ADHD Chatter

Why does something as simple as replying to an email, doing the washing or starting a task feel almost impossible with ADHD?

In this episode, leading ADHD advocate Hester Grainger reveals what’s really happening inside the ADHD brain when we procrastinate, and shares 4 practical, brain-based ways to finally get started.

We also explore dopamine, motivation, shame, and what happens when years of struggling begin to change the way you see yourself.

If you’ve ever called yourself lazy because you knew what you needed to do but still couldn’t do it, this episode is for you.

Chapters:

00:00 Trailer

01:57 Why Your ADHD Brain Just Can’t Start

07:06 Dopamine Explained Simply

10:14 The First ADHD Hack That Gets You Moving

13:57 The Second Hack: Make Your Brain Care

17:13 The Brutal Things ADHD Makes You Believe About Yourself

20:18 When ADHD Turns Into Shame

21:43 When Procrastination Becomes Your Identity

24:01 Tiimo advert

25:20 The Third Hack: Why Pressure Actually Works

30:34 The Fourth Hack: The ADHD Motivation Switch

33:38 A Letter to My Younger Self

Visit Hester’s website 👉 https://www.perfectlyautistic.co.uk

Find Hester on Instagram 👉 https://www.instagram.com/hestersvibe/

Get 30% off an annual Tiimo subscription 👉 https://www.tiimoapp.com/offers/adhdchatter

Buy Alex's book entitled 'Now It All Makes Sense' 👉 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Now-All-Makes-Sense-Diagnosis/dp/1399817817

Order Alex’s book about Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria 👉 https://linktr.ee/adhdchatter?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=9ffd8709-06df-444c-9936-c136fbd14d6e

Producer: Timon Woodward

Recorded by: Hamlin Studios

Trailer editor: Ryan Faber

DISCLAIMER: The content in the podcast and on this webpage is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or qualified healthcare provider. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on the podcast or on my website.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr Judith Mohring is an award winning Cambridge-educated psychiatrist and psychotherapist specialising in ADHD, autism and mental health. In this episode, she explores why understanding yourself doesn’t always lead to healing, how overthinking can become a form of emotional avoidance, and what it really takes to reconnect with yourself after years of masking.

Chapters:

00:00 Trailer

02:13 “I don’t know who I really am”

03:54 Why understanding yourself doesn’t always lead to healing

08:09 Why you can understand your brain and still feel trapped

10:15 When analysing yourself stops you feeling

12:06 Analysing emotions vs processing them

16:34 Why ADHD can make therapy harder

19:26 Why ADHD brains analyse themselves so deeply

23:07 When hyperfocus turns inward

24:32 How masking disconnects you from yourself

28:21 Tiimo advert

29:49 Why years of therapy can leave you feeling the same

31:17 When therapy becomes another intellectual exercise

35:41 Where does healing actually begin?

36:33 Interoception: learning to feel what’s happening inside

38:59 How a therapist helps you feel safe

40:25 How ADHD and autistic people begin to heal

46:01 How to stop analysing and start feeling

47:18 How do you know if you’re healing?

49:09 The Washing Machine of Woes

49:52 Finding yourself after decades of masking

51:02 Do you find your true self — or create it?

53:00 Is overthinking a form of emotional avoidance?

54:05 A letter to my younger self

Visit Judith’s website 👉 https://www.thenaturalpsychiatrist.com

Find Judith on Instagram 👉 https://www.instagram.com/adhded.with.drjudith/

Get 30% off an annual Tiimo subscription 👉 https://www.tiimoapp.com/offers/adhdchatter

Buy Alex's book entitled 'Now It All Makes Sense' 👉 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Now-All-Makes-Sense-Diagnosis/dp/1399817817

Order Alex’s book about Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria 👉 https://linktr.ee/adhdchatter?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=9ffd8709-06df-444c-9936-c136fbd14d6e

Producer: Timon Woodward

Recorded by: Hamlin Studios

Trailer editor: Ryan Faber

DISCLAIMER: The content in the podcast and on this webpage is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or qualified healthcare provider. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on the podcast or on my website.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, I sit down with award-winning psychiatrist Dr Asif Bachlani to explore what it really feels like to live with both ADHD and autism.

We uncover 5 hidden signs of masking AuDHD, the contradictions that can make life feel exhausting, the loneliness of feeling different, and the emotional impact of receiving a diagnosis later in life.

Dr Asif also shares the assessment he’ll never forget, and the true cost of spending years hiding who you really are.

Chapters:

00:00 Trailer

01:56 Why Dr Asif Bachlani Dedicated His Life to ADHD & Autism

04:22 The Patient Who Changed Everything for Dr Asif

07:02 What Neurodivergent People Can Teach Us About Being Human

08:39 The Sentence Dr Asif Hears After Almost Every Diagnosis

12:58 The Hidden Grief of a Late ADHD or Autism Diagnosis

16:47 The Contradictions of Living With AuDHD

21:04 What People With AuDHD Fear Being Judged For

24:52 Is Masking a Choice — or Does It Happen Automatically?

27:05 The AuDHD Assessment Dr Asif Will Never Forget

36:43 Why AuDHD Can Feel So Incredibly Lonely

41:21 Tiimo advert

43:05 Sign #1 You’re Masking AuDHD

45:40 Sign #2 You’re Masking AuDHD

48:19 Sign #3 You’re Masking AuDHD

50:25 Sign #4 You’re Masking AuDHD

53:29 The True Cost of Never Unmasking

01:02:11 Sign #5 You’re Masking AuDHD

01:02:54 Washing Machine of Woes: Your Questions Answered

01:05:24 A Letter to My Younger Self

Get 30% off an annual Tiimo subscription 👉 https://www.tiimoapp.com/offers/adhdchatter

Buy Alex's book entitled 'Now It All Makes Sense' 👉 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Now-All-Makes-Sense-Diagnosis/dp/1399817817

Order Alex’s book about Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria 👉 https://linktr.ee/adhdchatter?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=9ffd8709-06df-444c-9936-c136fbd14d6e

Producer: Timon Woodward

Recorded by: Hamlin Studios

Trailer editor: Ryan Faber

DISCLAIMER: The content in the podcast and on this webpage is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or qualified healthcare provider. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on the podcast or on my website.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr Martin Brunet has 25 years experience as a NHS GP. He has a special interest in Autism and ADHD and is the author of the best selling book entitled ‘Make Your Worry Make Sense’.

In this episode, Dr Martin Brunet explores the hidden reality of autistic masking, why it starts, what it feels like, and the long-term impact it can have on identity, relationships and wellbeing. We discuss the subtle signs of masking, why so many autistic people go undiagnosed, and what it can look like to safely rediscover who you are beneath the mask.

Chapters:

00:00 Trailer

01:08 What Masking Actually Feels Like

06:32 How Early Does Masking Start?

07:48 What Teaches a Child to Start Masking?

09:26 Can One Cruel Comment Change You for Decades?

11:22 What Are Autistic People Protecting Themselves From?

14:03 Is Masking a Choice — or Completely Automatic?

16:29 The Autistic Mirror

19:54 When Masking Becomes a Survival Mechanism

21:43 The Subtle Signs Someone Is Masking

24:38 Inside the Mind of an Autistic Person Who’s Masking

26:19 The Aeroplane Analogy That Explains Masking

28:57 What Years of Masking Does to a Person

31:08 Tiimo

32:38 The Biggest Cost of Masking: Losing Who You Are

34:39 Why Masking Can Make Autistic People So Lonely

36:18 Why So Many Autistic Women Are Missed

38:58 Can You Look Successful While Falling Apart Privately?

41:21 Code-Switching: What It Is and Why Autistic People Do It

43:39 Why an Autism Diagnosis Can Be So Emotional

46:24 How Do You Find Yourself After Years of Masking?

49:05 Why Unmasking Isn’t Right for Everyone

52:42 How to Start Unmasking Safely

54:30 The “Washing Machine of Woes”

59:16 What I’d Tell My Younger Autistic Self

Visit Dr Brunet’s website 👉 https://www.martinbrunet.com

Find Dr Brunet on Instagram 👉 https://www.instagram.com/doc_martin_gp/?hl=en

Get 30% off an annual Tiimo subscription 👉 https://www.tiimoapp.com/offers/adhdchatter

Buy Alex's book entitled 'Now It All Makes Sense' 👉 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Now-All-Makes-Sense-Diagnosis/dp/1399817817

Order Alex’s book about Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria 👉 https://linktr.ee/adhdchatter?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=9ffd8709-06df-444c-9936-c136fbd14d6e

Producer: Timon Woodward

Recorded by: Hamlin Studios

Trailer editor: Ryan Faber

DISCLAIMER: The content in the podcast and on this webpage is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or qualified healthcare provider. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on the podcast or on my website.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Luke Beardon is a leading autism researcher, author and senior lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University who has spent more than 30 years working alongside autistic people and their families.

In this episode, Luke reveals what autism can actually feel like from the inside, from masking and rehearsing conversations to sensory overwhelm, burnout and the exhaustion of constantly trying to fit in.

He explores why so many people go decades without realising they’re autistic, what happens when you mask for so long that you lose sight of who you really are, and why the parts of yourself you spent a lifetime hiding may never have needed fixing in the first place.

Chapters:

00:00 Trailer

01:23 Why Luke dedicated his life to understanding autism

02:46 How can someone be autistic for decades without knowing?

05:38 What high-masking autism actually looks like

08:06 How early does autistic masking begin?

10:21 The biggest misconception about autism in adults

16:10 The biggest signs you’re masking autism

17:37 Why autistic people rehearse conversations

23:50 Why small talk can be so exhausting

29:59 What sensory overwhelm actually feels like

36:40 Why autistic people stim

40:04 Tiimo advert

41:31 The autistic behaviours people are made to feel ashamed of

43:33 The hidden cost of masking autism

46:39 What autistic burnout actually feels like

49:58 Can you mask for so long that you lose yourself?

51:27 When the mask becomes your personality

57:54 Are you really an introvert, or could you be autistic?

01:00:05 The Washing Machine of Woes

01:03:17 A Letter to My Younger Self

Buy Dr Luke’s books 👉 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Books-Luke-Beardon/s?rh=n%3A266239%2Cp_27%3ALuke%2BBeardon

Get 30% off an annual Tiimo subscription 👉 https://www.tiimoapp.com/offers/adhdchatter

Buy Alex's book entitled 'Now It All Makes Sense' 👉 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Now-All-Makes-Sense-Diagnosis/dp/1399817817

Order Alex’s book about Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria 👉 https://linktr.ee/adhdchatter?utm_source=linktree_profile_share<sid=9ffd8709-06df-444c-9936-c136fbd14d6e

Producer: Timon Woodward

Recorded by: Hamlin Studios

Trailer editor: Ryan Faber

DISCLAIMER: The content in the podcast and on this webpage is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or qualified healthcare provider. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on the podcast or on my website.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices