WTF is AuDHD?

In this episode, we continue our conversation with Kate Manihera (aka DJ "Sexy Kate") - a late-diagnosed autistic/ADHD content creator, model, and DJ based in Aotearoa, New Zealand. After years of high-masking and high-achieving - from beauty influencing to a corporate career in Māori cultural strategy and organisational development - Kate's diagnoses in her late 20s sparked a full life reset: leaving her job, working through burnout, and rebuilding her career around what actually lights her up. Kate talks about navigating previous romantic relationships and what she's learnt about herself since. She also discusses the Māori concepts of aroreretini (ADHD) and takiwātanga (autism), which reframe neurodivergence as difference rather than deficit. Follow her at @katemanihera on Instagram, or check out her DJ sets on SoundCloud.The pre-order window is still open to purchase one of our WTF Journals as well! https://wtfjournals.com

In this week's episode, Ellie and Paige answer a listener question about medication and their experience with Fluoxetine, we discuss an upcoming ADHD documentary and Paige highlights one of her fave journal inserts coming out next week.Some more context on the upcoming documentary - a couple of weeks ago Channel 4 announced a new ADHD documentary is in production and our first instincts solely based on the title were... uncomfortable? It's called The Great ADHD Myth?' and we thought it was important to have a nuanced discussion about this, based on what we know so far.The Great ADHD Myth? asks whether ADHD is actually a neurodevelopmental condition - or whether modern life is creating the behaviours we call ADHD. We chat about the questions the NHS Psychiatrist will be investigating in the documentary, whether we think, these will be helpful or harmful and discuss missed opportunities we think the content might be issing.Full disclosure; the documentary isn't out yet, so we're only able to base our chats on what we know from the above article, but we feel that even the article is purposely inflammatory and could be harmful, which is frustrating when we've spent years trying to remove so much stigma.Also, we're one week out from launching our journals - sign up before Tuesday 18th to become a Founding Member if you choose to purchase! https://wtfjournals.com/signupJoin our Reddit community to get involved in our conversations.

Ellie loves an infodump and today she's gone on a deep dive about the history of ADHD. Ever wondered when it was first mentioned in literature? Or why it became a 'disorder' in modern day society? Did ADHD always exist, or has it just become a 'thing' in the last 100 years?ADHD might feel like a modern diagnosis, but the traits we associate with it have been described for centuries - from early descriptions of attention and hyperactivity, to the diagnosis entering the DSM, and the question of what ADHD might have looked like before modern society. We explore theories that some ADHD traits may have been advantageous in certain environments, and discuss that perhaps the manifestation of ADHD is heavily influenced by a mismatch between brains and the world we're living in.Check out Dr. Russell Barkley's YouTube ChannelCitation #1: Dan TA Eisenberg, Benjamin Campbell, Peter B Gray, Michael D Sorenson - An exploration of nutrition indices among nomadic and recently settled Ariaal men of northern KenyaCitation #2: David L. Barack et. al - Attention deficits linked with proclivity to explore while foragingSign up to become a Founding Member for WTF JournalsLINKTREE

Why is it that we can be incredibly capable, creative and motivated, but somehow struggle to organise our own lives? We've spent our whole lives trying to create routines, stick to planners, build systems and pretty much everytime, we abandon them, forget about them, or decide we've failed the moment we miss a day. This has led to years of shame, low self esteem, burnout - you name it!In this episode, we talk about our experiences with executive dysfunction, and reveal why sometimes we're just lacking the flint to our fire - once the fire is going, we can find momentum, but the systems in today's world aren't kind to our brains. We unpack why traditional systems can be so difficult for AuDHD brains - and why sometimes, we don't need more discipline - w just need the right flint to get the fire started.After years of struggling, we've created our own customisable journal system and we're hoping it helps you too!Sign up to become a WTF Journal Founding Member - (includes $10 off your first order)

Stress affects everyone, but sometimes we don't always become aware of it until it's too late. In this episode, Ellie and Paige talk about their experiences with stress and how they've learnt to look for physical signs early. The body and mind are super connected, but Westernised medicine generally doesn't approach this holistic ideology, leading to a disconnect between your thoughts and feelings, and what your body is trying to say. After Ellie's body recently burnt out, she's trying to learn how to identify it earlier and encourage others to listen to their bodies too. We ask our listeners how stress manifests physically in them, and there are a lot of clear themes that come up. Hopefully this episode will help you identify early signs of stress, be kinder to yourself and not always feel you have to "push through".Join the conversation by joining our Reddit!

This week, we've swapped places and now Paige has been sick! So in the spirit of accommodating ourselves, but still providing you with some fun, we're continuing to answer your questions. We chat about light-hearted subjects like our star signs, to giving our opinions on disclosing your diagnosis to healthcare professionals and potential employers. We discuss how we balance our lives to avoid burnout (spoiler alert: we're still workjing on it) we finally reveal "the hill we will die on".Thanks for your patience as we both get back to full health - we'll be back with a proper episode next week!Sign up to h ear more about our journals wtfjournals.com/signup

Full disclosure - Ellie is super sick this week and because we self-produce this, we needed an accessible, low-effort topic, that would still be interesting to you - so we opened up your questions!Did we used to fight as kids? What are we watching at the moment? Our go-to meals? What is our fave part of being AuDHD? And more! Join our Reddit to participate in future conversations with us.

We have both struggled with clothing for our entire life - it's a double-prong of sensory icks and societal expectations that really drive us up the wall. For many neurodivergent people, clothes can be a daily sensory battle, so in this episode, we chat about our favourite "safe clothes", why certain fabrics make us want to crawl out of our skin, the emotional side of getting dressed, the societal expectations of gender-based dressing and general social decorum, and why comfort should always win over fashion!SOCIAL @wtfisaudhdpodcast