I'm ADD, and I have a genius IQ, and I'm an INTJ-A. It all adds up to my not enjoying casual conversations. I much prefer highly technical or philosophical topics. I have sat through family dinners in restaurants where I was forced to listen to people discuss their preferred hand soaps. Fortunately, I'm also incredibly patient. I feel like I don't belong. I'm the square Peg in a room full of round holes.
Infp-ish, intj-ish here. I can relate. At parties I tend to sway conversations towards fixing things or problem solving. If I can't I'll just sit in my corner day dreaming about a project and pretending to have fun while everyone else talks about sports, politics, or their favorite cereal as they get drunk.
Very relatable. I love one on one interactions because I can get people talking about deeper topics - passions, difficulties, etc. As soon as I get in groups I become awkward and shut down because I just can’t engage with the chitchat
This should be interesting. I have ASD and ADHD. Schools were not prepared to teach the atypical child at all back when I was a juvenile. I barely got accepted to kindergarten and as a teen scored in the 95th percentile (men and women’s), for Mechanical Reasoning and Spacial Ability. I don’t boast, but it’s tempting when people treat me like I’m IQ of 3. Best wishes from Kansas 🌻
In highschool I could get 100% on a math test & fail English.. as a kid I heard many times, "she's smart but doesn't apply herself." I flew under the radar, & was diagnosed with ADHD at 32. I suspect I may fall on the spectrum & score mid range on tests but yet to seek a diagnosis. So thank you both for this collaboration!! Very informative & appreciated 💛
I had hyper fixation related to grammar and spelling so I excelled at both; but when I had a project or assignment that wasn’t needing to completed that day or that week I just failed miserably. With exams I always had top marks, and even taught other students the work often. I was diagnosed with dysthymia at 15, and that has never quite sat well with me. I am going through the process now with my child of having him get supports for whatever Neurospiciness he has, and I’m now absolutely certain at 36 I need to be re diagnosed. How do you go about being diagnosed correctly without looking like you are “med seeking”?
@@jessnoske3020 I am 52. I was diagnosed with dysthymia and anxiety at age 19, in 1992. I had an ADHD assessment. She would have diagnosed me, but I failed the computer tests. I am an accountant and love math, shapes, patterns, logic. Both computer tests are obviously designed for children and are probably older than Microsoft Windows. So based on the tests, she re-diagnosed me with depression and anxiety. (I first started with my GP who offered meds, and I told her I wasn't interested, but she explained them to me anyway.) A followup appointment, I did decide to try them. She agrees that they shouldn't have that type of test for someone who loves math and such. I would just straight up tell your doctor that you aren't looking for meds. I did that. I said I want to understand myself so that I can work on myself. I dont take the meds on weekends, just mainly for work when I need to focus.
Mr Thomas Brown is the one person who actually made me look at my "disorder" as something to actually be something to be proud of. This is my one and only life, this is the brains I have to work with and honestly, now that I know what I have to work with (thanks to diagnosis) I view my adhd (add) as a superpower.
Thank you so much for this video. I am a 21 year old university student, who only got diagnosed with ADHD in August 2023. I completely resonate with how ADHD individuals get completely missed by the school system and are instead dubbed lazy. However, I think Dr Brown's central mystery can be explained by the speed of stimulation. The first two instances he mentions are ice hockey and video games, in both the stimulation is considerably higher than day to day activities such as sitting in a lesson etc.
Thank you both for this podcast! I learned a lot just now--despite having been diagnosed in the early 70s! It helped that my dad was a prof in special education. I was very fortunate! The overlap and comorbidity of autism and ADHD is something that has interested me for years. One area that needs more attention is the relationship between the levels of developmental hormones and how much ADHD traits (maybe autism traits too?) affect an individual's ability to function. A lot of us older gals notice as we near and go into menopause that our ADHD ramps up to where all of our coping skills go out the window. There was one small study done on this a few years back but it needs to be looked into further.
5:37 there was absolutely no need to call me out like this 😭 ty for this video tho it was really interesting hearing his take on the subject 💕 edit: the point he made around 23:00 about comorbidity and how often adhd and autism are found in the same people was spot on with my own experience. I knew when I was a teenager I had adhd (my parents didn't want me on meds so I wasn't able to be diagnosed until like 18 when I saw a doctor at my uni) but nobody ever thought I might be on the spectrum. I was actually the one who came up with it on my own after some in depth conversations with one of my close friends who has been diagnosed with both adhd and autism. I find it interesting that because adhd and I think even autism to an extent is still widely viewed as like a "male problem" combined with people born female being raised in a society that teaches women to hide things that could be considered "social flaws" which falls under the category of what a lot of people with autism seem to experience. sorry for context I am now 27 and I was 26 years old when I finally realised I was autistic lmao.
I left school with no qualifications and spent my life thinking I was a failure so had a family and muddled though my life but made sure all my three children attended school and they all have degrees but my oldest daughter started struggling at work then was diagnosed with ADHD which has led me to also be diagnosed at 46! I always felt I knew how to do work but blank when trying to write anything and because of that I was just left and put in classes with people with special needs! I also didn’t have a support system at home so never attend many lessons. I wasn’t naughty like the stereotype child bouncing the room but mine was internal. I have 18 on my test so have severe ADHD but feel excited for my future 🙂
'Med shaming' is a new term for me. Thanks for that. My view is taking a medicine that can help in such a drastic way as ADHD meds do is something that absolutely should be considered. Those who med shame should butt out of the debate because they frequently don't know anything about ADHD or ADHD meds in an experiential sense, which is what really matters!
ADHD since 1993, if we are hyper focused on something and we are interested in it, we are good at it. I wish I could be that % that didn't have short term memory. The meds don't work for me and I have learnt to deal with it on my own.
If we are hyperfocused on things it's because we enjoy it and it takes all of our energy. Boredom is the the enemy. Our mind at rest is an oxymoron. We may be sitting there on a couch doing nothing, but our brain is still 100mph.
Short term sucks because our brain is doing so much at once it isn't focused on the thing in front of us but rather the other 5 tabs open in our brain.
@@ky.000 That is a perfect description of what goes on every hour of the day. It is very draining. I have to put my hands together under the table to focus on what someone is saying while buzzing off 2 coffee before they wear off.
My journey started like this (and I wouldn't be surprised if it's a common experience): I went to the psychiatric care (in Sweden) looking for help for a very specific phobia (turns out, at this point Ive had panic disorder for over two years without me even knowing what panic attacks or panic disorders were). They tried to help me but after a few months of unsuccessful treatment they wanted to test me for ADHD. In my mind, and I still think this is true, they wanted to find something else "faulty" with me that they actually COULD treat. Done and done, it turns out I have ADHD (actually ADD). I was 29 at this point. I wasn't chocked tho, as all my life, especially going thru school, I had difficulty controlling my anger, outbursts and spontivety, and I was told by my teachers that "we know he is very clever but he has to show us". I've always been very emotional, "sensitive". Anywho, turns out I have a much higher than average IQ, and thats the reason they didn't catch it earlier (so the doctor said). After being diagnosed at 29 I got medication and after just a few weeks I was the head of the local union club. And then I became a safety representative and then the head of the safety representatives. I even got interviewed by the union and was very involved. After about a year I was offered a position as a manager, which I accepted. I look upon all of this and start to think "what if I were given treatment when I was a child, what could I have become?" Today I have my ups and downs. I have GAD, Agoraphobia, specific fobia and whatnot but STILL! I have so much more confidence in myself knowing what I have to tackle every day. And a lot of it is thanks to you Dr. The TH-cam video of you explaining what ADHD is, or can be, really made me feel better about myself. I wish I could give you a great big hug. /Max, 36, Sweden
Thanks for sharing. I was diagnosed with Autism in January 2019 when I was 31 and recently I was chatting to the person who diagnosed me, telling her some of the issues I have been having as I think I might have ADHD and haven't been tested for it yet, so she sent of a form for me to be tested and she thinks I may have it also. Some of my issues I have which are holding me back are: 1) This doesn't happen always, but I sometimes find it hard to concerntrate on what I am doing and my mind will wander easily. For example, I am very creative and love writing stories and I am working on a number of videos I want to upload that I spent a long time working on and recording, but because of my concerntration issues, I haven't yet finished anything but I am trying to push myself to complete them, despite how my concerntration levels are. Also when I was learning to drive, on some of my lessons, I started out fine, but as it got past the halfway mark of the lesson, I noticed my mind would wander and I would start to think of something else I'd love to do after the lesson is over rather than just what I was supposed to be doing and that isn't good as you need concerntration when driving. 2) I often find it hard sleeping at night before 3-4am. I do get 7-8 hours sleep and I can sleep find when I go to sleep, but I just can't seem to go to sleep earlier at night. On the odd time when I do get to sleep earlier at night and wake up earlier in the morning, I notice I feel more awake than when I got to sleep later and wake up later in the morning, closer to the afternoon. 3) There are a few times here and there when I get figity and I feel I can't sit for long and I often find I have excess energy, especially at night, which could partly explain why I can't sleep earlier in the evening. I am hoping it won't be too long until I can get my assesment and at least get help to improve my concerntration so I can focus more on tasks I am doing as I really feel this one issue is setting me back more than others.
Not a doctor. Just a person. But I've read several studies and have adhd. The problem I've seen is that we are bored. Learning is, sometimes, ok a good chunk of the time, inherently boring. If I forced an adult to sit in a 3rd grade class, Billy Madison style, they would be bored. Their mind would wander. I noticed that when I would daydream in class it's because I already got the point the teacher was making and they rambled for 10 min. I did better in classes online because I set my own pace and did 2 classes on 1 class period online. I read pretty quickly and retain info pretty good so it was easier to not have to waste time listening to a teacher. Listening to slow talking voices takes more effort for me at least than just reading it myself.
Sleep is hard because brain too fast, in my opinion. If I gave someone a monster energy drink and an hour later told them to go to sleep... They'd me like but I'm not tired. I'd say too darn bad it's bed time. Time for sleep. I lay there for hours because brain too fast. I came up with this analogy, I love them. Having adhd is like having a 7 year old version of yourself in your head. You may want to sleep but the 7 year old wants TH-cam. Or a certain movie or to answer questions. Personally I think we have to "dumb ourselves down" so much it wrecks us. I showed all the adhd symptoms as a child. Defiance disorder because I didn't want to do things the way they taught me but my way that had the same result. I was told I had rushing thoughts, but they were that speed all the time. I didn't get the best grades because I was usually bored and didn't care.
Wow i think it was maybe 2 years ago i watch "adhd in 28 minutes" or maybe it was "ADHD a closer look" by Thomas E. Brown. i must of been 45 or 46 years old and that video .... shook me to the core... in a good way.. Unlike today when I was a kid i was the only kid i knew to be diagnosed as adhd and had to take a pill. Because my behavior was so different it was obvious when i had forgotten to "take my pill" and kids are cruel . and i started getting made fun of pretty hard. I was 7 or 8 years old and i ran away .. They found me 48hr later cold and starving but i told my mother i'm never taking that pill; again. And I never have.Lets just say my life hasn't been the smoothest. But i never gave up and eventually found a fair amount of success .. When i watched that video so much of the struggles i had endured in my life finally made real sense. I think if you don't understand why you've experienced trauma or inflicted it on others it limits your ability to mitigate or get clean of it. I appreciate your work Doc Thanks.
lol I recently reviewed my elementary school reports and how it all went downhill. First my main teacher praised me for above average this and that, then she said i was not good enough for German "Gymnasium" (highest secondary school form), cause i was unorganized in general and nervous/unfocused during exams. My foster parents overruled that decision, but I certainly was struggling - even tho they chose to ignore that. My mom got cancer and they just did not have the energy. Lost interest in school and only excelled when i was interested in a subject to begin with - complete fuckery if I wasn't. First i escaped things by riding my bicycle out in the woods all day, then i got addicted to video games. Got my degree, got my Uni degree afterwards, but I'm so behind cause I lost a lot of time due to depression and other stuff. My parents died, so I was kinda on my own early on. Can't believe i chose to not face my issues until i had to function as an adult and crashed. Just yesterday I talked to a therapist for the 1st time ever and have an appointment for next week.
My teen years were not good. Everyone said I had behavioral issues and defiance disorder. I was nice. I tried so hard to be nice. Respectful. I worked as hard as I could but nobody really ever tried listening to me. My mom never asked me how I was doing mentally. She was a single mom with three kids and did what she thought was her best but I was sitting there with untreated adhd looking like a mentally ill, lazy, overwhelmed, stressed out teen who refused to go to school. I got sick for a month with whooping cough. I got a month behind in everything. I came back and they said here's the months worth of work you missed plus today's we aren't going to help you, good luck. They set me up to fail. I did everything right and all the systems meant to catch me failed. The nets they have in place, especially back in the 90s and 2000s didn't have my problems on any list.
It wasn't that I didn't want to learn. I love learning it's that the way I learned and the problems I were having didn't make sense to anyone else. We were always smart the problem was the computing systems between my crappy American education system and what I could teach myself in a room were way off
For the last at least 10 years; i am telling my friends theat "you are over rating me, in all aspects, i am not that smart or that tellented" and that create o great stress on me! Because you make me think that, i am not smart enough, or talented enaoguh to achive what i am to do!" The most interesinting answer that they give is that "are you kidding wit me, you are the most intelligent person, that i have ever met"!!
That was so interesting. I recently got my autism diagnosis and scored way above average in an IQ test. However I'm still waiting to get an ADHD diagnosis. My therapist/psychiatrist don't think I have ADHD but with everything you talked about in this video you might as well have been describing me. Might actually show this video to my doctors or at least talk to them about it, maybe they'll reconsider.
This body chemistry you speak of for titration of meds, is based on genetic cyp alleles. Someone who is a poor metabolizer of cyp2d6 is going to really need careful watching. If you can’t break it down or convert it, you can accumulate toxic amounts quickly. An ultra metabolizer would use it up so quickly, it also would be as you say like “taking a breath mint”. People need to absolutely get their pharma genetic report FoR all drugs. Especially most psych drugs.
There multiple studies that look at intelligence, creativity, IQ, etc as they relate to ADHD. Interestingly, there doesn’t seem to be many correlation between elevated numbers of those things with ADHD. It turns out that those with higher numbers would’ve had those numbers regardless if they had ADHD. NOW, those with ADHD do tend to have higher levels of resilience than those without and if I were to pick one trait off a shelf - it would be high drive/high-resilience over IQ, every-time.
Alright. Here's my 2 cents. The terms are all wrong. Adhd. Autism. Whatever. It all feels like a bunch of crap thrown in a bucket and when neurodivergent people are diagnosed with something is just a person reaching into a bucket and saying they have this. The bucket should only be used by a professional but most of the time it's used by someone who has no idea what they are talking about. They see "they have these symptoms, well the bucket has those words on it I will reach into bucket and whatever I pull out is what they have" o ut if the 400 pieces of paper two actually say adhd in the women bucket. The male bucket seems to be more detailed so the person pulling the thing from the male bucket seems to be more correct. It took me 30 years to find the right bucket and it wasn't because of a therapist. I had to go on a bucket hunt myself and it was tik tok that first showed me the adhd bucket. With the terms it's stupid. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder... what a load of bull. I can concentrate. I just get bored. I don't look hyper, the hyper is on the inside and if I mask like I have for 30 years you would never know. My brain speed is a secret. I think there are 3 main things. Brain go too fast. Social difficulties. Reading social cues etc And sensory processing things. Many of our senses are turned way up. My brain go fast so my brain notice more things. Lol really funny analogy is like the twilight books after Bella gets turned into a vampire. Adhd and vampire mode and neurotypical is not
I joist watched some gentleman say the studies show adhd people are represented thjrough out the IQ spectrum . but over all of what ever reasons tend to e 9% lower in IQ as an average. He broke down how the factors that had nothing to do with intelligence that might why an adhd person might score lower
Had an appointment last week to see if I have adhd and was told I needed to be hyper and have bad grades and not have any friends due to emotional dysregulation. I was too smart to not have executive dysfunction as well. I feel like I need a second opinion.
A person can have Autism without having ADHD or ADD, though, right? I was diagnosed at 14 with Epilepsy, put on barbiturates to control it. But I find so many autism traits in myself, my mother and my sisters. Trouble concentrating or staying on topic, focusing, finishing tasks especially long ones, frustration at not being able to finish, difficulty with personal relationships, too trusting, people use me. I do get distracted easily so who knows, maybe if I wasn't taking depressants since I was 14 maybe I would have been more hyperactive. And my IQ is way above average. I get caught up in details and have trouble seeing the big picture
I'm a person. Not a doctor this is just my opinion. Autism is more related to people and feeling like you can't read people's emotions, body language, have a harder time talking to strangers. Social interactions take a TON more effort. Now it seems like they use them interchangeably because most people that have adhd seem to also have autism but that isn't the case. With more autistic traits textures may bother you more. Loud sounds. You notice every sense your body takes in at twice the magnitude. That tag on your shirt that feels like a cactus someone else might not even feel it at all. The texture of your blanket that feels scratchy to you may be fine to someone else. From what I understand adhd, and many of us that have it hate that term because it is highly inaccurate, it is more related to brain go too fast. Can't sleep it's cause your brain go too fast.
Again not a doctor just a person but reading through what you say is autism sounds more like adhd. Do you have trouble concentrating because what your doing sucks and you hate it? Is it boring or does it feel useless? I hate chores because it feels like this repetitive thing I have to do forever. For me things are either spotless or a bit mess, usually the second one. Cleaning is boring to me. There is no, it's clean and it's gonna be clean forever it's "I'm gonna clean this just to have to clean it again and again and again. But if it's messy well it sucks but at least I don't have to clean it 6 thousand times for nothing
Imagine a train and all the train cars. 30 train cars. You walk through all the train cars and each one has a new piece of information you need. Your brain is so busy walking and memorizing the list of train cars you might not even realize you're on a train.
@@ky.000 Um, OK, like my OP says, I'm not hyperactive. As a kid I hated doing dishes, spent hours cleaning up after dinner because I hated it. Now I know I can get it done in less than 15 minutes if I just do it. I don't like big crowds, parties, loud noises, eye contact. One on one I'm OK. But can't even stand the grocery store trips, too many people, too many products, too much advertising screaming in my face. I go as late as night as I can, WITH a list, organized by category/aisle in the store. So I can go in, get my list, avoid the aisles that have nothing I need, and get out. Each task I had in my life I tried to streamline it so I could get it done. But thats after decades of fine tuning things. I don't have a gazillion friends. I at the most have 2 friends at a time, and maybe some friends of friends, to make a group of maybe 5-6 people. I put all my energy into the few relationships that I do have, so if I lose one of those, I'm screwed. Its not easy making friends as an adult. It's not like you're in 2nd grade and can just skip up to someone on the playground and ask if they want to be besties. I'm going to try reading between the lines, I'm guessing you're male because of the train reference, and young because of the chores reference. I'm female, and it's different for females. I do have empathy, intuition, a high sense of justice. I just have a lot of these traits, enough that the little quiz was positive. Women with autism tend to study STEM subjects, I think they added an A for art and STEAM is the term now. OK, my mother was a psychologist, sister #1 Biology, sister #2 Math, Computer Science, Astronomy; sister #3 Interior Design (art). My son likes music and has a much higher IQ than mine I'm guessing, and more hyperactive than me. All the women in my family are very creative despite their formal educations. Pottery, painting, flower arranging, woodworking, cake decorating, making paper, baking, sewing; just curious about the world and experimenting on things all the time. In nature, and in real life, I may study a trail of ants to see where they're going. Along the ground, up a tree. I'm so focused on the ants that I don't see the tree, or the forest. I need other people in my life to point out the big picture to me. I use noise cancelling headphones to dampen sound before I knew that was a good tool for aspies to have. My husband, upon seeing the photographs I take, accused me of taking Rain Man photos, in reference to the movie. I know myself better than a stranger on the internet. Can't possibly list everything here. Especially because you probably don't have the attention span to read it. My executive function these days is crap, can't get anything done and then feel bad because of it. So I have to do tiny bits at a time. I can't "clean the kitchen", but I can clean the microwave, or empty the dishwasher, or load the dishwasher. I choose clothing and fabrics and bedding that FEELS nice, comforting. I don't like wearing makeup, the feel of it on my skin. The shopping for it, the expense of it, the time it takes to put on, the time it takes to take off, like your cleaning examples, why bother? I want to be able to scratch an itch on my face, or rub my eye, without having to run to the bathroom to fix my face. I have no idea what is in style and don't really care right now.
@@ky.000 you can have autism and still have ADD, ADHD, Anxiety, Depression, Epilepsy etc. They are co-morbid. It doesn't have to be one or the other. My son's 5th grade teacher thought he had ADHD. Wanted him tested. Well he was identified as a gifted student very early on. His kindergarten teacher was giving him 1st grade level homework and had him tested to see if he could skip 1st grade. after one appointment and seeing the mountain of paperwork they wanted me to fill out, I decided not to do it. Maybe I should have, might have identified myself sooner. I didn't want to do all that paperwork. Ugh. Teacher thought half the boys in her class had this conditions. But she was young and maybe didn't recognize that boys are different than girls, and boys going through puberty are different. Now that I know that Gifted students are special needs students, I would have done things differently.
Recently tested and got 122… but never ever felt smart in school.. ever. Confidence was knocked down and always second guessed. I wrote a piece of music when I was 6 years old. My first word was “momma baby up”
I'm adhd pretty severe I'm on concerta in I'm diagnosed with asperger today I feel devastated I'm just coming to terms that all those weird comments were not just dumb evil people they maybe have a point I've been acting weird and saying. Weird stuff my whole life it's kinda sad I thought I was cool in my head and very extrovert and funny turns out the opposite is the reality it feels like having schizophrenia without allucination just a kinda personality dysphoria
15:40 Sir that's not how medecine works. Psychiatrist prescribe a lesser dose to adults or no dose because adhd in adults is controversial. Some countries don't even recognize adhd in adults.
Yes literally the dopamine baseline is almost zero you brian enters survival mode and other parts of the brain gets triggered in a override mode to barley exist and you will feel that sensation of not being good enough . The only things stands alone clear in your mind the fact society hates you bc you are someone who represents a burden a risk and a waste of time
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I'm ADD, and I have a genius IQ, and I'm an INTJ-A. It all adds up to my not enjoying casual conversations. I much prefer highly technical or philosophical topics. I have sat through family dinners in restaurants where I was forced to listen to people discuss their preferred hand soaps. Fortunately, I'm also incredibly patient. I feel like I don't belong. I'm the square Peg in a room full of round holes.
Infp-ish, intj-ish here. I can relate. At parties I tend to sway conversations towards fixing things or problem solving. If I can't I'll just sit in my corner day dreaming about a project and pretending to have fun while everyone else talks about sports, politics, or their favorite cereal as they get drunk.
😂😂😂 hahaaa so recognizable, try to find the inner child within yourself and enjoy every moment that arises around you. Or mingle with other people.

@RoyPetrie
People seem to float between calling me an emotional robot or accusing me of having a child like optimism.
I'm right with you
Very relatable. I love one on one interactions because I can get people talking about deeper topics - passions, difficulties, etc. As soon as I get in groups I become awkward and shut down because I just can’t engage with the chitchat
This should be interesting. I have ASD and ADHD. Schools were not prepared to teach the atypical child at all back when I was a juvenile. I barely got accepted to kindergarten and as a teen scored in the 95th percentile (men and women’s), for Mechanical Reasoning and Spacial Ability. I don’t boast, but it’s tempting when people treat me like I’m IQ of 3. Best wishes from Kansas 🌻
@Jesse Graves Get it now my apoglies.
In highschool I could get 100% on a math test & fail English.. as a kid I heard many times, "she's smart but doesn't apply herself." I flew under the radar, & was diagnosed with ADHD at 32. I suspect I may fall on the spectrum & score mid range on tests but yet to seek a diagnosis.
So thank you both for this collaboration!! Very informative & appreciated 💛
thats exactly me, im 31 and feel that i may have adhd
I had hyper fixation related to grammar and spelling so I excelled at both; but when I had a project or assignment that wasn’t needing to completed that day or that week I just failed miserably. With exams I always had top marks, and even taught other students the work often. I was diagnosed with dysthymia at 15, and that has never quite sat well with me. I am going through the process now with my child of having him get supports for whatever Neurospiciness he has, and I’m now absolutely certain at 36 I need to be re diagnosed. How do you go about being diagnosed correctly without looking like you are “med seeking”?
@@jessnoske3020 I am 52. I was diagnosed with dysthymia and anxiety at age 19, in 1992.
I had an ADHD assessment. She would have diagnosed me, but I failed the computer tests. I am an accountant and love math, shapes, patterns, logic. Both computer tests are obviously designed for children and are probably older than Microsoft Windows. So based on the tests, she re-diagnosed me with depression and anxiety. (I first started with my GP who offered meds, and I told her I wasn't interested, but she explained them to me anyway.) A followup appointment, I did decide to try them. She agrees that they shouldn't have that type of test for someone who loves math and such.
I would just straight up tell your doctor that you aren't looking for meds. I did that. I said I want to understand myself so that I can work on myself. I dont take the meds on weekends, just mainly for work when I need to focus.
Mr Thomas Brown is the one person who actually made me look at my "disorder" as something to actually be something to be proud of. This is my one and only life, this is the brains I have to work with and honestly, now that I know what I have to work with (thanks to diagnosis) I view my adhd (add) as a superpower.
Thank you so much for this video. I am a 21 year old university student, who only got diagnosed with ADHD in August 2023. I completely resonate with how ADHD individuals get completely missed by the school system and are instead dubbed lazy. However, I think Dr Brown's central mystery can be explained by the speed of stimulation. The first two instances he mentions are ice hockey and video games, in both the stimulation is considerably higher than day to day activities such as sitting in a lesson etc.
Thank you both for this podcast! I learned a lot just now--despite having been diagnosed in the early 70s! It helped that my dad was a prof in special education. I was very fortunate! The overlap and comorbidity of autism and ADHD is something that has interested me for years. One area that needs more attention is the relationship between the levels of developmental hormones and how much ADHD traits (maybe autism traits too?) affect an individual's ability to function. A lot of us older gals notice as we near and go into menopause that our ADHD ramps up to where all of our coping skills go out the window. There was one small study done on this a few years back but it needs to be looked into further.
Your last point about ADHD and its relation to menopause is actually very interesting. Hopefully some studies are done into this
yup, I am 52 and just found out I have ADHD. My memory was so bad starting a year ago, that I thought I had early onset dementia.
5:37 there was absolutely no need to call me out like this 😭
ty for this video tho it was really interesting hearing his take on the subject 💕
edit: the point he made around 23:00 about comorbidity and how often adhd and autism are found in the same people was spot on with my own experience. I knew when I was a teenager I had adhd (my parents didn't want me on meds so I wasn't able to be diagnosed until like 18 when I saw a doctor at my uni) but nobody ever thought I might be on the spectrum. I was actually the one who came up with it on my own after some in depth conversations with one of my close friends who has been diagnosed with both adhd and autism. I find it interesting that because adhd and I think even autism to an extent is still widely viewed as like a "male problem" combined with people born female being raised in a society that teaches women to hide things that could be considered "social flaws" which falls under the category of what a lot of people with autism seem to experience.
sorry for context I am now 27 and I was 26 years old when I finally realised I was autistic lmao.
Was looking for this comment, my thought exactly. Best of luck for your journey.
I left school with no qualifications and spent my life thinking I was a failure so had a family and muddled though my life but made sure all my three children attended school and they all have degrees but my oldest daughter started struggling at work then was diagnosed with ADHD which has led me to also be diagnosed at 46! I always felt I knew how to do work but blank when trying to write anything and because of that I was just left and put in classes with people with special needs! I also didn’t have a support system at home so never attend many lessons. I wasn’t naughty like the stereotype child bouncing the room but mine was internal. I have 18 on my test so have severe ADHD but feel excited for my future 🙂
Thanks for sharing! I was diagnosed with ADHD at age 14 and just diagnosed with Asperger’s (ASD) last year at the age of 36. It’s been quite the year.
Good news you were not a weirdo turns out aspergers see the world differently I got my ASD today I'm just trying to cope with this
'Med shaming' is a new term for me. Thanks for that.
My view is taking a medicine that can help in such a drastic way as ADHD meds do is something that absolutely should be considered. Those who med shame should butt out of the debate because they frequently don't know anything about ADHD or ADHD meds in an experiential sense, which is what really matters!
ADHD since 1993, if we are hyper focused on something and we are interested in it, we are good at it. I wish I could be that % that didn't have short term memory. The meds don't work for me and I have learnt to deal with it on my own.
If we are hyperfocused on things it's because we enjoy it and it takes all of our energy. Boredom is the the enemy. Our mind at rest is an oxymoron. We may be sitting there on a couch doing nothing, but our brain is still 100mph.
Short term sucks because our brain is doing so much at once it isn't focused on the thing in front of us but rather the other 5 tabs open in our brain.
@@ky.000 That is a perfect description of what goes on every hour of the day. It is very draining. I have to put my hands together under the table to focus on what someone is saying while buzzing off 2 coffee before they wear off.
My journey started like this (and I wouldn't be surprised if it's a common experience):
I went to the psychiatric care (in Sweden) looking for help for a very specific phobia (turns out, at this point Ive had panic disorder for over two years without me even knowing what panic attacks or panic disorders were).
They tried to help me but after a few months of unsuccessful treatment they wanted to test me for ADHD. In my mind, and I still think this is true, they wanted to find something else "faulty" with me that they actually COULD treat. Done and done, it turns out I have ADHD (actually ADD). I was 29 at this point. I wasn't chocked tho, as all my life, especially going thru school, I had difficulty controlling my anger, outbursts and spontivety, and I was told by my teachers that "we know he is very clever but he has to show us". I've always been very emotional, "sensitive".
Anywho, turns out I have a much higher than average IQ, and thats the reason they didn't catch it earlier (so the doctor said). After being diagnosed at 29 I got medication and after just a few weeks I was the head of the local union club. And then I became a safety representative and then the head of the safety representatives. I even got interviewed by the union and was very involved.
After about a year I was offered a position as a manager, which I accepted.
I look upon all of this and start to think "what if I were given treatment when I was a child, what could I have become?"
Today I have my ups and downs. I have GAD, Agoraphobia, specific fobia and whatnot but STILL! I have so much more confidence in myself knowing what I have to tackle every day. And a lot of it is thanks to you Dr. The TH-cam video of you explaining what ADHD is, or can be, really made me feel better about myself. I wish I could give you a great big hug.
/Max, 36, Sweden
Wow, my son (age 45) has ADHD and Aspergers. I thought I knew how he works but here I learned some new things. Thank you.
Thanks for sharing. I was diagnosed with Autism in January 2019 when I was 31 and recently I was chatting to the person who diagnosed me, telling her some of the issues I have been having as I think I might have ADHD and haven't been tested for it yet, so she sent of a form for me to be tested and she thinks I may have it also. Some of my issues I have which are holding me back are:
1) This doesn't happen always, but I sometimes find it hard to concerntrate on what I am doing and my mind will wander easily. For example, I am very creative and love writing stories and I am working on a number of videos I want to upload that I spent a long time working on and recording, but because of my concerntration issues, I haven't yet finished anything but I am trying to push myself to complete them, despite how my concerntration levels are. Also when I was learning to drive, on some of my lessons, I started out fine, but as it got past the halfway mark of the lesson, I noticed my mind would wander and I would start to think of something else I'd love to do after the lesson is over rather than just what I was supposed to be doing and that isn't good as you need concerntration when driving.
2) I often find it hard sleeping at night before 3-4am. I do get 7-8 hours sleep and I can sleep find when I go to sleep, but I just can't seem to go to sleep earlier at night. On the odd time when I do get to sleep earlier at night and wake up earlier in the morning, I notice I feel more awake than when I got to sleep later and wake up later in the morning, closer to the afternoon.
3) There are a few times here and there when I get figity and I feel I can't sit for long and I often find I have excess energy, especially at night, which could partly explain why I can't sleep earlier in the evening.
I am hoping it won't be too long until I can get my assesment and at least get help to improve my concerntration so I can focus more on tasks I am doing as I really feel this one issue is setting me back more than others.
Not a doctor. Just a person. But I've read several studies and have adhd. The problem I've seen is that we are bored. Learning is, sometimes, ok a good chunk of the time, inherently boring. If I forced an adult to sit in a 3rd grade class, Billy Madison style, they would be bored. Their mind would wander. I noticed that when I would daydream in class it's because I already got the point the teacher was making and they rambled for 10 min. I did better in classes online because I set my own pace and did 2 classes on 1 class period online. I read pretty quickly and retain info pretty good so it was easier to not have to waste time listening to a teacher. Listening to slow talking voices takes more effort for me at least than just reading it myself.
Sleep is hard because brain too fast, in my opinion. If I gave someone a monster energy drink and an hour later told them to go to sleep...
They'd me like but I'm not tired. I'd say too darn bad it's bed time. Time for sleep.
I lay there for hours because brain too fast. I came up with this analogy, I love them. Having adhd is like having a 7 year old version of yourself in your head. You may want to sleep but the 7 year old wants TH-cam. Or a certain movie or to answer questions.
Personally I think we have to "dumb ourselves down" so much it wrecks us.
I showed all the adhd symptoms as a child. Defiance disorder because I didn't want to do things the way they taught me but my way that had the same result. I was told I had rushing thoughts, but they were that speed all the time. I didn't get the best grades because I was usually bored and didn't care.
Wow i think it was maybe 2 years ago i watch "adhd in 28 minutes" or maybe it was "ADHD a closer look"
by Thomas E. Brown. i must of been 45 or 46 years old and that video .... shook me to the core... in a good way.. Unlike today when I was a kid i was the only kid i knew to be diagnosed as adhd and had to take a pill. Because my behavior was so different it was obvious when i had forgotten to "take my pill" and kids are cruel . and i started getting made fun of pretty hard. I was 7 or 8 years old and i ran away .. They found me 48hr later cold and starving but i told my mother i'm never taking that pill; again. And I never have.Lets just say my life hasn't been the smoothest. But i never gave up and eventually found a fair amount of success .. When i watched that video so much of the struggles i had endured in my life finally made real sense. I think if you don't understand why you've experienced trauma or inflicted it on others it limits your ability to mitigate or get clean of it. I appreciate your work Doc Thanks.
My adhd is stopping me from watching this all the way though haha
lol I recently reviewed my elementary school reports and how it all went downhill.
First my main teacher praised me for above average this and that, then she said i was not good enough for German "Gymnasium" (highest secondary school form), cause i was unorganized in general and nervous/unfocused during exams. My foster parents overruled that decision, but I certainly was struggling - even tho they chose to ignore that. My mom got cancer and they just did not have the energy.
Lost interest in school and only excelled when i was interested in a subject to begin with - complete fuckery if I wasn't. First i escaped things by riding my bicycle out in the woods all day, then i got addicted to video games.
Got my degree, got my Uni degree afterwards, but I'm so behind cause I lost a lot of time due to depression and other stuff. My parents died, so I was kinda on my own early on.
Can't believe i chose to not face my issues until i had to function as an adult and crashed. Just yesterday I talked to a therapist for the 1st time ever and have an appointment for next week.
My teen years were not good. Everyone said I had behavioral issues and defiance disorder. I was nice. I tried so hard to be nice. Respectful. I worked as hard as I could but nobody really ever tried listening to me. My mom never asked me how I was doing mentally. She was a single mom with three kids and did what she thought was her best but I was sitting there with untreated adhd looking like a mentally ill, lazy, overwhelmed, stressed out teen who refused to go to school. I got sick for a month with whooping cough. I got a month behind in everything. I came back and they said here's the months worth of work you missed plus today's we aren't going to help you, good luck. They set me up to fail.
I did everything right and all the systems meant to catch me failed. The nets they have in place, especially back in the 90s and 2000s didn't have my problems on any list.
It wasn't that I didn't want to learn. I love learning it's that the way I learned and the problems I were having didn't make sense to anyone else.
We were always smart the problem was the computing systems between my crappy American education system and what I could teach myself in a room were way off
For the last at least 10 years; i am telling my friends theat "you are over rating me, in all aspects, i am not that smart or that tellented" and that create o great stress on me! Because you make me think that, i am not smart enough, or talented enaoguh to achive what i am to do!" The most interesinting answer that they give is that "are you kidding wit me, you are the most intelligent person, that i have ever met"!!
Yeah, I have a friend with ADHA and I have Asburgers, so sometimes we don't see eye to eye.
Aspergers*
@@jimmyfiredragon8582 thanks for the correction. I just have always spelled it the way Dan says it.
That was so interesting. I recently got my autism diagnosis and scored way above average in an IQ test. However I'm still waiting to get an ADHD diagnosis. My therapist/psychiatrist don't think I have ADHD but with everything you talked about in this video you might as well have been describing me. Might actually show this video to my doctors or at least talk to them about it, maybe they'll reconsider.
30-85% of autistics have adhd, so it's likely you have it.
This body chemistry you speak of for titration of meds, is based on genetic cyp alleles. Someone who is a poor metabolizer of cyp2d6 is going to really need careful watching. If you can’t break it down or convert it, you can accumulate toxic amounts quickly. An ultra metabolizer would use it up so quickly, it also would be as you say like “taking a breath mint”. People need to absolutely get their pharma genetic report FoR all drugs. Especially most psych drugs.
There multiple studies that look at intelligence, creativity, IQ, etc as they relate to ADHD. Interestingly, there doesn’t seem to be many correlation between elevated numbers of those things with ADHD. It turns out that those with higher numbers would’ve had those numbers regardless if they had ADHD. NOW, those with ADHD do tend to have higher levels of resilience than those without and if I were to pick one trait off a shelf - it would be high drive/high-resilience over IQ, every-time.
Alright. Here's my 2 cents.
The terms are all wrong. Adhd. Autism. Whatever.
It all feels like a bunch of crap thrown in a bucket and when neurodivergent people are diagnosed with something is just a person reaching into a bucket and saying they have this. The bucket should only be used by a professional but most of the time it's used by someone who has no idea what they are talking about. They see "they have these symptoms, well the bucket has those words on it I will reach into bucket and whatever I pull out is what they have" o ut if the 400 pieces of paper two actually say adhd in the women bucket. The male bucket seems to be more detailed so the person pulling the thing from the male bucket seems to be more correct.
It took me 30 years to find the right bucket and it wasn't because of a therapist. I had to go on a bucket hunt myself and it was tik tok that first showed me the adhd bucket.
With the terms it's stupid.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder... what a load of bull.
I can concentrate. I just get bored. I don't look hyper, the hyper is on the inside and if I mask like I have for 30 years you would never know. My brain speed is a secret.
I think there are 3 main things.
Brain go too fast.
Social difficulties. Reading social cues etc
And sensory processing things.
Many of our senses are turned way up. My brain go fast so my brain notice more things.
Lol really funny analogy is like the twilight books after Bella gets turned into a vampire. Adhd and vampire mode and neurotypical is not
Absolutely awesome interview! Thank you so so much!
Thank you 🙏 was informative and interesting......great job
I joist watched some gentleman say the studies show adhd people are represented thjrough out the IQ spectrum . but over all of what ever reasons tend to e 9% lower in IQ as an average. He broke down how the factors that had nothing to do with intelligence that might why an adhd person might score lower
Had an appointment last week to see if I have adhd and was told I needed to be hyper and have bad grades and not have any friends due to emotional dysregulation. I was too smart to not have executive dysfunction as well. I feel like I need a second opinion.
A person can have Autism without having ADHD or ADD, though, right? I was diagnosed at 14 with Epilepsy, put on barbiturates to control it. But I find so many autism traits in myself, my mother and my sisters. Trouble concentrating or staying on topic, focusing, finishing tasks especially long ones, frustration at not being able to finish, difficulty with personal relationships, too trusting, people use me. I do get distracted easily so who knows, maybe if I wasn't taking depressants since I was 14 maybe I would have been more hyperactive. And my IQ is way above average. I get caught up in details and have trouble seeing the big picture
I'm a person. Not a doctor this is just my opinion. Autism is more related to people and feeling like you can't read people's emotions, body language, have a harder time talking to strangers. Social interactions take a TON more effort. Now it seems like they use them interchangeably because most people that have adhd seem to also have autism but that isn't the case.
With more autistic traits textures may bother you more. Loud sounds.
You notice every sense your body takes in at twice the magnitude. That tag on your shirt that feels like a cactus someone else might not even feel it at all.
The texture of your blanket that feels scratchy to you may be fine to someone else.
From what I understand adhd, and many of us that have it hate that term because it is highly inaccurate, it is more related to brain go too fast. Can't sleep it's cause your brain go too fast.
Again not a doctor just a person but reading through what you say is autism sounds more like adhd. Do you have trouble concentrating because what your doing sucks and you hate it? Is it boring or does it feel useless?
I hate chores because it feels like this repetitive thing I have to do forever. For me things are either spotless or a bit mess, usually the second one.
Cleaning is boring to me. There is no, it's clean and it's gonna be clean forever it's "I'm gonna clean this just to have to clean it again and again and again. But if it's messy well it sucks but at least I don't have to clean it 6 thousand times for nothing
Imagine a train and all the train cars. 30 train cars. You walk through all the train cars and each one has a new piece of information you need. Your brain is so busy walking and memorizing the list of train cars you might not even realize you're on a train.
@@ky.000 Um, OK, like my OP says, I'm not hyperactive. As a kid I hated doing dishes, spent hours cleaning up after dinner because I hated it. Now I know I can get it done in less than 15 minutes if I just do it. I don't like big crowds, parties, loud noises, eye contact. One on one I'm OK. But can't even stand the grocery store trips, too many people, too many products, too much advertising screaming in my face. I go as late as night as I can, WITH a list, organized by category/aisle in the store. So I can go in, get my list, avoid the aisles that have nothing I need, and get out. Each task I had in my life I tried to streamline it so I could get it done. But thats after decades of fine tuning things. I don't have a gazillion friends. I at the most have 2 friends at a time, and maybe some friends of friends, to make a group of maybe 5-6 people.
I put all my energy into the few relationships that I do have, so if I lose one of those, I'm screwed. Its not easy making friends as an adult. It's not like you're in 2nd grade and can just skip up to someone on the playground and ask if they want to be besties.
I'm going to try reading between the lines, I'm guessing you're male because of the train reference, and young because of the chores reference. I'm female, and it's different for females. I do have empathy, intuition, a high sense of justice. I just have a lot of these traits, enough that the little quiz was positive. Women with autism tend to study STEM subjects, I think they added an A for art and STEAM is the term now. OK, my mother was a psychologist, sister #1 Biology, sister #2 Math, Computer Science, Astronomy; sister #3 Interior Design (art). My son likes music and has a much higher IQ than mine I'm guessing, and more hyperactive than me. All the women in my family are very creative despite their formal educations. Pottery, painting, flower arranging, woodworking, cake decorating, making paper, baking, sewing; just curious about the world and experimenting on things all the time.
In nature, and in real life, I may study a trail of ants to see where they're going. Along the ground, up a tree. I'm so focused on the ants that I don't see the tree, or the forest. I need other people in my life to point out the big picture to me. I use noise cancelling headphones to dampen sound before I knew that was a good tool for aspies to have. My husband, upon seeing the photographs I take, accused me of taking Rain Man photos, in reference to the movie. I know myself better than a stranger on the internet. Can't possibly list everything here. Especially because you probably don't have the attention span to read it.
My executive function these days is crap, can't get anything done and then feel bad because of it. So I have to do tiny bits at a time. I can't "clean the kitchen", but I can clean the microwave, or empty the dishwasher, or load the dishwasher.
I choose clothing and fabrics and bedding that FEELS nice, comforting. I don't like wearing makeup, the feel of it on my skin. The shopping for it, the expense of it, the time it takes to put on, the time it takes to take off, like your cleaning examples, why bother? I want to be able to scratch an itch on my face, or rub my eye, without having to run to the bathroom to fix my face. I have no idea what is in style and don't really care right now.
@@ky.000 you can have autism and still have ADD, ADHD, Anxiety, Depression, Epilepsy etc. They are co-morbid. It doesn't have to be one or the other. My son's 5th grade teacher thought he had ADHD. Wanted him tested. Well he was identified as a gifted student very early on. His kindergarten teacher was giving him 1st grade level homework and had him tested to see if he could skip 1st grade. after one appointment and seeing the mountain of paperwork they wanted me to fill out, I decided not to do it. Maybe I should have, might have identified myself sooner. I didn't want to do all that paperwork. Ugh. Teacher thought half the boys in her class had this conditions. But she was young and maybe didn't recognize that boys are different than girls, and boys going through puberty are different. Now that I know that Gifted students are special needs students, I would have done things differently.
Brilliant episode ❤️
wow...i must read dr browns book....Manhatten Beach was my old stomping grounds when i was in my 20
epic gentlemen- plz do more!
Hey I seen you on Jessica's TH-cam! Sup buddy!
loled@somewhere in the desciption, I suppose mostly only ADHD/aspie get it.
Recently tested and got 122… but never ever felt smart in school.. ever. Confidence was knocked down and always second guessed. I wrote a piece of music when I was 6 years old. My first word was “momma baby up”
I'm adhd pretty severe I'm on concerta in I'm diagnosed with asperger today I feel devastated I'm just coming to terms that all those weird comments were not just dumb evil people they maybe have a point I've been acting weird and saying. Weird stuff my whole life it's kinda sad I thought I was cool in my head and very extrovert and funny turns out the opposite is the reality it feels like having schizophrenia without allucination just a kinda personality dysphoria
Thank you for this interview to both of you, very intriguing. I couldn’t find the link for the book? Anyone?
Hi! Thank u for this video! My English understanding needs help 😊The three things that can happen @ 17:30?
Asperger and ADHD are just intelligent people!! Point!! you should read Dawrosky!
Thank you 🙏
15:40
Sir that's not how medecine works. Psychiatrist prescribe a lesser dose to adults or no dose because adhd in adults is controversial. Some countries don't even recognize adhd in adults.
Asking a question? Low dopamine levels in brain cause adhd?
I'm pretty sure that's a leading theory, that's why stimulants calm ADHD down usually
Yes literally the dopamine baseline is almost zero you brian enters survival mode and other parts of the brain gets triggered in a override mode to barley exist and you will feel that sensation of not being good enough . The only things stands alone clear in your mind the fact society hates you bc you are someone who represents a burden a risk and a waste of time
Dr Russ Barkley, he has his own TH-cam channel now, explains it perfectly.
A thought about why many have both ADHD and Autism:
A person with ADHD meets a person with Autism.. You are a bit weird... I like that ;)
$400/h for a zoom meeting with Dr. Brown :(