Last year, Rae and Cody at Team Hyperfocus noticed something unnerving: The R-word was coming back into public discourse. People, especially people in power, seemed to be using it more often, and more freely.

We weren’t the only ones who’d spotted this upsetting trend. Researchers, disability advocates, and other journalists were also concerned. If this word, long considered a slur, was being used by some very powerful people, what did that mean for people with disabilities?

So we dove in, talking to researchers, members of the community, and even a famous comedy writer. (You’ll see!) And we surfaced with another, deeper question:

If the R-word can, and does, cause harm, how do you get people to care?

Related resources

• Spread the Word campaign
• Disability Discourse Matters
• The ‘R-Word’ Is Back. How a Slur Became Renormalized (Special Olympics)
• Rosa’s Law

We love hearing from our listeners! Email us at hyperfocus@understood.org.

Introducing “MissUnderstood,” the first-ever podcast channel for women with ADHD. Listen now: lnk.to/missunderstood

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

Happy summer, everyone! Because of the holiday weekend, we’re re-airing one of our favorite Hyperfocus episodes yet, which happens to be our very first one. We’ll be back in your feeds with a fresh show in two weeks.

After her daughter was born, Rae Jacobson was hit by a bout of severe postpartum depression. Back then, there wasn’t much out there about ADHD and women, let alone ADHD and postpartum mental health.

Rae had heard that there was a link between ADHD and postpartum depression. But with a tiny baby to care for and a life to navigate, she had more pressing things to deal with.

But the question kept bugging her: Does ADHD make you more likely to have postpartum depression?

This week on Hyperfocus, Rae finally gets some answers to questions she has had for years. Her guest is Dr. Catherine Birndorf, an expert on postpartum mood disorders and co-founder, CEO, and medical director of The Motherhood Center of New York.

We love hearing from our listeners. Email us at hyperfocus@understood.org.

Timestamps

(02:55) ADHD as a postpartum concern

(09:47) PMADs: Not just the ‘baby blues’

(14:21) What can struggling parents do?

(21:07) Medication and pregnancy

Related resources

• Catherine’s book: What No One Tells You
• 3 things I’m learning as a new mom with ADHD
• 72 hours in the life of a working mom with ADHD
• Parenting tips when you and your child have ADHD

Introducing “MissUnderstood,” the first-ever podcast channel for women with ADHD. Listen now: lnk.to/missunderstood

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

When you think about someone taking a psychedelic drug like magic mushrooms, the first images that come to mind probably don’t involve a medical professional in a white coat or any sort of clinical setting.

However, the perception of these drugs is changing as researchers and health professionals continue to learn new ways these drugs can treat a variety of mental health conditions.

Much of the research has to do with microdosing, or taking such a small dose of a drug that it doesn’t produce a “trip.” One of the more commonly microdosed drugs is psilocybin, the naturally occurring psychedelic compound found in “magic mushrooms.”

That led our small-but-mighty team at Hyperfocus to wonder, “What could this all mean for ADHD treatment?”

So, we looked for someone who might know, and it led us to Dr. Richard A. Friedman. He’s a professor, psychiatrist, and director of the Psychopharmacology Clinic at Weill Cornell Medicine, Cornell University’s medical school. Richard has also written about his areas of expertise for The New York Times and is a contributing writer at The Atlantic.

On this week’s episode of Hyperfocus, he sits down with mental health journalist Rae Jacobson to answer all her questions on microdosing, psychedelics as medicine, and what it could mean for ADHD and more.

Related resources

• ADHD alternative treatment
• ADHD treatment without medication: What are my options?
• Richard’s piece on microdosing in The Atlantic

Timestamps

(02:58) What is microdosing?

(10:43) What do we know about ADHD and microdosing?

(15:30) How do psychedelics work in the brain?

(30:44) Richard’s hopes for future research and microdosing

We love hearing from our listeners! Email us at hyperfocus@understood.org.

Introducing “MissUnderstood,” the first-ever podcast channel for women with ADHD. Listen now: lnk.to/missunderstood

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