(Introduction music plays)
Hello brains!
I say that to you because... if you think about it.
It wasn't really you that decided to come here today.
It was your brain.
And whether you decided to walk or drive, take a taxi, ride a bike
That decision was decided by your brain.
Behavior, all behavior, is affected by the brain.
This is a story about my brain.
So, I was a smart kid. By 18 months I was speaking in full sentences.
By third grade I was scoring post high school on standardized tests.
I had as all my teacher's agreed, so much potential.
I was also struggling. I didn't have many... any friends.
Outside of books. I was easily overwhelmed.
I spaced out in class. I lost things, constantly.
And trying to get my brain to focus on something I wasn't excited about...
was like trying to nail Jell-O to the wall.
But I was smart. So nobody was worried.
It wasn't until middle school when I was responsible for
getting myself to classes on time, and remembering to bring my own homework.
That being smart wasn't enough anymore, and my grades started to suffer.
My mom took me to the doctor and after a comprehensive evaluation.
I was diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
ADHD.
If you're not familiar with ADHD it has three primary characteristics.
Inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity.
Some people with ADHD have more of the inattentive presentation.
Those are the daydreamers, the space cadets.
Some have more of the hyperactive/impulsive presentation.
Those are the kids that usually get diagnosed early.
But, the most common presentation is a combination of both.
My doctor and my parents decided that given my shiny new diagnosis.
Maybe stimulant medication would succeed, where spankings and lectures had failed.
So I tried it. And it worked.
The first time I took my medication it was like putting on glasses.
And realizing I could see, without squinting.
I could focus!
Without changing anything my GPA went up a full point.
Honestly it was kind of miraculous. By 14 I had friends, that liked me.
By 15 I had published my first poem. I got a boyfriend.
By 17 I knew I wanted to be a journalist.
My local college had a program that would guarantee admission to USC.
They had a really great journalism program.
So, I signed up at my local college and I started taking classes.
I moved in with my boyfriend.
Things were going great! ...until they weren't.
I started having trouble making it to class on time.
I aced a statistics course, but I forgot to sign up in time.
So, I never got the credit.
I took classes so I could help my boyfriend with his career.
But I completely lost sight of mine.
I never made it to USC...
By 21 I dropped out of college and moved back home.
Over the next ten years I started and quit, or was fired from 15 jobs.
I ruined my credit.
I got married! And was divorced within a year.
At this point I was 32, and I had no idea what I was doing with my life.
Besides reading self-help books that didn't seem to be helping.
What happened to all that potential? Was I not trying?
No, I worked harder than anyone I knew, I didn't even have time for friends.
I was that busy.
I had potential, though...
So my failure was clearly my fault.
I just hadn't done what I needed to do to reach it and honestly....
I was tired of trying, putting more effort into life than everyone else.
And falling farther and farther behind.
At this point I could have given up on myself.
I could have decided that everyone who thought I had potential, was wrong.
But, I didn't, because I knew that it was my behavior that had gotten me here.
And behavior is affected by the brain. And my brain has ADHD.
Looking at my behavior I knew...
Even with medication, even as an adult.
My ADHD was still interfering with my life.
What I needed to know was how, and why.
And more importantly, what could I do about it.
I started to do some research. And I found a lot of great information.
I found a lot of bad information too, but that's another talk.
But there's good information out there. Websites, podcasts,
talks, by researchers and medical professionals.
Books that would of been way more helpful than the self-help books I've been using.
That were clearly written for normal... well, there is no normal.
Neurotypical brains.
A lot of what I found though was either really technical.
Or seemed like it was written for parents, and teachers trying to deal with ADHD kids
There wasn't a lot that seemed to be intended for us, the people who have ADHD.
So, I started a YouTube channel.
I had no idea how to start a YouTube channel.
But, I started a YouTube channel
I almost called it "How Not To ADHD" because that was all I knew at the time.
But my boyfriend, Edward, talked me out of it.
It turns out lots of people need help understanding ADHD.
Including, maybe especially, those who actually have it.
I was no exception.
I thought having ADHD was kind of the same for everybody.
I thought it was mostly about getting distracted.
I thought that maybe having ADHD was the reason that I was failing at life.
And I thought I was what needed to change in order to be successful.
I couldn't be successful, and still be me.
Spoilers. I was wrong.
So, lets go back for a second. Back to what brought us here today
The brain. Understanding the brain you're
working with, it turns out is kind of important.
And, that's true whether that brain is your employees, your students,
your kids, your significant others, or your own.
ADHD affects between 5 and 8% of the global population.
Which means statistically speaking there's between 37 and 60 of us just in this room.
You can't tell who we are just by looking but its fun to watch you try.
(Laughter)
So at some point you're going to meet someone with ADHD.
Work with them, give birth to them, or fall in love with them.
Chances are you already have.
And at some point, you're going to ask yourself.
What is going on in their brain?
So, after two years of learning about ADHD and a lifetime of experience with it
After having the honor of connecting with researchers, and doctors, and ADHD experts
and tens of thousands of ADHD brains all over the world.
What can I tell you, to help you understand ADHD?
By the way, many of them helped with this talk.
First of all its real.
It's not bad parenting or lack of discipline.
ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder.
It's currently the most well researched mental condition.
And, there are actually measurable differences in the brain.
These differences are larger in children, but for most people they never go away.
In other words, adults have ADHD too.
While rates of the ADHD diagnosis are increasing.
It's not because of an increase in sugar, or technology.
Or... lack of spanking. It's not.
Anymore than people drowning in swimming pools is because of Nicholas Cage
Correlation does not equal causation.
Those are real numbers.
(Audience laughter)
It's from both an increase in understanding that ADHD exists.
That girls, adults, and gifted students can have it too.
And ironically a lack of understanding that being hyper, misbehaving,
or struggling in school does not mean that you have ADHD.
ADHD is more serious than I realized.
The primary characteristics of inattention impulsivity, and hyperactivity.
Don't sound all that serious, and I didn't think that they were.
But in real life they translate into people getting into more accidents.
Being more likely to get fired, get divorced.
Significantly more likely to struggle with addiction.
I learned that ADHD is on a spectrum.
Raise your hand if you've ever lost your keys.
Or spaced out in the middle of a lecture.
If you're not raising your hand I'm going to assume you spaced out
in the middle of this one.
(Audience laughter)
The thing is while everyone experiences ADHD symptoms sometimes.
An actual diagnosis is based on how many of those symptoms significantly,
and chronically impair multiple aspects of your life.
Just like you can get sad and not have depression.
You can get distracted and not have ADHD.
And just like you can have mild depression, or severe depression.
ADHD can range from mild to severe.
I also learned ADHD is a terrible name for ADHD.
It creates a lot of confusion.
We don't have a deficit of attention.
What we have trouble with is regulating our attention.
As ADHD coach Brett Thornhill puts it, it's like your brain keeps switching
between 30 different channels, and somebody else has the remote.
Sometimes we have a hard time focusing at all.
And other times we get stuck on a channel, and can't pull ourselves away.
In real life this might look like we just don't want to do homework because we'de
rather play video games, and sure sometimes that's the case.
But, the truth is, there are plenty of times we want to be able to focus, we try.
And we just can't. Current understanding is
that this difficulty has to do with the way our brains produce,
and metabolize neurotransmitters, like dopamine, and norepinephrine.
I learned ADHD is highly treatable. Stimulant medication boosts
these neurotransmitters, Which is why it helps us focus.
It's very effective for around 80%, of people with ADHD.
And I learned that medication isn't enough.
ADHD affects much more than our focus, it impairs executive functions
like planning, prioritizing and the ability to sustain effort towards a goal.
It affects our ability to regulate our emotions, our behavior, our sleep.
It's not one program in our brain that it works differently.
It's the whole operating system. It can effect every aspect of our lives.
And there are a ton of strategies out there, that can help.
Cognitive Behavior Therapy, coaching, even meditation,
or regular exercise can make a huge difference.
Understanding your brain. I knew I had trouble focusing,
and I knew my medication helped with that.
What I didn't know was that getting overwhelmed all the time had to do
with poor working memory. And that making lists helps.
Or that the reason that I ran late all the time isn't because I didn't care.
ADHDer's have a skewed sense of time.
And that using a timer could teach me how long thing's actually take.
Mostly, I expected to learn what I actually learned.
That ADHD is real. Addressing it is important.
And medication is not enough.
What I didn't expect to learn that I wasn't alone.
I had an ADHD tribe.
What a difference it would make to connect with it.
There are people with ADHD in every country, every culture across the globe.
Yes, even in France.
(Delayed laughter)
And this tribe is awesome.
Comparing myself to people with neurotypical brains,
I felt really bad about myself. Why couldn't I keep my house clean?
Or, finish a project in time instead of waiting until the very last second.
But seeing the positive in fellow ADHD brains.
Helped me recognize, and appreciate my own strenths.
One's that I couldn't see when I was just staring at my weaknesses.
Which is what I had been doing for decades.
But ADHD, ADHD brains have a lot to offer the world.
We tend to be generous, funny, creative.
ADHDer's are 300% more likely to start their own business.
We not only think outside the box.
We're often not even aware there is a box.
(Audience laughter)
We may struggle when our brains aren't engaged.
But ADHD brains are great at tackling tasks that are urgent.
Working with ideas that are new.
Wrestling with problems that are challenging.
And dedicating themselves to projects that are of personal interest.
This YouTube career I'd stumbled into was all of those things.
At 32 I was divorced, miserable and had no idea what I was doing with my life.
At 33 I started my own business and was connecting with ADHD experts.
By now, at 34 I have a team of volunteers helping me with the channel.
And I'm engaged to this amazing man, who helps me produce the channel.
Works right alongside with me is doing the slides right now.
And as we discovered also has ADHD.
(Audience laughter)
I'm working on reaching out to schools so that kids don't have to wait
until they're 32 to learn about their brains.
And I'm doing my very first Ted X talk here with you today.
(Audience applause)
But wait there's more.
That did sound like the end of the speech. I'm sorry it's not.
I'm happier and more successful than I've ever been in my life.
So what happened? How did I reach my potential?
Three things. One I learned about my brain.
My ADHD brain both on my own and by connecting with others who have it.
If you judge a fish by it's ability to climb a tree.
It will live it's whole life believing that it is stupid.
Unless it happens to chat with another fish.
And realizes fish aren't great at climbing trees.
And that's okay. There's plenty of ocean.
Two, In learning about my brain I found and stumbled into a job that engages it.
If you spend all your time trying to get a fish to be able to climb a tree,
you'll never see how far it can swim.
It turns out, I can be me and still be successful.
I just had to find my ocean.
Three, I learned strategies for the challenges I still face.
I have no fish analogy for this one. I am sorry.
I guess I learned how to swim.
Once you know what your brains challenges are.
You can find solutions to them.
Once you look past the stereotypes and assumptions about people with ADHD.
And dig deeper. You learn what ADHD actually is.
It's not people who wont stop fidgeting, or getting distracted.
It's brains that are chronically under aroused.
Trying to get the basic stimulation that all brains need.
It's not about procrastinating or not caring.
It's having executive function deficits that make it hard to get started.
And it's not people being lazy, or not trying enough.
It's kids and adults struggling to succeed with a brain that doesn't
always want to cooperate. In a society that wasn't built for them.
Society is our user's manual.
We learn how our brains and bodies work by watching those around us.
When yours works differently, it can feel like you're broken.
So what I'm trying to do, is reach out to these people.
Wherever they are in the world, and tell them you are not weird.
You are not stupid. You do not need to try harder.
You are not a failed version of normal.
You are different, you are beautiful, and you are not alone.
If you don't have ADHD yourself chances are you know somebody who does.
Their your employee, your boss, your friend, they're in this room.
I hope this talk helps you understand them better.
If you do have ADHD. Welcome to the tribe.
(Audience applause)