Understanding the ADHD and Anxiety Overlap with Dr. Mona Potter
Hacking Your ADHD
Distinguishing between ADHD and anxiety can feel a bit like trying to figure out if you're sneezing because of a cold or because your neighbor just started mowing their lawn - or maybe it's a bit of both, the symptoms look the same, but the solution is very different. This week, I’m talking with Dr. Mona Potter, a Harvard-trained, board-certified child and adolescent psychiatrist and the Chief Medical Officer and Co-founder of InStride Health. Dr. Potter spent years at McLean Hospital pioneering treatments for anxiety and OCD, and has a unique perspective on how we can manage the specific...
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Research Recap: Discontinued Use of ADHD Meds
Hacking Your ADHD
Welcome to Hacking Your ADHD. I’m your host, William Curb. Today, I’m joined by Skye Waterson for our research recap series, where we dive into a single research paper to find practical takeaways. In this episode, we’re discussing a paper called "Adherence, Persistence and Medication Discontinuation in Patients with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Systematic Literature Review." This study asks: what’s happening in the real world with medication adherence? Are people taking their meds, and if not, why? I found this paper through a presentation by Bill Dobson at the 2025 ADHD...
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Nervous System Regulation and the Stages of Burnout with Garrett Wood
Hacking Your ADHD
Hey Team! Burnout is one of those terms we throw around a lot in the neurodivergent community, but often we don't realize we're in it until we've hit a wall. Today, I’m talking with Garrett Wood, a Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist and founder of Gnosis Therapy. Garrett specializes in working with high-achieving professionals—which is often code for high-masking folks—helping them navigate executive well-being and nervous system regulation. In our conversation, we dive into the nuances of burnout, specifically how it differs from just being tired, and we walk through the five stages of...
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Crushing Your ADD with Alan P. Brown
Hacking Your ADHD
Hey Team! This week I’m talking with Alan P. Brown, the creator of ADD Crusher and host of Crusher™TV. Alan is an ADHD and productivity coach who spent decades struggling with undiagnosed ADHD while working as an advertising executive in New York. His own "mess to success" story involves battling addiction and navigating a career where he felt like he was constantly floundering, only to turn it all around by developing his own "brain hacks." In our conversation today, we dive into some of the practical strategies Alan developed to get his brain in gear, like the importance of identifying...
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Research Recap with Skye: Childhood pain and ADHD
Hacking Your ADHD
Welcome to Hacking Your ADHD. I’m your host, William Curb, and today I’m joined by Skye Waterson for our research recap series. We’re diving into a paper titled "Pain Associated Diagnosis in Childhood Before the Diagnosis of ADHD." We want to see if kids who were eventually diagnosed with ADHD showed higher rates of pain-related medical visits before that diagnosis even happened. This is a vital question because about a quarter of chronic pain patients are also diagnosed with ADHD. If you'd life to follow along on the show notes page you can find that at - Unconventional Organisation...
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You Don’t Need to Earn Your Rest with Alyece Smith
Hacking Your ADHD
Hello all you beautiful people, happy new year. I’m gearing up for 2026 after a few set backs at the end of last year that we’ll get into in a future episode. But today we’re talking with Alyece Smith, founder of Socially Ausome, a neurodivergent entrepreneur coach, and the host of The ADHD CEO Podcast. She specializes in helping business owners build sustainable systems that actually work for their brains rather than against them. In our conversation today, we get into why we often feel the need to "earn our rest" and how that can lead to burnout. We also jump into how to systemize your...
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ADHD-Friendly Goal Setting with Chris Wang (Rebroadcast)
Hacking Your ADHD
It’s hard to believe we’re already into 2026. If last year felt fast, this year is moving even quicker. As we settle into the rhythm of a new year, I found myself looking back at some of the most impactful conversations we’ve had on the show—specifically those that help us navigate the "new year pressure" without the burnout. That’s why today, we’re revisiting a fan-favorite conversation from the archives with Chris Wang, CEO and co-founder of Shimmer. Even though this originally aired at the start of 2025, the strategies Chris shares are more relevant than ever. We dive deep into:...
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Research Recap with Skye: Subclinical ADHD and the Entrepreneurial Path
Hacking Your ADHD
Welcome to Hacking Your ADHD. I’m your host, William Curb, and I have ADHD. On this podcast, I dig into the tools, tactics, and best practices to help you work with your ADHD brain. Today, I’m joined by Skye Waterson for our research recap series. In this series, we take a single research paper and dive into what it says, how it was conducted, and any practical takeaways. In this episode, we’re discussing a paper titled "The Effects of Subclinical ADHD Symptomatology on Subjective Financial, Physical, and Mental Wellbeing of Entrepreneurs and Employees." Essentially, this study looks at...
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Breaking Down Tasks and Big Feelings with Vanessa Gorelkin (Rebroadcast)
Hacking Your ADHD
For this week’s episode, we are dipping into the archives to revisit a conversation that resonated with so many of you. I’m talking with Vanessa Gorelkin, a seasoned occupational therapist and ADHD coach who’s been working in the field for nearly 30 years. Vanessa holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brandeis (Bran-Dice) University and a Master's degree in Occupational Therapy from NYU. She specializes in executive function strategies, emotional regulation, and anxiety management, and she brings a unique perspective to helping adults with ADHD navigate the day-to-day. In this encore...
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Research Recap with Skye: The ADHD and IBS Connection
Hacking Your ADHD
Welcome to Hacking Your ADHD. I’m your host, William Curb. Today I’m joined by Skye Waterson for our research recap series. In this series, we dive into a single research paper to see what it says, how it was conducted, and find any practical takeaways. In this episode, we’re discussing a paper called "Association between attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and intestinal disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis." It’s a fascinating one because they started with nearly 2,000 papers and narrowed it down to 11 high-quality studies. If you'd life to follow along on the show...
info_outlineHey team,
Today, we’ve got a heavy but necessary topic. We’re looking at what happens when ADHD goes unsupported and the stakes get high. In this episode, I’m joined by Sarah Templeton, a counselor, activist, and author of The Prison Counselor. Sarah spent years working inside the UK prison system before getting her own diagnosis at age 51, which led to some massive realizations about the people she was working with.
In our conversation today, we look at the startling prevalence of neurodiversity in the prison population and how a lack of diagnosis fuels a cycle of reoffending. We explore the stark reality of the "school to prison pipeline" and the specific ADHD traits that land people in legal trouble. It’s not just about being a trouble-maker, but about impulsivity, risk-taking, and a heightened sense of justice. And I know that last one might sound counterintuitive, but don’t worry, we get into that in the episode.
This is an incredibly important episode to me because I believe that it’s one of my jobs to use my privilege as someone with an audience to highlight the struggles in our community from some of our most underserved populations. And our ADHD siblings in prison are definitely a prime example of people who had the system fail them and are now paying the price.
Before we get started, I also just wanted to mention that there is some talk of suicide in this episode, so if that is something you are sensitive about, I just wanted to let you know.
If you'd like to follow along on the show notes page, you can find that at HackingYourADHD.com/260
YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/y835cnrk
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/HackingYourADHD
This Episode's Top Tips
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- While we often associate trouble with malice, many people with ADHD end up in legal or social trouble purely because they reacted impulsively to perceived unfairness. Recognizing this trait as a heightened sense of justice can help you pause before intervening in situations that might escalate.
- Severe boredom can physically feel like pain for the ADHD brain, leading to high-risk behaviors just to feel something. Acknowledging that boredom is a trigger state can help you find safer dopamine outlets before you do something regrettable.
- When trying to tame an addiction, traditional reduction techniques often fail for ADHD brains because of our "all or nothing" dopamine response. If you are struggling with substance use, ensure your support team understands ADHD, as "just one drink" can trigger a massive dopamine cascade that neurotypical advice doesn't account for.
- Work on reframing the idea of an excuse vs a reason. If we can understand that our brain wiring causes certain behaviors (like risk-taking), this isn't an excuse to keep doing them; it’s the explanation that gives us permission to stop hating ourselves and seek out tools and strategies that can help manage behaviors.