PODCAST. Understanding ADHD and Executive Functioning with Fizzah Zaidi, LCPC, NCC, EMDR, ADHD-CCSP.

May 8

Written By Dave

On this episode of the ADHD Wise Squirrels podcast, we speak with Fizzah Zaidi, a Chicago-based psychotherapist who specializes in Adult ADHD Therapy and is trained in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) at FZ Psychotherapy. Our interview with Zaidi offers a deep dive into the intricacies of ADHD and how Wise Squirrels can navigate its challenges effectively.

Understanding ADHD and Executive Functioning

Free Executive Functioning Test

Zaidi illuminated the complexities of ADHD by emphasizing the role of executive functioning in daily life. Drawing parallels between physical abilities and cognitive functions, she explained how individuals with ADHD might struggle with tasks like time management, memory retention, and task initiation. By reframing these struggles as challenges in executive functioning rather than personal shortcomings, Zaidi aims to reduce the stigma associated with ADHD.

Comorbidities and Trauma

One of the key takeaways from our conversation was the high comorbidity rate between ADHD and other conditions such as addiction, trauma, depression, and anxiety. Zaidi highlighted the often-overlooked connection between ADHD and trauma, emphasizing that trauma can manifest in various forms beyond catastrophic events. This insight underscores the importance of addressing underlying traumas in ADHD treatment to foster holistic healing.

Combatting Stigma and Misinformation

Addressing the pervasive stigma surrounding ADHD, Zaidi emphasized the need for accurate education and awareness. She pointed out how misinformation, especially prevalent on social media platforms, contributes to misconceptions about ADHD. By encouraging open dialogue and destigmatizing conversations around mental health, Zaidi strives to create a more inclusive and understanding environment for individuals with ADHD.

Empowering Coping Strategies

Navigating ADHD requires a personalized approach tailored to individual strengths and challenges. Zaidi shared valuable coping strategies, including mindfulness practices, organizational techniques, and the utilization of technology like smart pens. Emphasizing the importance of self-awareness and adaptability, she encouraged individuals to embrace novelty and explore creative solutions to manage ADHD symptoms effectively.

Cultural Perspectives and Access to Treatment

Zaidi shed light on cultural attitudes towards mental health, emphasizing the need for culturally sensitive approaches to diagnosis and treatment. She highlighted the disparities in access to care and the impact of societal norms on seeking help for mental health issues. By advocating for education and breaking down cultural barriers, Zaidi aims to ensure that individuals from diverse backgrounds receive the support they need.

Conclusion

Fizzah Zaidi's insights offer hope for Wise Squirrels navigating the complexities of Adult ADHD. Through her expertise and compassionate approach, she empowers individuals to embrace their neurodiversity and thrive in a world that often misunderstands us. Enjoy the show.

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I work with a lot of clients who are in the tech industry in the financial industry. So a lot of type A personalities, a lot of high stress jobs.
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And I have a passion with working with adults with ADHD. And I'm also in near a lot of art school. So I have a good amount of clients coming to me and recognizing some of the tendencies that overlap with ADHD and why they are so good at their job and or school, and how to navigate some of the, the structure that becomes kind of corporate and tough and how that kind of works and works against them in a lot of ways. So there is a lot of searching and figuring out skills and figuring out how they work as opposed to what they think is the way they're supposed to work is the focus that, you know, you said you work with a lot of like technology, technology folks, a lot of finance people, a lot of art students, and creatives like yours, like for example, you know, where you get hyperfocused in a specific task, or what you're working on. Something that, you know, often we hear is called like flow, like finding the flow. And I know with your work in, you know, your history and animation, I would imagine that work often it was one of those things that you would be working on. And then suddenly it would be like 12 hours later, and you've probably been working nonstop, I would imagine. Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. right on point or there. Yes. Yeah. So tell me a little bit about like, maybe the the aspects of hyperactivity. And are there correlations between this this idea? Maybe this quote unquote, air quotes, neurotypical concept of flow while you're working?
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So hyper activity or hyper focusing on things right, excuse me hyper focusing? Yes, yes. So hyper focusing is, believe it or not a form of dissociation. And it is one of those when experience with ADHD is actually blurring out a lot of
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the outside world for you. So you are just narrowing in and you're just focusing on the task in itself.
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And if a neurotypical individual would be aware of other things happening time moving by day turning tonight, but if somebody who is in a hyper focused state, they are just zeroed in on the task that they're doing, sometimes people haven't moved from their chair, sometimes people haven't gotten anything to eat or drink, because they're just getting a lot of this feedback, this positive dopamine rush from doing the hyper focusing, now going to your flow is, you know, maybe figuring out a rhythm. This works, and this works. And this works. And that's very different from hyper focusing, because that in itself is a state, if that makes sense. Huh, tell me a little bit about a bit more about that as it as it applies to being a state. Yes. Great. Great question. So again, I said, it's something that would be considered into the category of dissociation. And it would be an absorption kind of a dissociation. So the best way I describe this state is if you were to think about two magnets, and the magnets have an opposite pole, north and a south pole, and how if they're strong magnets, you really kind of don't even have to find the other magnet, the one magnet will find the other magnet and there is this intense force that brings them together.
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And that force is actually felt with that in what not the exact same intensity as two magnets, but understanding that there is a very much
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attachment force part that is happening with whatever you are hyper focusing on. And it's, it's difficult, just like if two magnets that are strong and stuck together, it's difficult to pry yourself away from that, just like it is difficult to
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on top of the two magnets because the force that state is very intense. So people aren't going without food or moving in a chair or anything because they're almost as they're zoned in and stuck in the thing that they're doing and the rest of the world around them. It's just kind
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of happening without making much of a difference to them. Yeah, I studied. Originally in college, I studied radio and television broadcasting and went back and studied business and marketing stuff. But the during the radio and television broadcasting career or you know, education I, I recall, like editing video or editing audio. You know, you could even argue doing this podcast and editing the audio here. Where Yeah, I fall into Yeah, I get completely absorbed and zoned out and hyper focused on it. But I always, yeah, I always accounted that for flow, like finding finding my flow, you know, where you were, it's a similar sort of thing that I guess other people can experience as well. It's a, it's an interesting thing with you with your experiences. Tell me I will. Let's go back a little bit. Tell me a little bit about your, your, your work in, in animation, what got you in that in that space? Before?
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switching careers? Yeah, yes, no, I had wanted to be an animator since like the age of 13. And I drew even before then, it was something that I was always had a scratchpad, notepad, side columns of when there were actual physical newspapers, anything that I would draw on, I was all about that. So it was a no brainer when it came to wanting to go into the career of art or animation.
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So I
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did animation for quite a while. Except it was it's very much a feast or famine, kind of a
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job if you're freelancing. So you have to constantly keep going and hunting for jobs. And it was, and like you just said, it's when you're doing a project, you're stuck doing that project until it's, you know, it's done. And it just didn't seem sustainable for me long term. So
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that's when I looked into other possibilities. And it was just by chance, just talking to somebody that it just clicked when they had mentioned Oh, yeah, no, I'm actually a psychotherapist. And it just, you know, started getting the ball rolling for me and got very interested and started researching it. And I am here,
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established and doing really well in that field, and it feels like a perfect fit for me. And I'm really happy that I made this move. Yeah, cuz even as a kid, you wanted a couch for people to
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write to talk to you. And that you you felt, you know, you always wanted to be a friend, somebody that would listen and offer, you know, guidance and help your friends too. Absolutely. Absolutely. That's so true. And you know, to some degree, there is a lot of emotions and empathy and feeling when it goes into art and expressing. And it's, you know, so it feels seamless to me, when I get stimulated as far as when I'm doing psychotherapy. And when I used to get stimulated in in my brain, when I used to do animation it is it's like a smooth transition. It's not a difference to me in any capacity, even though I am doing two very different kinds of vocations right now, where would the similarities be? I'm curious, in your in your mind between between animation and, you know, making jewelry and things like that, and, and in therapy, are there are there things that that come to mind where you're like, Well, absolutely. Do some of those things? I'm just curious. Oh, absolutely. Well, first of all, it's like looking at what the thing needs to be. Right? So whether it is like, how we need the scene to animate out? Or how do I need to clean up the scene? Or where do I need? How do I need to set up
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my project? I'm actually really surprised, you know, that I did.
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But
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setting that up and seeing what you know, if it's set up all, so it goes in a nice flow. And same with with sitting down and hearing what my client is saying. So I'm understanding basically the groundwork of what is happening. And once I have the groundwork happening, then it is trying to connect the dots into Okay, I see this I see that how can I help with this? How can I do that? And that's all the process of creating. And that's where creativity is also happening where you are curious about this thing or you are experimenting with this other thing or so those aspects are all seamless and
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Uh, in all of these different, very different type of interests, yeah, it's interesting. And I always find it just kind of a fascinating process of reviewing your career and, and looking at the similarities and even doing like, personality assessments and things like that to kind of get a feeling for, you know, where your strengths are and kind of finding, reviewing your career in a way and seeing how they all connect, because that's what I've done a lot. I mean, for me, it all comes down to communication. That's kind of the big word. But, you know, the kind of master word over everything that I've, I've been interested in and that I've done throughout my career. And, you know, public speaking is a big part of that. So and you're based so you're based in Chicago, you studied in Savannah? Are you from Savannah? Originally? Or? No? No, yeah, I am from Yes, I am from the burbs of Chicago, I went to SCAD for my undergrad, but actually went to DePaul for my clinical mental health, um, Master's degree over there. And since then,
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I've just been established in the city area. So it was it just kind of ended up going really well in, in, you know, being really in proximation. And in, you know, expanding my studies, more than anything. Yeah. And I would be remiss not to ask you about,
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has the world of improv touched you at all in the sense that so I'm a graduate from Second City in Toronto, and I've, I've performed improv over the years all over the place and have a lot of experience with that. But improv obviously has its roots in Chicago. So and talking about, you know, more artsy, artsy people.
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Have you any experiences in improv? I'm just curious. And so personally, no, I have not had experiences in improv. I have been to many improv, especially, you know, seeing a lot of shows in a second city itself. But you're absolutely on point and correct. It takes a lot of that quick thinking and creativity and understanding what, you know, the flow again, we're using the workflow again, right, what the flow is where everything is happening, and
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I'm just using that pure adrenaline to just demonstrate.
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Yeah, it's, yeah, again, you know, at 50. And learning that I have ADHD, I mean, connecting the dots. As I said, it's been an interesting thing. And certainly my love, and passion for improv now makes even more sense to me.
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Just that, yeah, that dopamine hit of being onstage is always a good thing for me, especially as a as a keynote speaker as well.
13:04
So yeah, so you, so you went out, tell me a little bit about maybe some, some things that you've learned in your own, you know, clinical professional work with, with ADHD and adults? What are some of the things that you see?
13:21
Very, yeah, no, that's a very good question. Right. So I think the thing that you're going to hear from pretty much everybody is when we're talking about ADHD is paying attention to executive functioning skills. And that's a conversation that's not usually had on a broader perspective. And that's a conversation that I have a lot with my clients.
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Partially, a lot of the reasons that my clients seek me out is because I am talking about ADHD, and the specificity of neurodiversity. A lot, you know, ADHD, on, especially, you know, learning disorder, learning disorders, or autism, or speech disorders, all of those tic disorder, they all fall under the category of neurodiversity. But executive functioning is a big component, or actually, executive functioning challenges are a big component in ADHD. And it is the thing that makes
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my techies so amazing at being techies, because they're really, really good at
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it, problem solving in a puzzle, figuring out, you know,
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how things may fit, they're looking at the big picture and they're honing in on the small, but what's not working for them is a lot of the corporate mentality of, you know, time crunch on things and specific processes on things and following a formula that everybody else is having to
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form to follow. And yes, given structure is something that is definitely helpful. But holding, or penalizing or holding somebody responsible for time when time management or time blindness is very much a thing, then ADHD is very much working against them and working against their capacity.
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And that is a big conversation in understanding, what are your executive functioning skills? Where are your weaknesses? Where are your strengths? And how do you work with them? And how do you have this conversation with your boss about this? How do you get accommodations for stuff like that? Because it's not your ability? You're completely capable person. You're just being asked to use right handed scissors when you're left handed. And that's not going to work?
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That's a great way to put it for sure. Yeah, and certainly terms like executive li even the term executive functions was completely foreign to me as as time blindness was as well, although, all too familiar for me now.
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Yeah, it's, it's, I've done one assessment for determining sort of your strengths as it applies to and perhaps your weaknesses as it applies to executive functions. Are there? Are there assessments things that you recommend people check out? There? There? Yeah, there are a ton of them, I highly recommend
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going on.
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Websites like Chad, that's children and adults with ADHD and adda, they have tons and tons of resources with,
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with assessments and quick tests to see hey, do I have ADHD? However, you know, to be able to figure out, Hey, what are my challenges? What are some of these things that are going on? You know, this is something if you're ever getting tested for if you have ADHD, this is where your neuro psychologists would give you as an assessment to figure out what are your executive strengths and weaknesses. This is also something your executive functioning coaches will give you to figure out what your strengths and weaknesses are, because literally, their job consists of working with executive functions. I use a an assessment from Dawson, that I use it more as a conversation piece with my clients who just have an idea of what this looks like, as opposed to doing a an assessment for recording and you know, giving them the numbers for insurance purposes and things like that. But it's just to give an idea of, hey, this is a thing. And you have challenges with this because you are your brain is not programmed to use this, these particular executive functioning skills, as the neurotypical world has them out there. But that doesn't mean that dysfunction is a negative. I give a lot of metaphors and analogies, and the one of them, which every single one of my clients is going to say that yes, we've heard this one already is, is to thinking about executive functioning strengths and weaknesses as abilities. So I am right handed, I would pick up a pen with my right hand and I can talk to you and write at the same time. But if I was to switch to my left hand, my left hand does not have an ability to write my brain doesn't connect with my left hand when it comes to the writing skill. And so my left hand has weakness in writing or disability in writing or challenge in writing, but I never yell at my left hand for not writing. That doesn't make sense. However, we yell at ourselves for having difficulty with time management or having difficulty with memory or having difficulty with rigidity, perfectionism, you know, so many other tasks. Initiation is a big one.
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These are skills that you can work with, but beating yourself up for not having them in the first place is the equivalent of you yelling at your left hand, huh?
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Yeah, yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Well, what about as far as like?
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Let's say we lived in the perfect world perfect city. Perfect whatever it is, for an ad like what like if you could wave your magic wand over the fine city of Chicago and it is a fine city.
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What What magic would you you make fall over the city to then make every ADHD person feel completely at ease like they fit in perfectly?
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Like, what are some changes you would love to see? That's it's such an important question. And I am going to go off on a tangent and make sure I answer this question at the same time, I'm gonna go off on a tangent because this is a conversation I have with my clients a lot when I am talking about hey, neurotypical world in neurodiverse world, and there's a lot of fear that, hey, if there was a near diverse world, it would be absolute chaos. And nothing would get done. And we need the neurotypical people who do have time management who do have that structure to be able to put this world in a place where it can function. And that's simply not true, because we have a tendency of thinking in black and white. So we think that neurotypical is positive, we're neuro diverse would be negative. And that's not the case in any capacity. You have strengths against strengths and weaknesses in different areas. So, you know, time may not be a top priority in some capacity. However, there wouldn't be any judgment around not being on time, there might be more emphasis in you being able to have
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creativity that is outside of an element, maybe in people are not
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forcing you to recall and remember things on the spot, allowing you to have
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tools. And maybe that's not even a criteria to begin with. There's another system, everybody has different strengths. Everybody has different challenges, and we'd all kind of work together knowing that. So the big component that I would think that would be different is the judgment towards the different executive challenges. Did you ever watch Pee Wee's Playhouse? Yeah, yes, of course.
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I almost I almost picture this this magical ADHD world as Pee Wee's Playhouse. Yep. No, and that I could not say it better. That's perfect. Yeah. And everyone is everybody's happy. Like it's really colorful. It's very creative. It is a little hyper, a little a little crazy, but fun. And at the same time, people are kind and accepting. And the mail always gets delivered on time. It does because that person has that executive strength and they work with it, as opposed to everybody making them do the same thing that somebody has that strength and they do not have that strength. Yes. So you talked or not, you talked but on your website, you have a lot of different services listed things around, like trauma and ADHD and OCD, perfectionism, postpartum depression, do you have a good list of things are there? You know, it's also like, you know, there may be 10 or 12 things listed there. Are there specifics that you're seeing more often than others that you treat for? That's a very good question. So there is a higher comorbidity rate with ADHD in general.
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And there is a higher correlate and comorbidity with addiction and addiction doesn't necessarily just mean alcohol addiction. There's also process addiction, video game addiction, shopping addiction. But yes, there is also substance addiction. The trauma, there is an enormous component of comorbidity with ADHD and trauma. So that's probably one of the ones that I see the most frequent. And let me explain that a little bit. Trauma when ever we're hearing that word, we're
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envisioning something pretty catastrophic. We're envisioning natural disasters, car accidents, assaults of any kinds. And yes, those things are definitely there. But we're forgetting about
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traumas that occurred that may not feel like a trauma, but they leave a big impression like not fitting in or being bullied or feeling different. And that is creating a big impact on your self esteem. And when it's creating a big impact on your self esteem, that's creating a pathway towards destructive behavior or overcompensating, and then that is creating a lot more of those other things. Other diagnoses that comes with it right so you're having those depressions you're having that anxiety you're having that obsessive thinking obsessively worrying obsessively checking, you're having that I'm can't handle this anymore. So I'm going to cope with some other thing to make myself feel better. But it is minimizing what is starting off with actually I didn't coined this word or this phrase, so I'm gonna give Susan Denker Smith.
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Credit for this phrase of moral wounds and we're a wounds are those that occur when we
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Dr. Jung, where somebody is pointing out God, why can't you do this thing on time? Like so and so does. And then the kid is wondering, My God, why can't I do maybe there's something wrong with me.
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And that just starts that spiral and trail towards self destructive negative thoughts and spirals that end up damaging us in bigger ways than we think. Yeah, I know personally, I've struggled with, like rejection, feelings of rejection, or certainly self doubt.
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Imposter syndrome, things like that. And it's kind of fascinating to me, as I learned about this off, both for myself and folks listening by talking to smart people like yourself, I find it's, it's kind of interesting, too, because I think as like one of the superpowers in the sense of being diagnosed with ADHD as you become more empathetic to the people in your life, or even just the person, like the server at the restaurant or whatever, because now I'm now I'm noticing all these people who I'm like that, yeah, that guy's got ADHD.
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You got ADHD, you know. And it's interesting, like, I have to my two friends that I know, who have both written books about,
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about impostor syndrome. And now I'm like, oh, wait a minute. I thought, well, I don't know whether they have ADHD, or whether, you know, the, I don't know whether they do or don't. But I almost find that a lot of these thoughts come because of ADHD, in a sense, you know what I mean? Like, like, I'm curious, I would be curious to learn, and I suppose probably over time, we will, but like, you know, what the actual numbers are? Because I know, I alluded to it earlier. But you know, like, traditionally, it was very much a hyper boy.
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condition, and girls would never have ADHD. And then And then now, certainly, with the with so many people are adults. And a lot of the conversations that I'm having a lot of the adults who are discovering they have ADHD, are discovering this because their kids have been diagnosed. And they're like, oh, wait a minute, I see a lot of this in me. And maybe, especially for women, women haven't really been given even permission traditionally to even consider this for themselves, since it was always a boys thing.
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So I feel like you know, right now, I mean, last last I checked, there was over 8 million adults. 5% of Americans have ADHD, but
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I don't know my spidey sense tells me it's a lot higher than that. What are your thoughts? Oh, no, you're absolutely right. So you know, you, you made a very good observation about how societally it has evolved in as far as you know, recognizing how it is existing in different people in different sexes. Now, also, keeping in mind, I'm a person of color. And this is where we have to keep in mind culture, and how a lot of different cultures and how they approach mental health, and how a lot of those people are not getting tested, because there's a lot of stigma around it. Or if a child is getting tested, it's like, okay, fix this person. But there's nothing wrong with your kid because they have ADHD. It's a different operating system. It's not defective, but the world sees it as a defect. So you're absolutely right. I think the thing is that there isn't enough enough education on what ADHD actually is, or neuro diversity actually, is.
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To be able to break down the barriers of that it is discriminating against sex or discriminating against race or any of that, no, we're all human beings. And we all have brains, and we all have the same function. And it's okay to recognize that within their function, there are more functions or different functions. We're just society is putting a lot of the damper on the ability for us to explore the capabilities more than anything. So do you find that in your own practice, like anecdotally, or even at like, conferences and things as far as different cultures, different sexes, genders, races, sexualities, whatever. Do you find that there are like more than, like, is it because you know, from what we're talking about, it seems, you know, pretty even at least across people because we all have
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Yeah, those crazy things that our heads.
30:04
Right, so, yeah, I've been thinking about this a bit because yeah, I'm Canadian Originally, I'm from Toronto. And I remember talking to friends in Newfoundland once, which is on the east coast of Canada, very influenced by the Irish. And also I lived in Ireland. So I found, of course, I'm generalizing here, but like, the Irish tend to be very, you know, kind of like, don't worry about it, you know, you don't need to see a therapist, you know, that's ridiculous, you know, just have some Guinness, whiskey or what, but, and then, you know, I know with,
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of course, anecdotally, but like, you know, people of color friends who, you know, are, and in some cases, rightfully so, they suspect, you know,
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possible, you know, did bad things, you know, from the government or what, or whatever it is, I mean, you can fall down all sorts of different rabbit holes here. But
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what are your thoughts on on that? What are you seeing? And also like, what are some remedies to help remove the stigmas associated with diagnosis, let alone, you know, ADHD in general? Yeah. I mean, like, that's like, the million dollar question. Right. So that that is a big question, what is it going to take for our world to start being kind and start listening to things as opposed to judging at things but just what you just said, I mean, I know you're making,
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like giving an example with a with a little, you know, humor around it. But you know, we're it is a culture that is like, now you don't have mental health problem, take, you know, here have a pint of Guinness? Well, hey, didn't we just talk about comorbidity and a lot of
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addiction happening? You're right, you know, nobody's really paying attention to what's happening, but we are covering it up in other ways. Or making light of it in other ways, and not meant not actually understanding what it is.
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I wish and I hope that there is a dialogue that starts on a basic level, and that might even just involve a lot of us professionals getting together. And I mean, your doctors, and I mean, your I mean, even you know, your pastors or your religious people, everybody getting together and actually having a conversation about understanding these things and educating themselves. And not passing judgment or basing opinions that are on a moral opinions and not factual, like actually vetting information and taking the time to vet that information. I think it just takes a little bit of effort. And sometimes we're just so busy, that we don't want to give things effort. And a lot of this stuff goes unchecked because of it. Yeah, it's pretty, pretty astounding. I was speaking with
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a Hispanic ADHD coach recently, and yeah, she was she was talking about that she lives in a very Hispanic area. City and, and she was saying how, yeah, like Hispanic people, they just don't really accept it. And, and, and then I look at like, I just read that. In Japan, they just banned stimulants. All stim, yeah, Adderall, anything like, it's all been banned. Correct. And that is that is very, very unfortunate. So I mean, that I remember, you know, this,
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this conversation, where
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there was a lot of resistance with
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taking any kind of medication, but it was alright to drink coffee or tea. And, like, do you see what's happening over there, somebody is maybe mocking you for taking medication, that's a stimulant, but you're not mocking smoking a cigarette, you're not mocking drinking coffee, or tea or anything that has caffeine in it, which is also falling into the category of a stimulant. And if you look around the world, you know, tea and coffee, cigarettes, all of those things, it's culturally norm everywhere. And people are regulating themselves with it. But if there is anything that it has to do with medication, then that is like, oh, no, it's a drug. It's an illegal drug. It's it's a it's a bad drug. It's amphetamine. It's, you know, so there there's, again, lots of misinformation, lack of education, wrong messages that have gone out there. If you're okay with somebody having a cup of coffee, two cups of coffee, three cups of coffee, and you're having problem with Adderall. There is a big disconnect. Yeah, it's interesting how people even even for my
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myself personally, because having
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the living in the US where it does seem that everybody is medicated with prescriptions still God, God knows what,
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you know, I was always very proud of going to my GP for my physical or going to a doctor. And they would ask me like, you know, what, what? What drugs, what prescriptions are you on? I'd say nothing. And they say no, no, like, what? What drugs? Or what medicine? Are you regularly taking? And I'd say nothing. And they'd be like, no, no, no, what I mean is,
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yeah, taking anything, and now I am. And I'm like, like, I've come so long and not taking anything but of course, yes. Did not to downplay stimulants, because certainly, there is absolutely the case for them. And, yeah, yeah, I've, I've definitely felt better. As a result of that to, at least personally speaking. So that's a great example. Sorry, didn't mean to cut you off. But I wanted to point out what you just said as an example. Because in our brain, it correlated to like, oh, not taking medication means I'm good. And taking medication means that I'm bad. And that's simply not the case. The reason your doctors aren't asking for medication is so they know if they're doing something that works against a medication that you're using. They know how to work better. But we flipped it in our head to being like, taking medication bad. Right? Right. taking medication. Good. And it again, that's how we just kind of fall in that world wormhole of misinformation. Yeah. And there is plenty. You know, I know tic toc is kind of Top of Mind with that. Are you seeing what are the most common, like misinformation
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that you're seeing kind of spreading online? Oh, I saw a lot of a lot of symptomology with ADHD gets generalized. And I don't think people understand that it has to be something that is ongoing and chronic for you for the for the better part of your life. So yes, we all lose keys, we're all forgetting things. I mean, with the amount of information that we have in this world right now, we are not going to retain all of it. And since everything is very instant, nowadays, we are going to have difficulty with patience. We want everything instant, right? That impulse thing of like, oh, it's not here yet. It was supposed to be here two days ago, and two days are too long.
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So but you know, with that being said, you know, people are suddenly realizing that, oh, I'm doing this and that must mean I have ADHD where
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I mean, you may be doing it, you may have some executive dysfunction and stuff but doesn't necessarily mean you have ADHD. ADHD is a neurodevelopmental diagnosis that
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yeah, it's happening from the get go from the birth on. So suddenly developing ADHD is a big red flag for me. And I do a little bit more investigating to figure out what that what that is. Would that be said that I also, you know, with, there's a lot of comorbidity, like I have said, and then there's a lot of things that have symptom overlap. So you know, lack of motivation happens in ADHD, lack of motivation happens in depression, lack of motivation happens in, you know, a trauma situation. And so many things will carry that same criteria. But that doesn't mean that you have ADHD. There's a lot more to it than just that. Yeah. And I started taking
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meditation and mindfulness much more. I've always kind of dabbled with it. But since 2020, I've been quite I have a daily practice. And I'd have found, you know, I wrote some about, you know, the idea of changing my perspective, which I've learned since the term reframing is really spot on, as it pertains to, to maybe slowing down a little bit on you know, I lost my care, I forgot my keys. And so I must have ADHD. I think everybody to your point about social media and things like everybody could just slow down a little bit like maybe if you're obsessing about your Amazon package that hasn't been delivered yet. It might be just that you're a privileged spoiled brat and that it wasn't that long ago that we didn't have things showing up on our door. Why isn't it showing up today? Like, did you believe it wasn't that long ago? I haven't actually put on pants and
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all and
39:54
yeah, those pictures were not developed instantly and you couldn't just delete them. It was like waiting a week and then being
40:00
I'm very disappointed that they're all pictures of your thumb. And they're all blurry. Yeah. But at least they were free. Yeah, yeah. As far as and I do want to be mindful of your time here. Are there other ways, folks? Like maybe some quick tips of ways to navigate?
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ADHD? I know, for yourself, like you've mentioned having learning disabilities and using things like audiobooks in smart pens for yourself? Are there things or traditional errors? Like, you know, at some point, are there? Are there things that that that folks can do like today, when they when they stopped listening to this that could maybe improve the day? Yeah, absolutely. You know, most start by actually just understanding and listening to yourself. So you know, the fact that you have a difficulty with memory doesn't mean that Oh, you are, oh, I'm getting old. And that's ageism happening over there. Not old people have difficulty with memory. But that's, that's just generalizing it in that capacity, maybe you have a challenge with working memory. So having, you know, having a planner or having notes on your, on your phone, or using a smart pen or anything in that capacity. Those are things that will help you remember things.
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And the thing that with ADHD specifically, is you gotta keep novelty in mind. So if this one trick has been working for you, it will stop working after a while, you might just start glossing over it. So you got to be creative and figuring out new ways. So if I'm using yellow stickies right now, to remind myself of some stuff, I know that I may need to go get like, you know, Kitty shaped stickies next, because I'm going to look at those as opposed to only the yellow stickies. So being being aware of what your tendencies are, and just try observing them and not judging them. Observe what those tendencies are. So you can work with yourself. So people who think that, oh, I can't organize anything. I live in mass, weirdly, you kind of live in, you know, your own, your own way of organizing. And instead of knocking that, try to understand what that looks like, for you, and let's adjust the standard, right, you're not going to be that magazine cover organization. But that doesn't mean it's bad. It means you still know where your stuff is, you just have your own system of it. And nobody lives like that. Anyway.
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It's like model, it's like models, right? Like, you know, girls trying to look like these, like bombshell fake people, like, you know, nobody looks like that, really, and, and nobody's house is really clean until they have friends coming over. Exactly, exactly. And that takes a lot of effort and effort. And task. Initiation is a big trick with ADHD, it's not happening. Sometimes you need that pressure of Oh, somebody's just gonna pop in for me to clean this thing up. And that's okay, we're going to be kind to ourselves, recognizing that. I'm not going to clean until I have to clean but that doesn't mean that I'm a bad person. I love it. Are there? How can folks get a hold of you and learn more about what you do? And, you know, reach out? Yeah, absolutely. Like I said, I am based in Chicago, they are welcome to go to my website, my name of my practices F, like fissa or Frank Z, like zebra or Zadie f z psychotherapy, and
43:36
you're more than welcome to set up an appointment. And I'd be more than happy to meet with you, and help out in whatever way I can. But that being said, I'm always, you know, promoting resources. So please expand your horizons, see what other things are out there. They're great organizations, great magazines, great, audiobooks, regular books out there, if that is your thing, but if you want to reach out to me, shoot me an email, go on my website, I will definitely get back to you. I love talking about ADHD. So that will not be a problem. Well, this has been fascinating. Thank you so much for your time. Yeah, it's been a pleasure. And now I'm craving deep dish pizzas. So Right. How to do that to meet in Yeah.
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You know, I got to entice you somehow working with one of your executive functioning skills there. That's right. That's right.
44:29
Thanks so much. My pleasure. Thank you so much for having me to have a wonderful day.