ADHD with Frankie Berkoben: Misdiagnosis in women, potential as a dirty word, and finding your way
Julie and Casey sit down with ADHD coach Frankie Berkoben to talks about her journey from PHD drop out to ADHD coach. We talk about the flawed criteria for a diagnosis, shame, and options for creating your own team (and how to be on it yourself).
TOP TAKEAWAYS:
Women with ADHD are often misdiagnosed with anxiety, depression or borderline personality disorder. ADHD is often missed because it presents so differently in girls than in boys.
Many ADHD people have long running shame stories about their inability to measure up to expectations: they tend to believe they are hopelessly broken, and a correct diagnoses as a result can be both freeing and grief inducing for all the lost time
“Potential” can be a dirty word for ADHD folks; it’s about what you COULD be but never ARE.
ADHD brains aren’t broken, they just need different things to function at their best. They have enormous memory, but relatively small processing capacity. That means they can connect dots like nobodys business, but can get overstimulated seeing EVERYTHING AT ONCE. Things like task switching and unacknowledged over stimulation can have a negative impact.
Mini-Lesson: What ADHD has to do with your voice
ADHD Resources:
ADHD 2.0 by Dr. Edward Hallowell (a classic, well written, well researched intro to an ADHD brain)
Jessica McCabe’s How to ADHD Youtube
Our favorite podcast, 'Ologies does ADHD