Jessica McCabe on Thriving with ADHD

It was, for a while, thought that ADHD was this behavioral issue, and now we understand there are actual differences in our brains. The way that our brains are structured, the way that our brains function, the way that our brains develop is different from how neurotypical brains develop and function. So this is not something that we can do on our own. Hey, everyone, it's Rosie here. Welcome back to "Radio Headspace." If you've been online in the past few years, you've definitely heard someone talk about ADHD. I've been diagnosed, maybe you have too, or maybe you're just curious about it, and that's why I've brought on Jessica McCabe to break it all down. Jessica's the creator of "How to ADHD," an incredible YouTube channel and online community that helps people better understand their brains and find practical strategies to navigate life with ADHD. Hi, Jessica, my new New York Times bestselling author friend, welcome to the show. Thank you so much, it's exciting to be here. I mean, first of all, what an incredible feat. How does it feel? Exhausting, it's a little surreal. I don't think, ever in my life, I really accomplished something that was that long-term of a project, so I'm a little confused, like, usually, I get distracted before getting to the finish line, and I'm off doing some other adventure, and I'm like, "Well, I finished it, now what?" I've never done something like that before, so- Wow. It's a little, it's exciting, I feel really proud of myself, and I'm also like, "Oh man, now what?" Is it really, it's that now what, right? When you accomplish something so monumental, it does feel like, "Okay, I did that now, now what," right? Yeah, as somebody with ADHD is really confused. (chuckles) Well, I wanna get into this. This is why I was so excited to have this conversation with you, so, you know, ADHD, ADD, it's been something that people have talked about, you know, for many, many years, and I feel like now, it's been a topic that so many people have realized they've been diagnosed with, and I really feel like the more conversations like this are happening, the less stigma there is around it, but just to give people a little bit of background on you, at what point did you receive your ADHD diagnosis, and how did that impact your understanding about yourself? So I was originally diagnosed with ADD at 12 years old, and the first doctor that my mom took me to is my pediatrician, and he asked how I had done in elementary school, as I was in middle school at this point, and my mom said, "Well, she did great. She's a gifted student, she had straight As," and he looked at my mom and said, "She can't have it. She can't have ADD." Thankfully, my mom (chuckles) knew better and was like, "Well, thank you for your opinion, I'd like to see a...