advocacy. Help them to better understand themselves and their needs, and how to find the language to ask for what they need.
• Offer as much autonomy as possible to build trust and reduce anxiety. For example:
  • Offer choices for breakfast. “We have cereal, toast, or yogurt. What sounds good?”
  • Let them set the order of their bedtime routine – perhaps reading first, then pajamas.
  • Have them plan their routines and give them a say in what matters.
• Use indirect language. Instead of “Put on your winter coat,” try “That snow looks cold.” Helpful sentence starters include:
  • I wonder…
  • I notice…
  • I imagine…
  • I’m thinking…
• Keep a sense of humor to ease tension. If they’re resisting getting dressed, use a silly voice: “The shirt monsters are going to gobble you up! Quick, hide inside this sweater!”
• Consider tradeoffs. Help the task make sense to your child so it seems worth their energy and stress. Skip daily bed-making or let them wear the same outfit multiple days in a row if it helps them cope.
• Focus on repair and growth over consequences. If your child hurts a sibling’s feelings or breaks a toy, consider repair – drawing a picture, baking cookies, or helping to fix the toy – rather than taking away a tablet.
• Truly get to know your child. When children feel trusted and understood, challenging behaviors decrease. Join them in their interests; validate their experiences. Show them how you remain composed and tolerate distress because kids with PDA feel more calm around people with regulated nervous systems.

Diane Gould is a founder and executive director of PDA North America. The content for this article was derived from the ADDitude ADHD Experts webinar titled, “Don’t Tell Me What to Do: Pathological Demand Avoidance in Neurodivergent Kids” [Video Replay & Podcast #590] with Diane Gould, which was broadcast on Dec. 16, 2025.

Pathological Demand Avoidance: Next Steps

• Read: A Parent’s Guide to Navigating Pathological Demand Avoidance
• Report: High Stress, Ineffective Interventions Worsen PDA
• Read: Defiance, Defused — a Roadmap to Radical Behavior Change
  

ADDITUDE IS HUMAN
Artificial intelligence does not create or edit any written content published by ADDitude. Our editorial team is 100% human, and our mission is simple: listen to and serve our readers with hand-crafted, expert-informed resources. To support ADDitude, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our commitment possible. Thank you.

A growing body of research links ADHD to inflammatory and immune conditions ranging from asthma and rheumatoid arthritis to gut issues, allergies, and more. Several pathways and underlying mechanisms may explain the connections, but it’s unknown whether inflammation drives ADHD, ADHD drives inflammation, or shared factors are to blame. Regardless, the link begs a larger question, according to Beth Krone, Ph.D., a licensed clinical psychologist and research scientist at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York: “Does recognizing the role of immune inflammatory processes change the way we think about ADHD and having ADHD?”

This was the question underlying Krone’s August 2026 ADDitude webinar, “ADHD and Inflammatory and Immune System Disorders: Exploring Links and Risks.” Here are our takeaways from that event on ADHD, inflammation, and effective health protections.

Routes to Inflammation in ADHD

Researchers are investigating the following associations in an effort to understand the ADHD-inflammation link:

• Disrupted dopamine signaling. Differences in dopamine signaling are inherent in ADHD, but the role of the neurotransmitter dopamine goes far beyond the brain. Dopamine signaling, for example, directly regulates immune and inflammatory activity. It alters T cell activity, a type of blood cell that plays a big role in the way the body upregulates inflammation. One study found that a higher number of T cells was associated with ADHD symptoms, even without a diagnosis.
• Disrupted immunoglobulins (IgE). These antibodies drive allergic reactions by causing mast cells to release histamine. Some studies have found altered immunoglobulin patterns among people with ADHD. Read about mast cell activation syndrome and ADHD.
• Genetic vulnerabilities. Many genes that are tied to ADHD are also tied to immune system function.

[Take the ADDitude Survey! ADHD and Inflammation]

Chronic Stress and ADHD

ADHD is not a stress disorder, but its impairments add to allostatic load, or cumulative stress, a well-known trigger for inflammation. That is, living with ADHD itself may predispose individuals to inflammatory conditions.

“You’ve got the vulnerability genes, you’ve got the cumulative stress, and you have a worse stress outcome, which is possibly why ADHD is also associated with neurodegenerative disorders later in life,” Krone said.

What Can Be Done

There is no anti-inflammatory treatment protocol for ADHD, and it is currently unclear if ADHD medications help with inflammatory conditions. What is clear is that treating ADHD helps people live longer, healthier lives. Krone recommends taking the following steps to protect your health:

• Identify and treat any underlying allergies, autoimmune conditions, sleep disorders, or other health problems. Managing these conditions may indirectly improve ADHD symptoms.
• Track one to three cognitive and physical symptoms, noting sleep, illness, medication changes, pain, rashes, fever, digestive symptoms, and possible triggers. Bring your data to a provider to help them see patterns.
• Treat your ADHD. Symptom management can help you stay on top of your physical health conditions.
• Prioritize sleep and exercise. “Exercise has the highest yield for overall well-being,” said Krone.
• Only eat a specific diet if you have food allergies or intolerances. Otherwise, a nutritious diet and regular meals matter in leading the kind of healthy lifestyle that boosts resilience.

For more insights on ADHD, inflammation, and autoimmune conditions, watch the full webinar at additu.de/081826

Inflammation and ADHD: Next Steps

• Free Download: Healthy Lifestyle Changes for Adults with ADHD
• Read: ADHD’s Curious Connections to Chronic Inflammation and Dysautonomia
• Read: How ADHD Can Intensify Physical Health Conditions

ADDITUDE IS HUMAN
Artificial intelligence does not create or edit any written content published by ADDitude. Our editorial team is 100% human, and our mission is simple: listen to and serve our readers with hand-crafted, expert-informed resources. To support ADDitude, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our commitment possible. Thank you.

If your child’s teachers are patient, kind, and supportive, consider it a gift – because far too many neurodivergent students are met with criticism, frustration, or misunderstanding in the classroom.

When ADDitude asked readers if they’d ever dealt with a teacher who clearly didn’t like their child, we received hundreds of responses. And, sadly, two-thirds of caregivers reported that their child had indeed experienced this.

Here are some of their stories – and signs of the scars that lingered long after the school year ended.

[Read: “My Teacher Hates Me!”]

“I spoke with the teacher several times about my son’s neurodivergent needs, and she told me that he needed to ‘get over it’. His grades sank and he lost all motivation to learn the content because he felt targeted.”
— Stephanie, Wisconsin

“Her kindergarten teacher kept mentioning issues she had with sitting still, staying on task, etc. I thought to myself, ‘She’s 5.’ When I asked if she thought my daughter might have ADHD, knowing little about it, she said, ‘No, it seems to just be a behavioral issue.’ Well, duh! ADHD manifests as behavioral problems!”
— Cecil, Minnesota

“[The teacher] kept repeating how quirky (so tired of hearing this one) my child was. She always seemed surprised if my child did well with anything. My child sensed it. I was transparent with my child that her teacher had some weird ideas and that, while we should be kind to her, we shouldn’t take those ideas seriously.”
— Catherine, United Kingdom

“My 9th grade neurodivergent son shut down during a test. The teacher wasn’t able to redirect him, so she pulled my 11th grade neurotypical daughter from class (they went to the same school) and told her to speak with him. My daughter was very embarrassed for her brother, which made things worse. The teacher said very loudly to my son, ‘You’re so lazy. Even your own sister can’t help you.'”
— Nicole, Delaware

[Read: 4 Secrets to More Positive Teacher-Student Relationships]

“My nephew, who has ADHD, had a primary school teacher who bullied him quite badly. It made some of the children in class upset, too, and they told my sister and her husband about it. My nephew has low self-confidence, guilt, and shame left over from that.”
— ADDitude reader, United Kingdom

“This happened two years ago. It affected my child’s learning, exacerbated his anxiety, and affected his social life. He’s in the midst of an evaluation, and the neuropsychologist reports he has some PTSD from this. The following year the teacher loved him – and it was amazing.”
— Rachel, Rhode Island

“A coach talked down to my daughter and ridiculed her for being different and not meeting her standards for social acceptance. I spoke to the coach about my daughter’s social struggles and her severe ADHD. It made no difference. She was ignorant about the challenges of being neurodivergent. I fully pulled my daughter from the team, as the coach caused her to feel shame and embarrassment. When someone really doesn’t get it, it’s best to remove your child from the situation and look for a more positive environment.”
— Valerie, California

“Before we started homeschooling, my oldest child had a teacher who said she was just lazy. I knew this couldn’t be farther from the truth. That this teacher couldn’t see that my child couldn’t stay on task despite trying their hardest made me angry. I made sure my child knew that we knew that the teacher was just wrong. That year we had her evaluated, but, even when we got an ADHD diagnosis, this teacher was skeptical. We were glad to leave that school. Now my bright high schooler advocates well for herself and others who are neurodivergent. I’m so proud of her.”
— Sarah, Canada

Teacher Bullying Students: Next Steps

• Read: 9 Mean Teacher Comments Every Student with ADHD Knows Too Well
• Read: Be That Teacher Who Breaks Through
• Read: The ADHD Misconceptions That Stifle Students

ADDITUDE IS HUMAN
Artificial intelligence does not create or edit any written content published by ADDitude. Our editorial team is 100% human, and our mission is simple: listen to and serve our readers with hand-crafted, expert-informed resources. To support ADDitude, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our commitment possible. Thank you.

There are more than 2,400 four-year colleges in the United States. As an admissions officer with 30 years of experience, I can say with certainty that there is a college for everyone. From Ivy Leagues to state universities to community colleges to trade schools, there is a universe of opportunities out there after high school.

Use this guide to help your bright, capable teen shine in the college admissions process or confidently pursue other paths after high school. And download our free college readiness checklist at additu.de/college-check.

First, Look Inward

Higher Education Options

Demonstrated Interest

What About Testing?

Application Time

The Big Essay

College Admissions Process for ADHD Students: Next Steps

• Read: College Application Timeline — A Grade-by-Grade Guide
• Read: 4 Hallmarks of ADHD-Supportive Colleges
• Read: How to Prepare Your ADHD Teen for College, According to Research

Renee Minnich is a college consultant at Educational Connections, a tutoring and executive function coaching company.

ADDITUDE IS HUMAN
Artificial intelligence does not create or edit any written content published by ADDitude. Our editorial team is 100% human, and our mission is simple: listen to and serve our readers with hand-crafted, expert-informed resources. To support ADDitude, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our commitment possible. Thank you.

My ADHD diagnosis at the age of 30 introduced me to rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD) – a term used for the intense pain and agony caused by criticism, real or perceived. Learning about RSD opened my eyes to the impact of ADHD on my life; it helped me understand why I lived with an ever-present, heavy shame.

My shame developed early. I was a child when I first sensed that my innate interests and way of being were faulty. That there was something wrong with me, and that everyone else functioned better. It was an idea reinforced over and over, in moments big and small, like every time my parents called me “artsy fartsy” for my interest in all things creative – the ultimate insult in my conservative household. Or like when a classmate told me, to my horror, that my favorite color, red, was ugly, and that pink was the correct choice for girls. Or when a school psychologist told me that I would be an excellent student if I just “applied myself.”

My symptoms and mishaps — being late, forgetting things, occasionally poor grades – would launch me into shame spirals and whirlwinds of self-loathing. I developed a host of other conditions, including depression and anxiety, all of which I believe were exacerbated by untreated ADHD, RSD, and unaddressed shame.

Learning about RSD led me to my current path as a therapist. I’ve come to see that I’m not alone in managing persistent feelings of rejection, worthlessness, inadequacy, and not measuring up. In fact, I’m still floored by just how deeply we’re impacted by the shame of ADHD, possibly more than the core symptoms of the condition.

Managing RSD

I speak from professional and personal experience when I say that it’s possible to manage RSD’s impact on our lives. Here are the strategies I use for myself and share with my clients to prevent and manage intense emotional spirals.

[Get This Free Download: Understanding Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria]

1. Know your triggers.

Think about the last time you felt awful about yourself. What were the circumstances? Were you late? Did you forget something? Did you lash out at someone you love?

What other thoughts and feelings did that moment bring up? What stories did you tell yourself about the situation? Were you inadvertently comparing yourself to others? Were you worried you were letting someone down?

Knowing when you are more likely to fall into a shame spiral can help you anticipate and intervene. Running behind, for example, is a huge RSD trigger for me.

2. Talk to yourself like you would to a friend.

When I realize that I’m running late, for example, I do my best to take a deep breath and speak kindly to myself. I remind myself that being late isn’t a sin, and that I’m doing the best I can. I look at the evidence for all I did to try to make it on time. I pat myself on the back for what went well and make note of what didn’t so that I know for next time.

[Read: RSD Triggers “Identity-Level Pain” for People with ADHD]

The next time you’re facing a trigger, try compassionate self-talk. Seriously. Over time and with practice, your own words will have a calming effect.

Bonus! Here’s a quote I like to offer my clients: “I am a neurodivergent in a neurotypical world, I am doing the best I can today, which might look different depending on the day.”

3. Use distraction or humor.

Having a distractible mind comes with its perks. Our brains can literally run away from our self-deprecating thoughts into more useful spaces.

When I feel a shame spiral come on, I pull out my to-do list and focus on completing a small task. Or I jog in place. Jumping jacks are also a great distraction that dispel energy.

Humor may be the last place your brain wants to go when RSD is lurking, but I promise it helps. I also find it helpful to keep a folder of funny ADHD memes or reels to review when I need to bring some levity to the situation.

Using humor and compassionate self-talk doesn’t mean that we’re avoiding reality or giving ourselves a pass. If I’m running late because I ignored my alarms, I’m not using humor to bypass accountability. Instead, I use these tools to help me bypass the shame that keeps me stuck and tells me stories about my worth that just aren’t true.

Emotional Spirals, RSD, and ADHD: Next Steps

• Read: “I Can’t Handle Rejection. Will I Ever Change?”
• Read: Escaping the Captivity of RSD
• Read: How to Control Your Emotions and RSD in Real Time

ADDITUDE IS HUMAN
Artificial intelligence does not create or edit any written content published by ADDitude. Our editorial team is 100% human, and our mission is simple: listen to and serve our readers with hand-crafted, expert-informed resources. To support ADDitude, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our commitment possible. Thank you.

Failure is rarely an intentional choice. When a student’s report card includes less-than-stellar grades, the problem is seldom rooted in laziness or lack of motivation.

Disappointing grades tank confidence. The faster your student’s grades bounce back, the less self-esteem damage they will endure. Here’s how to help your student quickly recover and escape the poor-grades-low-motivation doom loop to regain their academic confidence.

Lead with Curiosity

• Approach the problem like teammates. Sit side-by-side as you calmly broach the subject. Instead of, “You got a bad grade again,” try, “I noticed you’re struggling in science. Tell me what’s going on.” Ask: “What can we do about this together?”
• Encourage self-reflection. Understanding what went well and how to improve outcomes is a real skill. To bolster this ability, ask questions like, “You studied really hard for that math test. Tell me what got in your way.” Or say, “What might you do differently next time?”
• Avoid revoking privileges over poor grades, as this may cause resentment and more resistance.

[Read: How to Establish Learning Habits That Pay Dividends]

Identify Root Causes

Disappointing grades come down to lagging executive function skills, knowledge gaps, or both. If a knowledge gap is to blame, pinpoint content holes and revisit concepts. Teachers, classmates, tutors, and coaches can speed up with process.

• Ask instructors whether accommodations could help make the curriculum more accessible.
• Have students preview upcoming lessons to build interest, engagement, and comprehension.

Support Executive Functions

Planning, time management, and other skills take longer to develop in students with learning differences. Caregivers and educators can compensate for this delay by doing the following:

[Read: “These Classroom Accommodations Really Helped My Child”]

• For each subject, ask, “How does your teacher announce assignments, due dates, and tests? What’s the process for handing in work?” Write important dates on a calendar. The result is sure to reveal gaps in your student’s knowledge about individual classroom steps.
• If your student has a test on Friday, ask what might get in the way of their studying on Thursday and how they can plan accordingly.
• If forgetting to hand in completed work is an issue, your student’s IEP could state that teachers must request homework from them, for example.

Above all, remember that grades rarely reflect the full effort invested by neurodivergent students, and they never measure your child’s intelligence, predict their success, or define them as a person.

How to Help a Child with ADHD in School: Next Steps

• Read: 6 Hacks for Homework Overwhelm
• Read: Best Classroom Supports for ADHD
• Read: 9 Ways to Motivate Your Child to Do Well

Ann Dolin, Ed.M., is founder and president of Educational Connections in Alexandria, Virginia.

ADDITUDE IS HUMAN
Artificial intelligence does not create or edit any written content published by ADDitude. Our editorial team is 100% human, and our mission is simple: listen to and serve our readers with hand-crafted, expert-informed resources. To support ADDitude, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our commitment possible. Thank you.

One afternoon, I sat at my kitchen table in tears. I didn’t want to cry — I did everything I could to stop the tears, but they came anyway. My youngest child had just told me she wished I would put on my headphones to listen to my music instead of playing it through our Bluetooth speakers.

Totally harmless comment. No big deal, right? Not with rejection sensitivity.

When my kids were born, I had all these ideas about the kind of home I wanted them to grow up in. One of those ideas? A home filled with music. It was a memory I wanted them to carry and share with their own kids. Something I thought would be joyful.

As dramatic as it sounds, it hurt to hear that my dream for my daughter’s childhood was basically an annoyance. I reflected on years past when she did dance and sing with me in the kitchen, which only made the pain worse. But I made sure my daughter knew I was just sad about the situation, not upset at her.

[Read: It’s OK to Cry — and Other Lessons from a Sensitive Mom with ADHD]

Parenthood with rejection sensitivity means navigating many benign yet painful moments, knowing that our children don’t mean harm. Babies can make us feel rejected when they cry and cry and nothing we’re doing is soothing them. We feel rejected when our toddlers turn away from us, though we know we are their entire world.

Rejection sensitivity hits harder as they become older. They become embarrassed to be seen with us. The hugs get fewer and farther between. They test boundaries, disapprove of our decisions, and reject advice from us as they practice independence. They accuse us – the people who want nothing but their happiness – of not wanting them to have fun or be happy. They don’t yet realize how deeply their words sink. In many ways, our children can unintentionally make us feel like we’re falling short.

How to Parent with Rejection Sensitivity

1. Broaden your view.
My therapist told me that practically all parents struggle with feelings of inadequacy. After all, there are an infinite number of ways to be a good parent. Yet we tend to focus on the things we can’t do, and that convinces us that we’ve fallen short.

2. Stop mind reading.
If your child happens to point out that, hey, all their friends get to play baseball so why can’t they, and the reason is that you don’t have the money to pay for both baseball and cello and you chose cello, it can feel like your child is saying your parenting is not good enough.

[Read: How to Control Your Emotions and RSD in Real Time]

That isn’t what they’re saying. What they’re saying is, they want to play baseball. Notice when you’re developing a story out of nothing, and focus on the evidence.

3. Practice letting go (and practice some more).
Living with AuDHD, I often fall into the trap of taking everything people say, including the things said by my children, literally and to heart. And because I have those delightful additional negative messages in my brain from when I was a child, it is not easy to convince myself that I should brush it off and let it go. But I’ve gotten better at it.

As an adult, I have the ability and responsibility to look at the things my children say through the lens of them being teenagers – with developing brains and unstable hormones – and me being the grown-up.

When warranted, I tell my children their comment was hurtful or uncalled for, but I don’t let it settle into my heart.

4. Regulate and return.
Rejection sensitivity means that I sometimes have to walk away from a conversation with the promise to come back to it later, when I’m calmer. Sometimes it means switching to communicating through text so I don’t blurt out anything I don’t mean. Sometimes it means processing my feelings privately or with my therapist. I’ll go for a walk until my anger or frustration simmer, as losing my temper will help no one.

When I walk away or pause, I make sure my children know that I’m trying to regulate – not that I’m walking away from them.

My job isn’t to never feel rejected. My job is to make sure my rejection sensitivity doesn’t trigger a negative cycle that becomes theirs to handle.

Rejection Sensitivity and Parenting: Next Steps

• Read: “4 Rules for Taking a Mom Rage Break”
• Read: “My Child’s Short Fuse Lights My Short Fuse.”
• Read: How to Stop Emotional Distress from Snowballing

ADDITUDE IS HUMAN
Artificial intelligence does not create or edit any written content published by ADDitude. Our editorial team is 100% human, and our mission is simple: listen to and serve our readers with hand-crafted, expert-informed resources. To support ADDitude, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our commitment possible. Thank you.

ADHD is the second most prevalent psychiatric diagnosis among adults, but few, if any, clinicians receive training in the evaluation and treatment of this dimensional condition. Critically left behind are women and people over 60 — two underrepresented groups in ADHD care — given the field’s persistent focus on young boys.

This is why more than half of women with ADHD received their diagnosis in adulthood, despite the condition having a childhood onset. Likewise, we know very little about seniors with ADHD, as most longitudinal studies on ADHD stop in early adulthood. That said, studies put diagnosis rates at 2% in people over 60, though the share is likely much higher.

How can clinicians better identify ADHD in these groups? Russell Ramsay, Ph.D., outlined professional recommendations in his July 2026 ADDitude webinar, “Recognizing ADHD in Women and Older Adults: Differentiating and Diagnosing Mature Symptoms.” Here are our main takeaways:

ADHD in Seniors: Consider Persistence

To account for confounding factors like cognitive decline, menopause, and other age-related conditions, Ramsay recommends looking for continuation of symptoms and executive functioning issues over time — one of the clearest indicators of ADHD.

That said, symptoms rarely cause consistent impairment across time. “ADHD is a dimensional syndrome,” he said, noting that people who present in the senior years for an evaluation may have had subthreshold ADHD in childhood and adulthood. That is, they may have shown core, clinically significant symptoms of the condition while not meeting the full diagnostic count outlined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders(DSM).

[Read: Distinct Diagnostic and Treatment Considerations for ADHD in Older Adults]

The clinical interview is key for establishing persistence, including self and observer forms as well as school records and work evaluations. Other tools and strategies for professionals include:

• The Barkley Quick-Check for Adult ADHD — a nine-item screening tool that identifies highly predictive symptoms. Seniors need only endorse five symptoms instead of the typical six recommended for adults.
• Mental state examinations (e.g., working memory tests) to assess for cognitive impairments. Severe neurological decline, not ADHD, is associated with more errors in responses.

ADHD in Women: Reverse Diagnosis Often Tells the Story

Many women are only diagnosed with ADHD after first seeking help for another condition or issue, like an eating disorder, anxiety, depression, fatigue, or overwhelm. Ramsay suggests that clinicians who specialize in these areas should screen female patients for ADHD practically by default.

In clinical interviews, masking of executive functioning challenges and the degree to which women try to “hold it all together” should also be assessed. “Even if someone is high achieving, I want to hear how they achieved it, Ramsay said. “Behind the scenes, what were the compensatory mechanisms?”

[Read: “Women Need Better, More Accurate Diagnostic Tools for ADHD”]

Telling ADHD Apart From Everything Else

Given ADHD’s overlap with other conditions and high comorbidity rates, clinicians can tell if ADHD is present by considering the persistence of executive functioning challenges. That is, is executive dysfunction present even during fluctuations of other issues?

A granular review of symptoms can also help tease apart conditions. A person may say they’re distracted, for example, but it may be because of intrusive thoughts related to OCD, not because of inattention rooted in ADHD. Patients themselves can also be great discerners of their symptoms.

For more insights on identifying ADHD in women and older adults, including what makes for a comprehensive evaluation, watch the full webinar at additu.de/072826

Signs of ADHD: Next Steps

• Read: ADHD Does Not Diminish with Age. Its Diagnostic Clarity Does.
• Read: The State of Adult ADHD Today
• Read: How the DSM-5 Fails People with ADHD — and a Better Way to Diagnose
  

ADDITUDE IS HUMAN
Artificial intelligence does not create or edit any written content published by ADDitude. Our editorial team is 100% human, and our mission is simple: listen to and serve our readers with hand-crafted, expert-informed resources. To support ADDitude, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our commitment possible. Thank you.

Stimulant medications are the undisputed heavyweights of ADHD treatment, reliably reducing symptoms and impairments. The two stimulant classes – methylphenidate and amphetamine – are prescribed as a first-line treatment and providers only look to other options if that approach fails.

But as millions of families navigate persistent pharmacy shortages, regulatory red tape, and anxieties around taking controlled substances, we ask: Does the decades-long “stimulant-first” approach serve everyone’s best interests?

Efficacy Data and Comparisons

Current guidelines from major medical organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, favor stimulants as the primary treatment for children and teens? Non-stimulants have a backup role, reserved for those with specific issues, like substance use disorders or tics, or for patients who do not respond to or tolerate stimulants.

Real-world prescription data illustrate a stark result of these guidelines. An analysis of nearly 80 million U.S. prescriptions for ADHD medications found that a staggering 90 percent were for stimulants, and 10 percent were for non-stimulants.

When we peel back the layers of data, the clinical superiority of stimulants falls out of focus. For example, colleagues at the forefront of ADHD research published a network meta-analysis, which uses complex statistical methods to compare the efficacy of treatments across many studies. They found that stimulants had a modest statistical edge over non-stimulants.

[Read: New Insight Into ADHD Stimulants – Optimal Doses by Age, Deprescribing Guidance]

From that data, we calculated that a doctor must prescribe stimulants instead of non-stimulants to eight patients just to see one additional patient do better than they would have if they had taken a non-stimulant.

These views are not to dispute the outstanding record of stimulant medication for youth with ADHD. Rather, we ask whether the advantage stimulants hold over non-stimulants is sufficient to reserve first-line status among providers.

The “Average Patient” Illusion

Statistical comparisons between drugs rely on average differences between treatments. Using averages, however, ignores a crucial fact: Not all patients react to any given medication in the same way. When one of us (JN) looked closely at atomoxetine date from a placebo controlled clinical trial, he found that the “average benefit” data hid a deep split: 47 percent of children and teens had an excellent response to atomoxetine, 40 percent had a poor response, and only 13 percent fell into the middle. For nearly half the patients taking it, the non-stimulant worked very well – likely about as well as a stimulant would have.

So, by always prescribing stimulants first, doctors are withholding from a large group of patients a highly effective treatment that may have fewer side effects than first-line stimulant medications.

[Read: Stimulant, Non-Stimulant, or Both? Combination Therapy for ADHD]

The debate isn’t just about efficacy; it’s about the practical and societal tolls associated with stimulants. Because they are controlled substances, stimulants are tightly regulated. This means no automatic refills, mandatory in-person evaluations, and complex telemedicine restrictions.

Parents of children with ADHD, and adults with ADHD, already struggle with the organization and planning skills required to navigate logistical hurdles. The situation is worsened by stimulant shortages that force patients to ration doses, switch brains, or endure gaps in treatment. The effects lead to less adequate symptom control, work and academic struggles, and emotional distress.

There is also a darker side to the dominance of stimulants: Rates of diversion, misuse, and abuse are alarming among adolescents and young adults, who sometimes use prescription stimulants to pull all-nighters, enhance academic performance, or party. A national survey found that more than 25 percent of people using prescription stimulants reported misusing them – and many divert them to family members and friends, a practice entirely hidden from doctors. Diversion and misuse are especially prevalent on college campuses.

The Trade-Offs of a New Approach

To be clear, a “non-stimulant-first” strategy isn’t without challenges; most notably, time. Stimulants work quickly; non-stimulants can take several weeks to reach full effectiveness. If a child is actively failing classes and needs rapid symptom relief to save their school year, waiting weeks for a non-stimulant to kick in could be detrimental.

Advocates for the stimulant-first approach also correctly point out that risks of abuse can be managed by properly educating families and carefully screening out high-risk patients.

Ultimately the goal isn’t to demonize stimulants or render them even more difficult to obtain. Instead, the evidence strongly suggests that medical guidelines should abandon a rigid “one-size-fits-all” strategy in favor of parallel first-line pathways.

The shift toward truly personalized prescribing requires hard data. To help prescribers, parents, and adolescents with ADHD navigate the stimulant vs. non-stimulant questions, we are conducting a clinical trial funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute that will put these two strategies to the test.

By presenting both classes of medication as equally valid starting points, doctors and patients can make informed, personalized decisions based on an individual’s unique needs, psychiatric history, and personal values. In the complex world of ADHD treatment, giving patients more than one option might just be the most effective prescription of all.

Stimulant vs. Non-Stimulant ADHD Meds: Next Steps

• Read: Unraveling a Tangle of Confusion Over ADHD Medication
• Q&A: “Why Are There So Many Different ADHD Medications?”
• Read: Stimulants vs. Non-Stimulants – Understanding ADHD Medications

Stephen V. Faraone, Ph.D., is a distinguished professor in the Department of Psychiatry at SUNY Upstate Medical University and the founder of www.ADHDevidence.org

Jeffrey Newcorn, M.D., is a professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

ADDITUDE IS HUMAN
Artificial intelligence does not create or edit any written content published by ADDitude. Our editorial team is 100% human, and our mission is simple: listen to and serve our readers with hand-crafted, expert-informed resources. To support ADDitude, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our commitment possible. Thank you.

ADHD affects the ability to pause, reflect, and evaluate behavior in real time. Because of this delay, a 12-year-old with ADHD may be operating with the self-awareness of a nine-year-old child.

This delay shows up both academically and socially. A student may insist they “studied a lot” when they reread notes but did not actively practice or test themselves. Socially, they may miss cues like tone, facial expressions, or conversation shifts. They may interrupt, overtalk or struggle to take another person’s perspective without realizing how they’re coming across. As a result, they may get labeled careless or disruptive, struggle to maintain friendships, and feel left out by peers.

Over time, repeated correction without understanding creates frustration and shame. Without self-awareness, those feelings can quickly become deeply ingrained. The good news is that this executive function can be explicitly taught by:

Pinpointing strengths. When students receive negative feedback, they often avoid self-reflection. Parents and teachers can help students identify positive attributes and development opportunities through tools like a strengths inventory.

Helping students identify how they learn best. Work with them to create a simple one-page snapshot that names their learning style, executive function strengths and challenges, and preferred strategies. When students build it themselves, this inventory creates ownership, clarity, and a foundation for self-advocacy.

Modeling responses. Give students a script before they need it. Rehearse phrases like, “It’s hard for me to focus when there’s a lot of noise” or “I didn’t mean to interrupt. I got excited.” Practiced language lowers the barrier between feeling something and communicating it.

Revisiting situations that go sideways. Whether a student misreads a social cue or completely shuts down, they can learn something valuable from the experience. Walk them back through what triggered their response, what the other person might have been experiencing, and what they could try next time. That kind of structured reflection, done calmly and consistently well after the event, builds self-awareness more than any in-the-moment correction ever will.

Self-Awareness for Kids with ADHD: Next Steps

• Free Checklist: Common Executive Function Challenges — and Solutions
• Read: A 6-Step Plan for Teaching ADHD Self-Advocacy Skills
• Read: A Daily Plan to Practice Empowering Self-Talk

Brooke Schnittman is an ADHD coach, coach trainer, speaker, and the author of Activate Your ADHD Potential.

ADDITUDE IS HUMAN
Artificial intelligence does not create or edit any written content published by ADDitude. Our editorial team is 100% human, and our mission is simple: listen to and serve our readers with hand-crafted, expert-informed resources. To support ADDitude, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our commitment possible. Thank you.

Does stimulant medication increase risk for substance use disorder and developing an addiction?

The question is valid. People with ADHD are at greater risk, after all, for using substances and for developing dependence. And stimulant medication — the first-line treatment for ADHD — is classified by the FDA as a Schedule II controlled substances due to its high potential for misuse, abuse, and dependence. So it’s not surprising that some people worry stimulant medications may inadvertently increases risk for addiction in ADHD brains.

But mounting research shared during the July 2026 ADDitude webinar “ADHD Treatment and Substance Use Problems: The Latest Research on Stimulants & SUD” paints a reassuring picture.

“We’re not showing, on average, that stimulants increase risk for substance use disorder,” said Brooke Molina, Ph.D., Professor of Psychiatry, Psychology, Pediatrics, and Clinical and Translational Science at the University of Pittsburgh, during her joint webinar with Brian D’Onofrio, Ph.D.

Here are their webinar’s main takeaways on ADHD, substance use, and the impact of ADHD medication treatment on substance use-related outcomes.

The Factors That Link ADHD to Substance Use

From inherited family risk and symptom severity to altered reward processing, multiple factors help explain why people with ADHD face an elevated risk for substance use and substance use disorders.

[Overview: Substance Use Disorders — Signs, Symptoms, and Links to ADHD]

“There’s variation in the way that people with ADHD respond to drugs and things that are potentially rewarding,” Molina said. “This does go back to the dopamine differences in the brain.”

Difficulty translating knowledge into action — a common challenge associated with ADHD — is another factor. In this case, awareness of negative effects does not always translate to reduced substance use.

“This is really important for clinicians to be aware of,” Molina said regarding the treatment of people with ADHD and active substance use issues. “You can’t just take a standard treatment developed for something like substance use disorder and drop it on a person with ADHD. [The treatment plan] needs to consider the particular issues that go along with ADHD.”

Stimulants Do Not Increase Risk for Later Substance Use

Multiple long-scale and longitudinal studies show that stimulant treatment in childhood does not increase risk for harmful substance use later on.

One study that looked at onset and duration of stimulant treatment for ADHD found that people who started treatment before the age of 9 or who were receiving treatment for longer (i.e., six or more years compared to less than one year) were less likely to use substances.

[Read: Treating a Child with ADHD Medication Diminishes Future Risk of Substance Abuse]

Stimulants Protect Against Adverse Outcomes

It’s widely recognized that stimulants don’t increase risk for substance use, however some studies have found that stimulant medication actually protects against serious outcomes, like hospitalization, crime, and even substance-related death in patients with ADHD, regardless of age. “There is a roughly 30% reduction in the risk for these serious outcomes,” said D’Onofrio, the Sharon Stephens Brehm Endowed Professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Indiana University.

Even among people with ADHD and a history of substance use, initiating ADHD medication treatment reduces risk for these events, D’Onofrio said.

ADHD and SUD: Implications

Well-respected research overwhelmingly shows that stimulants do not increase risk for substance problems. Still, many people with ADHD, and many clinicians, are slow to accept the evidence.

“We have an enormous number of practitioners out there who just really are very uncomfortable treating ADHD, and they’re scared of dealing with stimulant medications,” said Molina, who noted that upcoming U.S. Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of ADHD in Adulthood will aim to help clinicians become more familiar with treating complex ADHD.

D’Onofrio added other treatment options exist if stimulant abuse is a concern. “There are extended-release rather than short-acting [meds], and then there are specific types of stimulant medications, different formulations that are harder to abuse,” he said, adding that therapy and other approaches can also help.

Researchers also need to further understand why many youth with ADHD stop taking medication and what effects this trend may have on health outcomes, he said.

For more insights on ADHD, stimulants, substance use-related outcomes, and the studies highlighted during the webinar, watch the replay.

SUD and ADHD Treatment: Next Steps

• Read: SUD Risk Is Elevated by ADHD
• Study: Prescription Stimulants Do Not Increase the Risk of Illicit Drug Use in Adolescents
• Read: No, Stimulants Don’t Cause Brain Damage

ADDITUDE IS HUMAN
Artificial intelligence does not create or edit any written content published by ADDitude. Our editorial team is 100% human, and our mission is simple: listen to and serve our readers with hand-crafted, expert-informed resources. To support ADDitude, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our commitment possible. Thank you.

Time can feel slippery, invisible, and impossible to fit inside a calendar’s neat little square boxes. For students with ADHD and learning differences, problems with time management can stem from cognitive overload, multitasking, perfectionism, and time anxiety.

To solve these problems, you must understand what is causing the struggle and experiment with strategies until you find what works for your student.

Problem: Cognitive Overload

The art of learning requires a student to pay attention, manage assignments, and study for tests across multiple subjects. But attempting to process too much information taxes working memory and ultimately reduces productivity.

[Read: Multitasking Is a Farce. Use These Task-Switching Strategies Instead.]

The Fix: Support Working Memory

• Direct students to pay close attention with cues like “This is going to be on the test,” or “Here are the key facts.”
• Provide visual aids and allow students to summarize lessons with tools like Google NotebookLM.

Problem: Multitasking

Rapidly shifting between tasks consumes energy, prolongs time spent on tasks, and increases errors.

The Fix: Enforce Monotasking

• Set timers and have students work in focused bursts, followed by short breaks.
• Ensure a distraction-free, comfortable environment that meets students’ sensory needs.
• Allow students to move or doodle while working if it helps to focus their attention.

Problem: Perfectionism

Fear of criticism and mistakes keeps students from starting and progressing on their work.

[Read: A Teacher’s Time Toolbox – How to Keep Kids on Schedule]

The Fix: Provide Clarity

• Listen to your student’s concerns about the assignment and their abilities. What do they find overwhelming about the task?
• Highlight your student’s strengths, efforts, and persistence rather than outcomes.
• Have your student rate the difficulty of a task before they begin and after they complete it. Most of the time, tasks end up being more manageable than expected.
• Give your students permission to hand in work as is. Remind them that perfection is not the goal.

Problem: Time Anxiety

For some students, timers can cause anxiety and steal focus from work.

The Fix: Act as a Body Double

• Start or finish steps of an assignment together.
• Provide your students with healthy outlets to relieve stress – like brain dumps or quick breathing exercises – so they can free up their minds for learning.
• Improve time-estimation skills by working through hypothetical scenarios.

Beverley Holden Johns is a learning and behavior specialist.

ADDITUDE IS HUMAN
Artificial intelligence does not create or edit any written content published by ADDitude. Our editorial team is 100% human, and our mission is simple: listen to and serve our readers with hand-crafted, expert-informed resources. To support ADDitude, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our commitment possible. Thank you.

Most people don’t recognize ADHD ableism when they’re swimming in it. They come into therapy sessions saying things like,

“Why can’t my partner just follow through?”

“My child should know better by now.”

“This shouldn’t be so hard for them.”

Most people also become needlessly (but understandably) defensive when they’re told that they’re acting ableist toward the people in their lives with ADHD. Ableism is often unconscious, shaped from societal conditioning that sets neurotypical functioning as the norm. Even people with ADHD can experience internalized ableism.

Ableism isn’t always loud or intentionally hurtful. Often, it shows up as harmless, “common sense” beliefs like the following:

• “Everyone should be able to sit still and listen.”
• “You just have to try harder.”
• “Following directions is a basic life skill.”
• “If it mattered, you’d remember.”

[Read: Has ADHD Warped Your Sense of Self?]

Ableism Breeds Frustration and Disconnection

Ableism inevitably leads to frustration, as neurotypical people attempt to make sense of the behaviors of their partners or children with ADHD that do not match their expectations. Worst of all, ableism often causes us to view symptoms and different ways of functioning as character flaws. A partner who forgets the plan is viewed as careless. A child who needs multiple prompts to start homework is labeled as lazy. Over time, these stories quietly damage connection.

How to Dismantle ADHD Ableism

Accept That We All Have Blind Spots

Ableism is a belief system that we all inherited and perpetuate without realizing. Unconscious ableist behaviors don’t make you a bad partner or parent. The explanations you were handed for ADHD behaviors were incomplete at best, and deeply stigmatizing at worse. Acknowledging ableism isn’t about blaming yourself, but about accepting the waters in which you have been swimming.

Right-Size Expectations

When I untangle ableism in therapy with my patients, what we’re actually doing is replacing outdated expectations with ones rooted in accuracy, compassion, and neurological reality.

[Read: What We Wish Our Partners Understood About ADHD]

Things begin to shift for the better once you recognize that your expectations of your child or partner never considered their neurodivergent wiring. When you find yourself frustrated, pause and consider:

• Is this about what’s realistic for their brain?
• Is it about what I was taught a “functional adult” should do?
• Is the standard I’m holding supportive or is it inherited?

Acknowledging ableism isn’t about dismissing challenges or letting people off the hook. Your frustration is real, your needs are real, and your exhaustion is real.

You don’t have to abandon your needs to embrace a neurodivergent-informed lens. You can hold both truths — “I need support” and “the old rulebook doesn’t fit this relationship.”

When families step into this updated understanding, something remarkable happens:

• Relationships soften
• Communication improves
• Kids feel less defective
• And partners feel understood.

Ableism and ADHD: Next Steps

• Read: Your Child Is Not Giving You a Hard Time. Your Child Is Having a Hard Time.
• Read: “What I Wish My Partner Knew About My ADHD”
• Read: 42 Raw Confessions from Women with ADHD

ADDITUDE IS HUMAN
Artificial intelligence does not create or edit any written content published by ADDitude. Our editorial team is 100% human, and our mission is simple: listen to and serve our readers with hand-crafted, expert-informed resources. To support ADDitude, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our commitment possible. Thank you.