CHAPTER NINE - THE MESSAGE.
demoralized.
THE MESSAGE. We are surrounded by messages. They arrive constantly—through emails, texts, conversations, music, social media, podcasts, headlines, phone calls. Some are necessary. A few are important. Most feel like background noise we absorb without thinking. Or at least, that’s what we tell ourselves. Because the truth is this: no message is received without impact. A compliment can lift us instantly. A criticism can settle into the body just as fast. Whether we acknowledge it or not, the words we take in shape our beliefs, our actions, and our sense of self. When Words Lose Their...
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EPISODE NINE - The Message.
demoralized.
In Episode Nine of Demoralized, Molly examines the messages we absorb, repeat, and unknowingly pass on—and what happens when we begin to question them. This episode moves beyond awareness into responsibility, exploring how words shape belief, behavior, and identity, especially for neurodivergent minds. Through personal reflection, listener messages, and a moment of reckoning as a parent, Molly confronts the hidden impact of language and the quiet ways it reinforces shame or creates possibility. The Message is about noticing what we take in, choosing what we carry forward, and beginning...
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CHAPTER EIGHT - THE RETREAT.
demoralized.
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EPISODE EIGHT - The Retreat.
demoralized.
In Episode Eight of Demoralized, Molly explores the kind of disappearing that doesn’t look like rest or solitude—but self-protection. This episode examines how ADHD-related demoralization quietly teaches you to retreat from connection when being seen starts to feel dangerous. Through personal stories of social anxiety, masking, reinvention, and lost friendships, Molly traces how shame—not disinterest—has shaped the way she moves through relationships. She reflects on the versions of herself she learned to become for others, the cost of always adapting, and the moments when retreat felt...
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CHAPTER SEVEN - THE WAIT.
demoralized.
THE WAIT. I recently reread a journal I kept in my early twenties. It’s filled with questions about my life at that age—what things meant, where I was headed, who I was supposed to become. There are entries about friendships, dates, jobs, and family. Some of it is funny. But most of it reveals a younger version of me trying desperately to fit into a world she simply wasn’t built for. Even then, I was already trying to reshape my creative, nonlinear mind into what I believed was the correct way to live. I was trying to find my place. When I finished reading it cover to cover, one word...
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EPISODE SEVEN - The Wait.
demoralized.
In Episode Seven of Demoralized, Molly looks back on a lifetime spent waiting—waiting to fit, waiting to belong, waiting for life to finally make sense. Through the rediscovery of a journal written in her early twenties, she traces how long she’s been searching for a place where her neurodivergent mind didn’t need to be reshaped, hidden, or explained away. This episode explores the quiet exhaustion of settling for “almost right,” the ambiguity of well-intentioned advice like “just wait, it’ll happen,” and how ADHD-related demoralization can train you to expect disappointment...
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CHAPTER SIX - THE LEAP.
demoralized.
THE LEAP. There’s a moment that comes after awareness—after fear has been named—when nothing is unclear, but nothing feels safe either. That’s where I am now. Not confused. Not lost. Not unsure of what I want. Just standing at the edge of something I can’t ignore anymore. Knowing what’s been holding you back doesn’t automatically give you the courage to move forward. Sometimes it just brings you face-to-face with how little certainty you’re willing to tolerate. This episode lives in that space. Standing at the Edge Right now, I feel like I’m standing at the edge of a massive...
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EPISODE SIX - The Leap.
demoralized.
In Episode Six of Demoralized, Molly reaches the edge of what comes next. Just over a month after discovering ADHD-related demoralization, she finds herself standing in a familiar but terrifying place—the moment where insight isn’t enough anymore, and movement requires trust she’s not sure she has yet. This episode explores what it feels like to know what’s been holding you back, while still being paralyzed by the fear of stepping forward. Molly reflects on the cycles of avoidance, self-protection, and frustration shaped by ADHD, and the exhaustion of living in a nonlinear world that...
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CHAPTER FIVE - THE FEAR.
demoralized.
THE FEAR. Personal growth is hard. Not because we don’t want it. Not because we aren’t capable. But because growth requires leaving the things that once kept us safe. So many times, we think we want something—but then we find every excuse possible not to move toward it. We tell ourselves we’ll do it later. When things settle down. When we feel more prepared. When the timing is better. Personal growth doesn’t wait for certainty. It asks us to move away from what’s familiar and step into a future we can’t predict. One where outcomes aren’t guaranteed. And even when the place...
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EPISODE FIVE - The Fear.
demoralized.
In Episode Five of Demoralized, Molly examines the role fear has played in keeping her stuck—often disguised as logic, responsibility, or patience. This episode explores why personal growth feels so threatening, even when the life we’re in no longer fits, and how fear convinces us that staying small is safer than risking change. Through personal reflection, Molly traces her fear of rejection back to early masking, misinterpretation, and the need to protect herself long before she understood how her brain worked. She reflects on how ADHD-related demoralization sharpened those fears...
info_outlineIn Episode Three of Demoralized, Molly explores the rarely discussed grief that follows a late understanding of ADHD and ADHD-related demoralization. This isn’t sadness or regret—it’s the deeper grief that arrives when you realize you weren’t lazy, broken, or incapable, and begin to see the full cost of what it took to survive without that knowledge.
This episode traces what surfaces after awareness settles in: the loss of imagined futures, the mourning of years spent coping instead of living, and the unsettling realization that many so-called personality traits were actually protection. Molly reflects on how early misinterpretation shaped adaptation, masking, and self-editing—and how grief emerges when those patterns are finally seen clearly.
Rather than rushing toward reinvention or action, this episode stays with the quiet, disorienting middle—where old narratives fall apart, new ones haven’t formed yet, and safety begins to replace self-blame. It’s an honest look at grieving the past without erasing it, and what starts to take shape when the nervous system no longer has to brace itself.
Next episode: What begins to emerge on the other side of grief—clarity.