A follow up to our previous show about undiagnosed ADHD in women with Dr. Lisa Day. Many of our listening family emailed with questions such as:
“My whole life has changed since getting this diagnosis and taking medication. Sometimes I don’t take it on the weekends or I run out and forget to refill the prescription. I start feeling extra sluggish and worn out. I was wondering if that’s probably how I always felt but it seems more extreme now that I know what life is like on the medication.”
“It felt like I was more agitated at the end of the day when my medication started to wear off but over time this has lessened. When you talked about how that can happen because we aren’t used to being focused so when meds wear off, our racing thoughts start again which can be irritating. Hearing that helped me a lot. I am 64 and one of my doctors said I lived with this my whole life without medication so what is the point of taking it now. I wonder what to say to something like that. It seems really rude or ageist.”
“When I take my medication I get so much done. It doesn’t feel like my brain is this complicated heavy mess preventing me from focusing. Am I in danger of burning out if I keep taking medication?”
“Why do you think this was not a common diagnosis for women? Do you think people just assumed we are scatter brained?”
“Can you talk about some experiences with patients and how their lives changed for the better after the diagnosis? Did any of them say that the people in their life were kind of surprised or scared at how much different they seemed?”
Dr. Day has over 20 years of experience working with individuals, couples, and families struggling with anxiety, depression, eating disorders, behavioral/medical issues, addiction, relationship struggles, interpersonal boundary concerns, work/life balance, major life adjustments, divorce recovery, crisis, grief, forgiveness, and loss. She has worked in a variety of settings, including working with adolescents and adults in both inpatient and outpatient programs as well as working as a coach in assisting individuals to identify and reach their full potential in their social and occupational endeavors.
Dr. Day is an expert in assisting clients to develop healthy boundaries, integrating healthy communication skills, and utilizing mindfulness in applying healthy coping skills to deal with the stressors contributing to their challenge. Dr. Day works with eating disorders ranging from anorexia and bulimia to compulsive overeating.
