JBHD (2025)

18/07/2025

When I got to the venue for last night’s Science of ADHD talk, I realised something… Two years ago, the last time I spoke there, I stood on this same stage at , opened my talk by admitting I was in the middle of a mental health crisis and had just quit my job an hour earlier, and that I might not make it through the talk… and the audience gave me a round of applause.

I’m still not 100% sure if they were cheering for me or just relieved that it could be an early night, but it really stuck with me.

Fast forward to last night, a full house, great questions, and thankfully no existential breakdowns (well, none that happened on stage anyway).

Huge thanks to another amazing audience, to everyone who came along to learn, laugh, and share about ADHD and neurodiversity. You lot made it a genuinely brilliant evening.

Love you Cambridge ❤️

15/07/2025

This Thursday I’ll be talking about the actual science behind ADHD for in Cambridge – what we know, what we don’t, and why navigating the world with a ADHD can feel like trying to do a jigsaw with pieces from three different puzzles (while someone plays a Screaming Aztec Death Whistle nearby).
Where? Cambridge Junction
When? Thursday 17 July @ 7pm
Who? Erm, me 🤷🏼‍♂️– real ADHD, real science, questionable fashion sense.

Tickets are still available – link in bio or search “Seed Talks ADHD Cambridge”.

Come say hi. Or sit at the back and pretend you’re not bored. No judgement.

14/07/2025

SMART goals are the cornerstone of a lot, if not most, coaching. But not all goals are created equal, and not all brains are built for SMART goals.

SMART goals are a classic goal-setting framework used in schools, workplaces, and coaching, but they're not always ADHD-friendly. Goals that are:

S – Specific, M – Measurable, A – Achievable, R – Relevant, T – Time-bound

But... Research has suggested that fuzzier, more flexible goals (like “do your best” or “see what you can create”) can actually work better for complex or creative tasks, and might also be especially useful if you have ADHD.

Why? Because they can:

- Boost curiosity
- Lower performance anxiety
- Increase motivation to try again

Traditional goal-setting models assume consistent 'self-regulation'. ADHD doesn’t work that way.

SMART goals are great when:

- You know what success looks like
- You’re under time pressure
- You need clarity and direction
- You want to break a big task into smaller chunks

'Open goals', exploratory and deliberately vague, can be helpful for creative work, innovation, or when you’re not sure exactly what you’re aiming for yet. They invite curiosity rather than completion:

- You’re exploring, creating, or experimenting
- You’re learning something new
- You don’t know what the ‘right’ outcome is yet
- You want permission to play, not perform.

Maybe try a 'DYB' goal when :

- You’re building a habit or skill.
- You want to reduce anxiety or pressure.
- The task is ongoing or hard to measure.
- You’re recovering from burnout or low motivation.

If rigid goals leave you stuck, try asking instead:

“What can I learn today?”
“What feels like progress right now?”
“What can I change or create without too much pressure?”

Based on this study: Pietsch, S., Riddell, H., Semmler, C., Ntoumanis, N., & Gucciardi, D. F. (2024). SMART goals are no more effective for creative performance than do-your-best goals or non-specific, exploratory ‘open goals.’ Educational Psychology, 44(9–10), 946–962. https://doi.org/10.1080/01443410.2024.2420818

07/07/2025

Advisor 1: “Right, we’ve been told we can’t cut support for disabled people again. Public backlash, legal challenges, you know the drill.”

Advisor 2: “Ugh. So what can we cut that won’t make us look evil?”

Advisor 1: “What about children with special educational needs?”

Advisor 2: “Perfect. They can’t vote, their parents are already exhausted, and we can frame it as ‘reform’! Maybe throw in a line about streamlining Education, Health and Care Plans so it sounds progressive?”

Advisor 1: “Love it. Less actual support, more red tape. That should do it.”

Advisor 2: “Oh, and let’s pretend it’s about improving outcomes. That always works.”

⸻

This sadly isn’t just (badly written) satire. MPs are genuinely raising the alarm that the government may try to scale back legal entitlements for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

EHCPs aren’t luxury item; they’re the bare minimum needed for neurodivergent and disabled children to survive the education system.

Even considering watering down these protections is an act of astonishing cruelty and short-sightedness. These are vulnerable children. We should be fixing a broken system, not dismantling the small parts that work.

I’m beyond furious.

04/07/2025

and I have shared our story with The Times — about love, s*x, marriage, and how ADHD and neurodivergence shape all of it. We’re proud (and a bit nervous!) to see this conversation being taken seriously in mainstream media. Huge thanks to our team at and Maureen Brookbanks for handling this topic with sensitivity (and humour).

Article is paywalled (but archived also).

Have a read if your stomach is strong enough 😂❤️

03/07/2025

Absolutely devastated to hear the news about Diogo Jota and his brother Andre.

As a Liverpool fan, I can’t quite put into words how heartbreaking this is. Jota wasn’t just an incredible player, a natural goal scorer, he was someone who gave everything on the pitch, game after game.

It’s hard to believe he’s gone. Less than a month after getting married, and leaving behind three children.

Grief, even for someone we’ve never met, can hit harder than we expect. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, please talk to someone. You’re not alone.

❤️ Rest in peace, Jota. You’ll never walk alone.

📞 If you need support, reach out to someone you trust — or contact a mental health service like (call 116 123 any time, free of charge).

02/07/2025

Guest Author Alert!

I’m [insert positive emotion that non-anhedonic’s feel here] to be the first-ever guest author for

In this piece, I’ve tackled something most of us know far too well: motivation paralysis — that feeling when your to-do list is quietly judging you while your brain screams “nah mate.”

The piece explores why this happens, what the science says, and what (if anything) actually helps. Spoiler: it’s not just “try harder.”

Huge thanks to for letting me weasel my way into this brilliant newsletter. If you haven’t subscribed yet, do it. It’s a funny, smart, and validating newsletter for us ADHDers.

Read the full piece on Substack:
https://adhdweasel.substack.com/p/adhd-motivation-paralysis?r=569ksb&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

02/07/2025

I should start by saying that I am dysregulated and utterly exhausted from trying to balance caring for Mum, working, and writing a book.

I don’t even have the headspace to record the podcast, the thing that defines me and gives me so much.

This, alongside my recent PIP experience, means I have to acknowledge my bias in talking about this topic.

The new Centre for Social Justice () report proposes a major overhaul of disability benefits for mental health. Is this a compassionate shift to treatment over dependency, or a cynical plan to remove essential support?

Breakdown:

The update suggests withdrawing PIP and UC health elements from over 1 million people with "milder" cases of anxiety, depression, and ADHD.

The goal is to tackle the rising welfare bill and shift focus from cash payments to active treatment, projecting £7.4 billion savings annually by 2029/30.

The report recommends reinvesting £1 billion of these savings to massively expand access to NHS Talking Therapies, funding around 300,000 extra courses each year.

The CSJ's think that this will move people from welfare dependency towards recovery and work, backed by proven therapeutic support.��

A critical view:

Strengths:
- It tackles a genuine budget pressure
- Channelling savings into evidence-based talking therapy is sensible.

Weaknesses:
- Using “enhanced-rate PIP” as a stand-in for clinical severity is crude; it often doesn't reflect mental health impact.
- The report assumes claimants simply disappear from benefits, ignoring appeals, changing support, or worsening health.
- NHS Talking Therapies already miss waiting targets, and scaling up quickly is not realistic.
- Removing standard-rate PIP could cut vital support that helps people stay afloat.
- The claim that conditions are “mild” based on benefit tier ignores how PIP is assessed: it’s about function, not diagnosis.
- Just £1bn of the £7.4bn in proposed savings goes to treatment; the rest is unspecified, suggesting a hidden cuts plan.
- Bold claims rest on shaky assumptions, with ethical, legal and practical risks largely ignored.

02/07/2025

ADHD Unpacked has been selected by to be in their monthly Kindle deal – for the next 30 days, the book will be £3.89 for the digital version!

Link in story (or http://bit.ly/44t98nc)

01/07/2025

Grumpy post alert!

ADHD isn’t a BuzzFeed quiz.

“If you interrupt people, hate admin, and leave cups in every room… congratulations, you have ADHD!”

Wait, what?

Social media feed’s are full of posts like:

“If you do these 5 things, you definitely have ADHD!”

“People with ADHD can’t stand small talk / bananas / deadlines / eye contact / their own inbox.”

“If you hate pickles, you probably have ADHD.”

“If you chew ice, that’s your ADHD showing.”

“if you sleep diagonally, you definitely have ADHD”

“If you spin in swivel chairs for fun while playing a nyckelharpa, you definitely have ADHD.”

Look, I get it — it’s relatable content.

But here’s the thing: we’re not Pokémon.

We don’t all evolve into the same traits at level 30.

Some people with ADHD love spreadsheets. Some of us don’t. Some of us are chronically late. Some are early because we’re terrified of being late. Some of us talk too much. Others lose our voice in group settings.

We are not one big quirky hive-mind who all hate the same fonts and cry at emails.

We are diverse, dynamic, and deeply individual — and boiling ADHD down to a meme checklist helps nobody, especially not those trying to get support or a diagnosis.

So by all means, enjoy the memes. Just don’t mistake them for a diagnostic tool.

30/06/2025

I intended to record a Reel to explain this, but I just can’t. I am too broken.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) – and the cost of being disbelieved…

Last week, I received a letter from Capita telling me I’d scored zero points on my PIP assessment. Zero.

Despite struggling hugely over the past two years, especially with ADHD, bipolar disorder, chronic migraine, and chronic post-surgical spinal pain — conditions that deeply affect my daily life — I was told I can function without support and without difficulty despite providing extensive evidence to the contrary.

Far worse still, during the assessment, I was asked to describe in graphic detail both the methods I’ve used to self-harm and the methods I have used to attempt to take my own life. This assessment was so traumatic, I immediately self-harmed after the calls ended.

To compound this, one month later, I received a second phone call, unsolicited and without warning, in which I was AGAIN asked to provide the specific details of some of my darkest moments.

I work in neurodiversity and mental health. I know how the system is meant to work. And still, this process left me ashamed, exposed, and broken.

But this isn’t just about me.

Every week I hear horror stories from others in our community — people with lifelong conditions being told they do not warrant support because they said “I can occasionally do X”, and this was interpreted as ‘You do not require support with X’.

People are being retraumatised by a system that demands you prove how bad things are, in detail, again and again, only to be told you’re functioning well because you managed to explain how badly you’re functioning.

It shouldn’t take this much fight just to be believed.

If you’ve been through this — I see you.

If you haven’t — please know the system is failing thousands.

We need reform. We need compassion. And we need to stop forcing people to choose between their dignity and their survival.

JBHD

18/07/2025

15/07/2025

14/07/2025

07/07/2025

04/07/2025

03/07/2025

02/07/2025

02/07/2025

02/07/2025

01/07/2025

30/06/2025

Address

Website

Alerts

Shortcuts

Share