Our team has been seeing something called “ring of fire” ADHD spreading across the internet. It’s a supposed subtype of ADHD promoted by Daniel Amen, a celebrity psychiatrist with clinics in multiple states and a huge online following.

But in reporting this episode, we found that “ring of fire” ADHD isn’t recognized by mainstream science. Nor are brain scans approved by the FDA as a diagnostic tool for ADHD.

Our guest today, clinical psychologist Roberto Olivardia, PhD, explains why he believes Dr. Amen’s approach is unethical — and how it may lead to real harm for patients seeking answers.

For more on this topic

• Listen: Why there’s no “gold standard” for adult ADHD tests
• Listen: The ADHD content economy: How algorithms and incentives turn help into grift

For a transcript and more resources, visit Hyperfocus on Understood.org. You can also email us at hyperfocus@understood.org.

Listen to Everyone Gets a Juice Box, a new podcast from Understood.org where host Jessica Shaw has honest talks with parents raising kids who learn and think differently.

Understood is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering people with learning and thinking differences, like ADHD and dyslexia. If you want to help us continue this work, donate at understood.org/give

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Rae has a lifelong misconception about her dyscalculia turned on its head. And she learns why labels don’t mean limits.

For more on this topic

• Listen: Kids are at a breaking point, and school policies might be to blame
• Listen: The uncertain future of special education in the United States
• The discrepancy model: What you need to know

For a transcript and more resources, visit Hyperfocus on Understood.org. You can also email us at hyperfocus@understood.org

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Listen to Everyone Gets a Juice Box, a new podcast from Understood.org where host Jessica Shaw has honest talks with parents raising kids who learn and think differently.

Understood is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering people with learning and thinking differences, like ADHD and dyslexia. If you want to help us continue this work, donate at understood.org/give

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Last fall, I heard something that floored me: The tests we have for ADHD in adults don’t work very well.

As an adult with ADHD, I think about this all the time because our diagnosis is so stigmatized and so misunderstood. It’s overdiagnosed. It’s underdiagnosed. Everybody has it. Nobody has it.

If only there were a silver bullet or some test that could definitively say yes or no.

So, I asked the two Chicago School faculty members who got me thinking about this after their presentation at the CHADD conference last year: Jessica Rosenfeld, a clinical psychologist, and Reneh Karamians, a neurorehabilitation psychologist.

They explained why adult ADHD diagnosis is so difficult, and how new scan technology holds promise for spotting ADHD in the brain.

For more on this topic

• Listen: Is ADHD genetic? We asked a Harvard scientist
• Listen: Understood Explains: ADHD in adults

For a transcript and more resources, visit Hyperfocus on Understood.org. You can also email us at hyperfocus@understood.org

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Listen to Everyone Gets a Juice Box, a new podcast from Understood.org where host Jessica Shaw has honest talks with parents raising kids who learn and think differently.

Understood is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering people with learning and thinking differences, like ADHD and dyslexia. If you want to help us continue this work, donate at understood.org/give

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Diagnoses are meant to help people access care, but some diagnoses carry far more consequences than others. Conduct disorder is one of them.

Diagnosing someone with conduct disorder can be like placing a lifelong label on them — a label that can shape how educators, clinicians, and institutions interpret behavior long after the diagnosis is made. Studies show that Black, brown, and low-income children are far more likely to be diagnosed with conduct disorder. And the stigma attached to that label can be severe. Even life-altering.

For this episode, we spoke with our brilliant colleague, Dr. Kristin Carothers, a licensed clinical psychologist. She explains what conduct disorder is and why it’s so controversial. And she looks at how race and other biases factor into diagnosis — and what it means to give someone a label that is anything but neutral.

For more on this topic

• Read: The difference between disruptive behavior disorders and ADHD
• Read: More than just a “bad kid”
• Read: Study on racial disparities in ADHD and conduct disorders
• Read: Misdiagnosis of mood disorders in Black teenagers

For a transcript and more resources, visit Hyperfocus on Understood.org. You can also email us at hyperfocus@understood.org

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Listen to Everyone Gets a Juice Box, a new podcast from Understood.org where host Jessica Shaw has honest talks with parents raising kids who learn and think differently.

Understood is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering people with learning and thinking differences, like ADHD and dyslexia. If you want to help us continue this work, donate at understood.org/give

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The ADHD internet is crowded and not all content is created equal. From unlicensed coaches to miracle cures and viral “hacks,” misinformation spreads fast and wide.

The problem is that many prominent voices have little to no formal training. And algorithmic incentives encourage creators to bait their audience.

Cate Osborn, known online as @catieosaurus, joins Hyperfocus to explain how the ADHD content economy works. She looks at why grifting thrives and how power, profit, and trust in online mental health spaces affect our understanding of ADHD.

For more on this topic:

• Read: What is an ADHD coach?
• Read: 50% of mental health TikToks contain misinformation (The Guardian)
• More on Cate: Cate’s book, tour dates, and podcast

For a transcript and more resources, visit Hyperfocus on Understood.org. You can also email us at hyperfocus@understood.org.

ADHD Unstuck is a free, self-guided activity from Understood.org and Northwestern University designed to help women with ADHD boost their mood and take small, practical steps to get unstuck. In about 10 minutes, learn why mood spirals happen and get a personalized action plan of quick wins and science-backed strategies that work with your brain. Give it a try at Understood.org/GetUnstuck.

Understood is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering people with learning and thinking differences, like ADHD and dyslexia. If you want to help us continue this work, donate at understood.org/give

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

U.S. kids are more depressed, stressed, and anxious than ever. ADHD and autism diagnosis rates are steadily rising. What’s going on?

In this episode of Hyperfocus, journalist Jia Lynn Yang joins Rae to examine how major school policy shifts in the U.S. have changed what’s expected of kids, often with unintended — and serious — consequences.

Drawing from her New York Times reporting and her personal experience as a parent, Jia Lynn explores whether school itself may be contributing to the crisis — and what kids actually need to thrive.

For more on this topic:

• Read: Jia Lynn’s piece: America’s children are unwell. Are schools part of the problem?
• Read: CDC youth mental health snapshot
• Read: The evolution of common core standards

For a transcript and more resources, visit Hyperfocus on Understood.org. You can also email us at hyperfocus@understood.org.

ADHD Unstuck is a free, self-guided activity from Understood.org and Northwestern University designed to help women with ADHD boost their mood and take small, practical steps to get unstuck. In about 10 minutes, learn why mood spirals happen and get a personalized action plan of quick wins and science-backed strategies that work with your brain. Give it a try at Understood.org/GetUnstuck.

Understood is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering people with learning and thinking differences, like ADHD and dyslexia. If you want to help us continue this work, donate at understood.org/give

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

If you have ADHD or autism, research shows you’re at a much higher risk for developing chronic pain — a connection many doctors and patients still don’t know about. In this episode of Hyperfocus, we talk with a doctor who’s trying to change that.

Dr. Michael Lenz, a Wisconsin-based pain specialist, explains what the medical community is discovering about the connection between ADHD, autism, and chronic pain, including conditions like fibromyalgia and migraines. He also shares stories from his practice, including times when treating a patient’s ADHD unexpectedly improved their chronic pain symptoms.

For more on this topic:

• Dr. Lenz’s podcast and book
• The Weak Link: Hypotonia in Infancy and Autism Early Identification - PMC
• ADHD-pain: Characteristics of chronic pain and association with muscular dysregulation in adults with ADHD
• Order friend of the show Craig Thomas’ book
• NIH study on joint hypermobility

For a transcript and more resources, visit Hyperfocus on Understood.org. You can also email us at hyperfocus@understood.org.

ADHD Unstuck is a free, self-guided activity from Understood.org and Northwestern University designed to help women with ADHD boost their mood and take small, practical steps to get unstuck. In about 10 minutes, learn why mood spirals happen and get a personalized action plan of quick wins and science-backed strategies that work with your brain. Give it a try at Understood.org/GetUnstuck.

Understood is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering people with learning and thinking differences, like ADHD and dyslexia. If you want to help us continue this work, donate at understood.org/give

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This week on Hyperfocus, Rae is in the guest seat for an appearance on Hacking Your ADHD, a podcast hosted by William Curb.

Listen for a fascinating conversation on a topic that’s really common in ADHD circles: the tendency to attribute everyday behaviors to ADHD.

For more resources, visit Hyperfocus on Understood.org. You can also email us at hyperfocus@understood.org.

ADHD Unstuck is a free, self-guided activity from Understood.org and Northwestern University designed to help women with ADHD boost their mood and take small, practical steps to get unstuck. In about 10 minutes, learn why mood spirals happen and get a personalized action plan of quick wins and science-backed strategies that work with your brain. Give it a try at Understood.org/GetUnstuck.

Understood is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering people with learning and thinking differences, like ADHD and dyslexia. If you want to help us continue this work, donate at understood.org/give

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.