00:00Certified ADHD coach, Kirsten Lightfoot, helps guide neurodivergent clients,
00:08but for decades didn't recognise the chemical imbalance in her own brain.
00:13She only sought an assessment after her four children were diagnosed.
00:17Now aware she also has ADHD, she better understands common symptoms
00:22like rejection sensitivity dysphoria or RSD,
00:25which can make negative feedback feel like a personal attack.
00:29I have significant RSD so I could remember things where I'd said something slightly wrong when I was five
00:34and so I was able to go back and reframe it as opposed to that it was a fault of mine.
00:40RSD can also lead to self-doubt and feed into task paralysis,
00:45described as extreme procrastination.
00:48But some symptoms are the exact opposite, like hyperfocus,
00:52the ability to lock into a subject to the exclusion of everything else for hours,
00:56like forgetting to eat or use the bathroom.
00:59So many ADHD's like, no, I like to work for six hours.
01:03It's like, that's where we end up with burnout.
01:06Kirsten says there's a huge variety in the patients she supports.
01:10Kids at school, uni students, students that are doing PhDs or honours.
01:15So as we know, ADHD doesn't impact our actual intelligence.
01:19And then I'll see anything through to an adult that's struggling just to do life skills,
01:27through to an adult that is a lawyer, a CEO, a GP.
01:32Understanding the symptoms and learning how to explain our ADHD to friends and family is key.
01:38Most people that are in our world actually really do love us.
01:41They just don't quite understand us.
01:43It's unclear how many Australians are living with ADHD because not all are diagnosed.
01:48But as public awareness increases, more people are accessing support.
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