In the spirit of Thanksgiving, Tracy talks about ADHD and gratitude. A practice of gratitude is important for every one but for those of us with ADHD it’s even more important. Why? Because processing emotions start in the brain itself and emotions motivate action. That means that if your emotions are negative you will be completely unmotivated but if you’re emotions are positive and you’re working in an area of high interest, the sky is the limit.

Discover:

• Why we can’t get anything done without positive emotion 
• How positive emotion is directly related to dopamine, memory, behavior, focus and motivation. 
• How gratitude directly influences our emotions
• How a practice of gratitude helps our ADHD symptoms
• How gratitude affects sleep
• How gratitude affects executive function including focus
• How gratitude makes it more likely that we will stick to our goals and start new habits
• How gratitude boosts dopamine and seratonin in our brains
• How gratitude allows us to focus on those things that are going right in our lives rather than focusing on what’s wrong. 
• How gratitude will make you more friends and people that want to be around you
• How to start a Gratitude Journal where you start and end every day in positive emotion
• What Tracy’s Positive Emotion Dossier is and how it can help you
• How the idea in the book 29 Gifts helped Tracy increase her gratitude and uplevel her holidays last year. 
• How Abraham Hicks can help you to change your negative thoughts to focus more on gratitude and why your thoughts will always determine how happy you are. 

Resources:

ADHD and the Practice of Gratitude by Dr. Kari Miller

The Five Minute Journal

29 Gifts: How a Month of Giving Can Change Your Life

Tracy's Positive Emotion Dossier from Your ADHD Brain Is A-OK!

In this episode, Tracy chats with Caryn Prall who is a co-owner and operator of six Keller Williams Realty locations in Illinois. In this role, she is responsible for over 900 agents and $2 billion dollars in yearly volume. Caryn wasn’t diagnosed with ADHD until she was 46 but she’s known that she has ADHD since grade school. Caryn always felt that her ADHD worked for her until one day she woke up and it suddenly didn’t. She decided then and there to go visit a doctor. Like many of our first experiences with doctors and ADHD, her doctors didn’t want to talk about ADHD because they knew little about how it presented in women. Instead, they wanted to prescribe her anxiety medication. Caryn stuck to her guns and the rest, as they say, is history.

I asked Caryn Prall:

• What made her finally seek out an ADHD diagnosis
• If she always knew that there was something different about her than her peers
• About her childhood, relationships with friends and school
• What she thinks her biggest strengths are
• How is it that she’s so successful but yet so open about her ADHD
• If she thinks she’s successful because of her ADHD or in spite of it
• What workarounds has she developed to reduce her weaknesses
• The best advice she can give to women of any age who feel that they’re not living to their potential

Caryn also shared her reasons for starting her fantastic podcast The Messy Empire which is all about what it takes to build a 2 billion dollar real estate empire and how this all relates to her ADHD. 

You can subscribe to The Messy Empire here.

In Episode #45 of ADHD for Smart Ass Women, Tracy introduces you to 27-year-old MMA fighter Emma Elizabeth Megan (“Em”) who was misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder at the age of 18. 

Em began struggling after experiencing a lot of stress in her first year of college. She was initially diagnosed with depression and put on citalopram. This medication caused her to be “buzzy” or hyper and ultimately led to her misdiagnosis of bipolar disorder.

Em accepted the diagnosis because she was young and didn’t know any better. She became suicidal from the bipolar medication and spent time in psych units. During this time she also earned a Masters in Psychology in an effort to learn more about bipolar disorder. Discover:

• How her boyfriend’s ADHD diagnosis ultimately led to her rejecting her bipolar disorder diagnosis 
• Why Em had never considered ADHD
• How Em researched ADHD and then sold her psychiatrist on the fact that she had ADHD and not bipolar disorder. 
• How Em’s mood and ultimate bipolar disorder diagnosis was really an unusual reaction to citalopram. 
• Why ADHD and bipolar disorder often get misdiagnosed. 
• How they look similar and how they are different.
• Why Em has decided that ADHD medication is not for her and how she is substituting it for learning new executive function workarounds and coping strategies to deal with her emotional dysregulation.
• How Em now focuses on her strengths and not her weaknesses
• The #1 activity that keeps Em stable and happy
• The symptoms that Em exhibited as a child that are consistent with ADHD

You may reach out to Em Megan on Instagram @oddsoks

https://www.additudemag.com/adhd-vs-bipolar-a-guide-to-distinguishing-look-alike-conditions/

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/04/08/the-challenge-of-going-off-psychiatric-drugs

This week’s topic is all about bipolar disorder and why ADHD often gets misdiagnosed as bipolar disorder. Tracy posted a simple question in her Facebook Group, HAVE YOU BEEN MISDIAGNOSED WITH BIPOLAR DISORDER? She was shocked to discover how many women had been misdiagnosed and so she decided to research the subject.

You’ll learn:

• When bipolar disorder is often misdiagnosed
• What symptoms bipolar disorder and ADHD often have in common
• What bipolar disorder actually is
• The DSM requirements to be diagnosed with bipolar disorder
• Why bipolar disorder can’t be ignored and must be treated
• What mania is
• What hypomania is
• What the symptoms of a major depressive episode are
• What the greatest risk of bipolar disorder is
• The different types of bipolar disorder
• The difference between Bipolar 1 and Bipolar 2
• What the difference is between episodic and contextual emotional changes
• How sleep looks different in ADHD vs. Bipolar Disorder
• How uncontrollable talking and distractibility looks different in ADHD vs. Bipolar Disorder
• How emotional sensitivity looks different in ADHD vs. Bipolar Disorder
• How Bipolar Disorder looks different than ADHD in kids specifically around emotion
• If a diagnosis of ADHD makes you more likely to also have Bipolar Disorder
• If a diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder makes it more likely that you’ll also have ADHD
• Why it’s so difficult to get an accurate diagnosis of bipolar disorder
• The link between Bipolar Disorder and Conduct Disorder and Oppositional Defiant Disorder in kids
• If a fiery intense temper is indicative of ADHD
• That bipolar disorder is linked to the creative and artistic temperament and intelligence.
• Why heightened creativity or artistry only happens in hypomania and what part of the brain is involved in this

Resources:

https://www.healthline.com/health/bipolar-disorder/bipolar-diagnosis-guide#misdiagnosis

https://www.dbsalliance.org/education/bipolar-disorder/bipolar-disorder-statistics/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2945875/

https://www.amazon.com/Driven-Distraction-Revised-Recognizing-Attention/dp/0307743152/ref=sxts_sxwds-bia?keywords=driven+to+distraction&pd_rd_i=0307743152&pd_rd_r=e42c6b4c-039c-488c-8de3-1ee73673c519&pd_rd_w=MmbvX&pd_rd_wg=aAl18&pf_rd_p=a5491838-6a74-484e-8787-eb44c8f3b7ff&pf_rd_r=D23JDS1MMMPKD5WFVZBY&psc=1&qid=1571599484

https://www.amazon.com/Taking-Charge-Adult-Russell-Barkley/dp/1606233386/ref=sr_1_3?crid=10XCWKJ5MK5VD&keywords=taking+charge+of+adult+adhd+by+russell+barkley&qid=1571859558&sprefix=taking+charge+of+adult+adhd+russel%2Caps%2C198&sr=8-3

https://www.amazon.com/Power-Different-Between-Disorder-Genius/dp/1250060044/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+power+of+different&qid=1573092756&sr=8-1

https://www.adhdrewired.com/roberto-olivardia-could-be-bipolar-disorder/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10826661

In Episode #43 of ADHD for Smart Ass Women, Tracy speaks with the delightful Megan Margaret Burlingame. Megan is 34 years old, a wife and the mother of two very busy boys. Throughout her childhood, Megan struggled mightily with her ADHD but is clear about the fact that her struggles also led her to discover her Superpowers.

Today Megan lives in Arlington, WA where she works with cities, counties and government agencies to advise them on zoning and legal land issues. In her free time, she operates a small flower farm where she also grows a large variety of organic heirloom tomatoes. 

Tracy invited Megan to her podcast after she posted this response to another member (of her Facebook group) who said she was having trouble seeing anything positive about her ADHD. 

“The more I educate myself about it, the more I realize that it makes me who I am. I am so so good with people, I understand their natures and moods. Sometimes it is like a wave of emotions that hit me when I enter a room and, while inconvenient, let's me see the true nature of people. I am also much more empathetic because of how much I was picked on for skipping around school constantly, saying the wrong things, laughing too loud, etc. I love to root for the underdog and think that cruelty from others for any reason is horrendous. In a crisis or when someone is swamped with work, I can jump in and formulate a plan, execute it with a maniacal glee, and excel beyond my peers. I am ALWAYS thinking, I constantly have ideas. This is challenging but once I make up my mind that I want something... want it enough anyway, there is no stopping me. I love to fail, it is like a challenge. My husband says, he learned a long time ago not to tell me that I "couldn't do something" and he is right because I will want to do it, even if I had no interest in it before, and then I will 95% of the time prove him wrong in the process and succeed. I am fiercely loyal, to a fault even. I love what I love and I love who I love fiercely. These are all things I attribute to my ADHD and they are all wonderful. Yes, they are also a double-edged sword but so is every other personality type I think. I used to wish everything wasn't so hard but now I realize that I would not change it for the world because I have a lot of grit and I am a living example of someone who literally failed each grade through 10th grade until leaving tiny private schools that only taught for the neurotypical brain. I had a 3.3 GPA in running start, a community college 

program that got me within 4 classes of my AA by high school graduation, and 12 years later I earned my bachelors degree summa cum laude with a 3.95 GPA. It wasn't easy but I never gave up on my dreams either. There is a lot to be frustrated with indeed but much to rejoice in as well. We are not the same as the neurotypical but that is OK.”

Tracy and Megan talk about:

• How Megan got from failing ever grade through 10th grade to embracing her strengths. 
• How important supportive adults/parents are given the 20K more negative messages ADHD kids hear by the time they’re 12.
• Megan’s revelation around taking medication
• Non-pharmacological workarounds 
• Megan’s best advice to those who are struggling with their ADHD and/or are parents of children with ADHD

Resources: 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-nPM1_kSZf91ZGkcgy_95Q

https://www.summitflowerfarm.com

https://www.facebook.com/summitflowerfarm/

In this episode Tracy talks about the myth that “everyone has ADHD.” 

Discover what behavioral characteristics the general population shares with those of us with ADHD. You’ll learn about the following: 

• What distinguishes adults with ADHD from the general population who display ADHD characteristics?
• The survey that Russell Barkley and his colleagues Kevin Murphy and MariEllen Fischer conducted that finally put to bet the EVERYONE HAS ADHD myth. 
• The three different types of ADHD
• The questions that those of us with ADHD often respond “yes” to
• The domains of life in which those with ADHD often feel impaired by their symptoms
• How we often don’t even realize we struggled or we’re struggling until we really reflect back on our experiences.

Resources: 

https://www.amazon.com/Taking-Charge-Adult-Russell-Barkley/dp/1606233386/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=russell+barkley+taking+charge+of+adult+adhd+revised&qid=1571777987&sr=8-3

https://www.amazon.com/ADHD-Adults-What-Science-Says/dp/1593855869/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=russell+barkley+adhd+in+adults+what+the+science+says&qid=1571778081&sr=8-1

In this episode, Tracy talks to ICF and board-certified ADHD coach, Certified Career Development Coach and Life Coach, Lynn Miner-Rosen. Lynn works with high school seniors, college students and young adults with ADHD, EF deficits and learning differences. Previous to coaching Lynn was a Special Education Teacher for 12 years. She was also an IEP coordinator. Lynn Miner-Rosen has a BS in business administration and two Masters Degrees in Education and Special Education. She lives in Boca Raton, Florida and will be speaking at CHADD in November. 

Lynn spoke to us about ADHD and the workplace. We discuss:

• If you should disclose your ADHD to your boss, work colleagues, human resources etc?
• What the positives and negatives of disclosure are?
• If you do choose to disclose, how do you go about doing so?
• How to make your strengths clear so you’re not just focusing on everything you struggle with?
• If tardiness can be overlooked in the ADHD workplace?
• How to ask for help without disclosing your ADHD?
• If you’re going to disclose who should you disclose to first?
• How to create a descriptive and reasonable list if you are going to ask or accommodations.
• The Top 10 challenges of ADHD employees and how to manage them

1. Time Management
2. Long-term projects
3. Paperwork
4. Procrastination
5. Poor Memory
6. Distractibility
7. Impulsivity
8. Boredom
9. Hyperactivity
10. Social Skills

You can find more about Lynn Miner-Rosen at www.lmrcoaching.com or follow her on Instagram @adhdcoachlynn. Lynn also prepared a FREE downloadable checklist for us. You can find it here.