you consume 25 of your caloric
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intake when you start trying to focus so again attention is twofold it takes fuel mentally to suppress the internal fidgeting the fact that you're hungry maybe you have to pee your voice going oh God I'm going to screw over this test why can't I focus what's wrong oh is that Emily over there it takes a lot of mental fuel to quiet that Network in your mind it takes more mental fuel for your prefrontal cortex to then go hey strings we're going to pay attention to you and to activate a different network that
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helps you focus on what's happening in your mind and focus on something in your physical environment this is why after you take a test you're exhausted because you've drained the energy tank and so what also happens for everybody with ADHD is the orchestra's playing you're burning through fuel because both networks are going your attempt to try to focus on something and your attempt to like shut down the that you can't shut down and so you're not only spinning your wheels by not actually
32:55
being able to get done what everybody else can get done you're also draining the energy tank

you consume 25 of your caloric
31:50
intake when you start trying to focus so again attention is twofold it takes fuel mentally to suppress the internal fidgeting the fact that you're hungry maybe you have to pee your voice going oh God I'm going to screw over this test why can't I focus what's wrong oh is that Emily over there it takes a lot of mental fuel to quiet that Network in your mind it takes more mental fuel for your prefrontal cortex to then go hey strings we're going to pay attention to you and to activate a different network that
32:26
helps you focus on what's happening in your mind and focus on something in your physical environment this is why after you take a test you're exhausted because you've drained the energy tank and so what also happens for everybody with ADHD is the orchestra's playing you're burning through fuel because both networks are going your attempt to try to focus on something and your attempt to like shut down the that you can't shut down and so you're not only spinning your wheels by not actually
32:55
being able to get done what everybody else can get done you're also draining the energy tank

Dr Ayman who's been on this podcast one of the world's leading experts in the brain
33:29
he's done over 60 000 scans of brains when he has scanned people's brains he has scanned my brain and when you look at anybody's brain scan who has a ADHD brain what they find is there are what appear to be holes in the prefrontal cortex is very very common and it's a sign that there's not sufficient blood flow to the conductor the conductor can't work properly because it's not getting the blood flow that it needs and he calls this a sleepy brain that your brain is not getting the blood
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flow the dopamine the Nora epinephrine or whatever the hell it's called because we all know I can't say it and that's why so many people with ADHD because we're not able to have all of the neurotransmitters and the neuro circuits working properly it's why so many of us chase dopamine dumps like shopping or alcohol or any other addictive kind of behavior

two networks that the conductor in your
34:45
brain has to be able to switch on and off yes you've got to be able to switch the ability to pay attention to the book and to the words as your in your mind as you're processing what you're reading but if you can't turn off what researchers call the default mode Network if you can't shush the horns as they're like you're never going to amount to anything why are you always behind why did if you can't shh that you live with a default mode a voice in your head that is always active that's
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always going and that's always negative and that's why so many of us develop such poor self-esteem

six lesser known and surprising signs of adult ADHD then we're going to get into why this happened why are girls under diagnosed why is there a Lost Generation of women who have been struggling with anxiety and depression and eating disorders and
36:00
impulsive shopping and all kinds of other things and beating themselves up

six lesser-known signs of adult ADHD

number one is hyper focus

I remember seeing this in our son I'm like I'm sorry this kid does not have ADHD he just hates homework I mean he can sit and laser focus in on his video games so clearly he can laser focus in on homework that's not true

surprising sign of ADHD is the ability to hyper
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hyper hyper focus in certain settings but not be able to pay attention at all in other settings and this has to do with what's going on in your brain and your prefrontal cortex in particular when you have ADHD which we will get to in a moment but hyper focus is present for me I can hyper focus and get lost in my work I can hyper focus when I have to give a speech like I literally have like those blinders on that horses wear the big Clydesdales I have tunnel vision when I have to do something like that it's like the rest of the world does not
37:46
exist

what it is ADHD is a disorder in your brain that impacts your prefrontal cortex and the two jobs that the prefrontal cortex must do around attention itself and we will get into this because attention is both being able to tune out or suppress
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external and internal noise and it is also the ability to ramp up parts of your brain so that you can focus on something effectively and so it's way more than just paying attention to something it requires a bunch of switching in your brain in terms of which network your brain is using

second sign that is a lesser-known sign of adult ADHD difficulty controlling your emotions

difficulty controlling your emotions see what happens is that you
39:12
when you struggle with ADHD you're using up so much mental energy trying to pay attention that there's no gas in the tank to be able to tolerate the emotions of being frustrated or tired

it's why I would snap at my kids all the time that's why I would get this tone of voice when I'm frustrated with something and I just can't deal anymore it's why I would get really emotional with myself and erupt it myself why the did you forget her birthday again what is wrong with you she's your best
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friend why haven't you bought Christmas presents yet why do you leave everything to the last minute you missed that deadline again so being eruptive at myself as well

third really surprising sign of adult ADHD and boy do I have this one in Spades impulsive shopping and overspending

t's like you're blind to it and you get this huge rush for buying something and then all of a sudden you realize that was stupid and you didn't need it and this has to do with

Dr amen who's one of the
40:14
world's leading experts on the brain says is your attempt to stimulate your brain with a dopamine Rock so shopping isn't the only addictive behavior a lot of adults that have ADHD and it's not properly being managed have a problem with drinking drugs other addictions impulsive behaviors all tied to the structural issue with the prefrontal cortex

fourth surprising sign is timeliness time blindness

you're terrible with time management I am terrible with time management

I'm constantly late I keep
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myself on track with reminders on my phone I am the last person to get in the car for our family I am always a minute late to the call as hard as I try to be on time it feels impossible to me

surprising sign is that many people with ADHD are actually very high functioning on the outside you look like a workaholic you look very successful or if you're not working you're just one of those people that's super duper duper duper busy

your busyness and your workaholism is
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scattered all over the place and that desire to keep your mind busy is also due to the fact that you have problems in your prefrontal cortex suppressing the noise that is going on outside and also the noise going on with your critical voice

big one adults with ADHD tend to be highly highly highly self-critical

you assume you're always screwing up you constantly beat yourself up for not being able to do simple things you're worried that you're disappointing everybody you're wondering why it looks
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effortless for everybody else but you and this is the default mode of what your own inner dialogue sounds like