Hello everyone. This is going to be the last newsletter from me for a few weeks. This time of year is always an incredibly difficult one for me, and this year it is harder than ever, with everything that is happening in the world as well as the current narrative from the UK government about disabled people in need of social security. I am therefore going to take a few weeks to have a break and to tend to my mental health.
While I am taking this break I will probably continue to send out my weekly Allotment 2025 posts each Tuesday, so do sign up below if you would like to see how my allotment develops over the spring.
I will also be sending out one of my old posts each Friday, either one that was popular or one that I was particularly proud of. Please do continue to like, comment and share this newsletter, either on Substack or by forwarding the emails to anyone you think might enjoy them. It makes a big difference to me on the difficult days when people do that.
See you later in the spring! Emma xx
Alex Conner and James Brown’s book ADHD Unpacked, published this week, is one that I have been eagerly awaiting the publication of and ordered the moment it went on pre-release. I was not disappointed, despite James and Alex’s continual, self-deprecating jokes about the book.
If you unaware of them, Alex Conner and James Brown are the hosts (along with Sam Brown, also known as Mrs AuDHD) of the fantastic ADHD Adult Podcast. They are both scientists with lived experience of ADHD, who, among many, many other things, give talks and run workshops on subjects such as The Science of ADHD, ADHD and Psychedelics, ADHD and Burnout, and ADHD and RSD, most often with the organisation Seed Talks.
Their new book ADHD Unpacked is a characteristically wonderful combination of science, lived experience, humour and compassion for the ADHD community. If you are unaware of what ADHD is, or still somehow think it is something that naughty seven year boys are diagnosed with, ADHD is a neurological condition that between 2.5 and 5 percent of the population is born with. It is a condition that has been described in medical literature for hundreds of years, but it was not until 2008 that it became a formal medical diagnosis for adults (to be clear, you do not develop ADHD as a adult, you have to have had symptoms as a child to get a diagnosis).
Despite its name, ADHD doesn’t involve a ‘lack’ of attention. As James and Alex explain:
ADHD can essentially be reduced to challenges with regulating three simple things: attention, emotion and inhibition. Emotional regulation … is pretty much a universal problem for people with ADHD. Problems regulating ‘attention’ is in the title of the disorder, so that is covered (although it isn’t less attention, remember). The last one – ‘inhibition’ – refers to our lack of ability to stop ourselves being distracted or limiting our movements (so inhibiting both thoughts and actions). This lack of inhibition means our behaviour can be both impulsive and hyperactive (which is why these are kept together in the diagnosis).1
I think there is sometimes a tendency to view ADHD as a funny little personality quirk, something that might make someone a bit annoying if they are late, forgetful or disorganised, but otherwise a fun and interesting person to be around. It is not. ADHD is a neurological disorder with changes to both the anatomy and the physiology of the brain, which can have severe, life-long negative effects on every aspect of a person’s life, if they remain undiagnosed, untreated and unsupported.
Some of the outcomes of undiagnosed and unsupported ADHD include increased risks of substance use issues, gambling and debt, increased risks of unemployment and underemployment, increased risk of criminality, increased risk of accidental injuries and suicide, and an increased risk of premature death.2 All of this is avoidable with treatment and support! And if you think that ADHD is over-diagnosed and treated, given that at least 2.5 percent of the population has this condition (a very conservative figure) but only 0.02 percent are routinely prescribed ADHD medication in the UK,3 there is evidence that it is, in fact, massively under-diagnosed and under-treated.
I received an advance copy of this book from Bloomsbury via Netgalley (my views expressed here are my own!) but I cannot wait to get my own (hard) copy of the book to reread. I highly recommend this book to anyone with ADHD, or who thinks they might have ADHD, to anyone with friends or family or colleagues with ADHD, and to anyone who would like to learn more about this condition.
James and Alex do not shy away from the science in this book – you will learn about the genetics, brain structures and brain networks involved in ADHD – which is not surprising since they have both had long careers in science communication, but they do so with humour and recognition that much of their readership will have difficulties with sustained attention and focus! They are also open and vulnerable about their own struggles with ADHD and co-morbid conditions, and the impact that these have had on their mental health. And, finally, they give their readers tools and things to consider for dealing with ADHD in their own lives or the lives of those around them.
I will leave you with one of my favourite moments in the book. In Chapter 11 (Emotions and rejection in ADHD) they describe the parts of the brain involved in emotional regulation, including ‘the amygdala (from the Greek word for almond, because of the shape of this brain part, not its flavour, probably)’4 before, towards the end of the chapter, when describing two of the emotional co-morbid conditions (alexithymia and anhedonia), they use the expression:5
‘the almond-flavoured amygdala.’
There I will leave you. Go and buy this book! (Click this link which will take you to Bookshop.org (UK people only). I may earn a small amount of commission from Bookshop.org if you do.) Learn about ADHD and how to support the people in your life (including yourself, if you have this condition) to lead lives where we ‘can be more successful and internally peaceful.’6
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Bye for now! Emma
Alex Conner and James Brown, ADHD Unpacked. Bloomsbury: London: 2025, p.21
pp.28-9
p.78
p.183
p.195
p.265
I think I need to read this.
Take care Emma, during what I know is a very difficult time of year, you have to do what it takes to look after yourself xx