East Durham Counselling

30/05/2026

Kemi (the Conservative Big Boss) is going to "fix" the apparent issue of too many people with ADHD and anxiety, claiming benefits - this is because she feels their problems are "low-level".

I am not sure how "low-level" it is to have no concept of time, being at the whim of a dopamine lottery to see if you will be able to focus that day and a wide range of executive and emotional challenges...

Oh, perhaps she means that she will be reforming our education system!

So that young people grow up recognising their strengths and having strategies for their challenges?

Ah now that would be good and make a big difference. It won't solve all the "problems" but it would certainly help a great deal.

Perhaps she will stop it being one-size-fits-all and reduce class sizes by 50%?

Maybe she plans to meaningfully support home education, alternative provision, flexi-schooling and EOTAS packages?

On the table could be cutting the amount of GCSEs you HAVE to take, making additional ones option?

I look forward to young people getting plenty of movement while learning and time outside.

And of course, a must for ADHD is introducing self-directed learning.

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Or, perhaps she is rude and ignorant.

I guess only time will tell.

24/05/2026

💜 In the latest episode of our podcast, SENsational, we speak to Dr Annie Clements, Founder of Autism & ADHD, who draws on both her professional expertise and lived experience to explore AuDHD.

Listen or watch now: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0vbGjn0

19/05/2026

Science is finally beginning to reflect a truth that many women with ADHD have long known: Perimenopause begins earlier and exacts a greater toll on neurodivergent women.

https://www.additudemag.com/perimenopausal-symptoms-women-adhd/

16/05/2026

Why So Many Girls Grow Up Feeling “Different” Without Knowing Why
A lot of autistic girls don’t get noticed because they learn very early how to blend in.
They study conversations before speaking. They rehearse reactions. They force eye contact even when it feels uncomfortable. They become the “quiet,” “mature,” “sensitive,” or “overthinking” girl while carrying constant exhaustion underneath.
Many grow up believing they are just too emotional, too awkward, too intense, or “hard to understand.” What people often miss is how much energy it takes to mask confusion, sensory overwhelm, social anxiety, and the fear of getting something wrong.
Because autism in girls and women can look different than stereotypes, many spend years feeling out of place before finally realizing their brain was never broken.
It was simply trying to survive in a world that expected them to hide who they really were.

13/05/2026

Histamine is not only involved in allergies; it also acts as a neurotransmitter in the brain that regulates alertness, attention, sleep-wake cycles, motivation, and cognitive processing. Researchers are investigating whether excessive histamine activity or impaired histamine breakdown may contribute to symptoms that overlap with ADHD, including hyperactivity, poor concentration, executive dysfunction, irritability, insomnia, and “brain fog.” DAO is the primary enzyme responsible for breaking down dietary histamine in the gut, and reduced DAO activity can lead to histamine accumulation, a condition referred to as histamine intolerance (HIT).

A 2024 paper titled “Prevalence and Clinical Picture of Diamine Oxidase Gene Variants Associated with Diamine Oxidase Deficiency in ADHD Children and Adolescents” published in the National Institutes of Health repository reported that a high percentage of children with ADHD carried AOC1 gene variants linked to lower DAO activity. Another study, “Interaction of Diamine Oxidase with Psychostimulant Drugs for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Treatment,” published by MDPI, explored how ADHD medications interact with DAO metabolism. Researchers such as Hilario Blasco-Fontecilla have also proposed that histamine may partly explain the known overlap between ADHD and allergic or atopic conditions like asthma, eczema, rhinitis, migraines, gut inflammation, and sleep disorders. However, scientists emphasize that this is currently a correlation and hypothesis-driven research area — not proof that histamine intolerance causes ADHD. Low-histamine diets or DAO supplements may help some individuals who have both ADHD symptoms and clear histamine-related issues, but these approaches are considered complementary and should not replace evidence-based ADHD treatment.

08/05/2026

Parents with a child or young person with ADHD may find this post from The Parenting interesting:
When an ADHD child talks back it rarely feels like a teachable moment. It feels like defiance. Like they are choosing to be difficult when they could just as easily choose not to be. That assumption is where most of the frustration between ADHD children and their parents quietly begins.

The ADHD brain is neurologically wired differently in the regions responsible for impulse control, emotional regulation and the ability to pause before responding. When a child without ADHD receives an instruction they disagree with, the brain applies a natural filter. It processes, considers consequences and moderates the response before anything comes out. That filter in an ADHD brain is significantly thinner. The reaction comes before the regulation has any chance to catch up with it.

What looks like backchat is often an unfiltered emotional response that the child genuinely could not slow down in time. What sounds like disrespect is frequently frustration, overwhelm or confusion expressing itself through the only exit available at that moment. Researchers studying executive function in ADHD consistently find that these children are not choosing defiance. They are experiencing a delay between feeling something and being able to manage how that feeling comes out.

07/05/2026

Some more lovely words…

25/04/2026

20/01/2026

09/01/2026