The Truth About ADHD in Adults: Harvard’s Dr. Chris Palmer Explains the Research

What is actually happening in the functioning of your brain when you are somebody that has ADHD?

When we see brain regions that are underactive or overactive, we mean that they are underactive and overactive in terms of...

My (laughs) jaw is kinda hanging open.

Most people don't think of it that way.

I don't think about it that way.

They think about it as correcting a chemical imbalance.

That's exactly what I thought it was.

And I want people to think about it differently.

Oh God, I gave my kid ADHD because I fed him processed crap, and then I tried to medicate him and I saw our 12-year-old literally... Like, I'm going to start crying when I think about this. Like, I literally saw, like, the light going out in him.

The heartbreaking thing is that kids internalize the message that they are a problem. They're not getting the message that there is a problem with your brain metabolism, honey, and this is something we can address.

What else can you do? Hey, it's your friend Mel. I'm so glad you're here. Welcome to The Mel Robbins Podcast. First of all, thanks for hanging out with me. And second, thank you for taking the time to choose to listen to something that could help you improve your life. I think that's pretty cool. And whether you're a longtime listener or you're brand new, you are part of The Mel Robbins Podcast family. Welcome to the crew. We are positive, we are empowering, we are smart, and you are a really important part of this community. I'm Mel Robbins. I'm a New York Times bestselling author. I'm one of the world's leading experts on confidence and motivation, and I am on a mission. I'm on a mission to inspire and empower you. I'm giving you tools, inspiration, and the expert resources that you need to create a better life, and one of the ways that I'm trying to empower and inspire you is to make sure you know you're not alone in some of the stuff that you're dealing with, and I share a lot about my life. I talk about my struggles. I confess a lot of things to you, and one of the things that I've talked very openly about is the fact that I have ADHD, and I've shared not only my journey with ADHD, but I've also talked about the fact that, like so many women that listen to this podcast, I wasn't diagnosed with ADHD until late in life. In fact, I was 47 years old when a doctor spoke the words, "Mel, you have ADHD, you got dyslexia, and you have dysgraphia." And I was like, "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Well, my story resonated with so many of you because I found out, as most adult women do, during the process of our son, Oakley, who is in elementary school, he was getting assessed for learning disabilities. When we got his results back, I was like, "Oh my God, that sounds a lot like me." And from my experience, what I lived through was textbook, and it's this, that for most of my life, not knowing that I had dyslexia, dysgraphia, ADHD, I struggled with anxiety. I was extremely self-critical. I felt like something was wrong with me, like I didn't understand why everybody else could, like, sit still and focus and remember things. I couldn't understand why it was so hard for me to be organized or on time or be able to just direct my damn brain when I needed to get something done. You know what? Our son had the exact same struggles, and it's one of the reasons why I'm so open about all the different things that I deal with, and it's this, it's because when you're dealing with something that you either don't know is an issue or it's hidden from you like this was for me, you automatically personalize it. You literally can't help but go, "There's something wrong with me. I'm different." Like, "I'm a loser." And here's what I want you to know. The only thing that's wrong is that you have no idea what's actually the real problem, and until you know what the real problem is, you can't address it, and that's why having a formal diagnosis, being told that I had ADHD and dyslexia and all this other stuff, it was a game-changer, because when you understand what you're dealing with, I mean, I'm sure you've had this experience, you realize, "Oh my God, that's the issue?" And then you realize, "Oh, I'm not the only one who feels this way?" And then here's the most important part. You can take on the thing that is the real deal like a project instead of turning it into a personal attack, and honestly, that's a lot of my philosophy here on The Mel Robbins Podcast. That's why I like to dig so deep into so many different topics. It's so that you and I can both understand them so that we can explain them to our family and to ourselves and so that you realize that you're not alone, and more importantly, there are always simple things that you can do, and there are simple actions that you can take that help you make your life better no matter what you're dealing with, and it is certainly true when it comes to ADHD. And I know that you want information about this because it was about a year ago, that's like the last time I talked about this topic, I did an episode called The Six Surprising Signs of ADHD. Yep, I will link to it like we link to absolutely everything in the show notes, but when we released that episode, (imitates explosion) it created an explosion. I mean, from podcast listeners around the world, our YouTube subscribers, everybody that saw the short stuff that we produce for social media, holy cow, so many questions, and they have been coming in for a year. I've been meaning to do something about ADHD, but we've just been covering all these other topics, but I kinda got my sign because I was on The Today Show couple weeks ago, and as I'm sitting in the chair, (laughs) the woman that was doing my hair, she leaned over and said in my ear, "Mel, I heard that episode you did about ADHD and it made me go to the doctor, and it turns out, oh my gosh, I have ADHD too. Are you gonna keep talking about it? I mean, that was so helpful. Can you share more tips?" And so guess what?Today, we're sharing more. So if you've got questions... Well, wait a minute. Could I have ADHD? How do I even know? Uh, what can I do about it? What does ADHD mean about my br- what is neurodivergent and it w- how can I help my kids with ADHD? And is there a way to manage my symptoms without medication? Well, today, you're getting those questions answered, not by me, but by Harvard's Dr. Chris Palmer. Dr. Palmer is a renowned psychiatrist at Harvard. He also appeared on the very last episode of the Mel Robbins podcast that we released. He has spent almost 30 years at the number one psychiatric hospital in the nation, that is Harvard's Teaching Hospital. It's here in Boston. It's called McLean. And based on his extensive clinical experience, he's on a mission to change the way mental health is discussed and treated. Now, I wanted Dr. Palmer to talk about ADHD because I find him to be so hopeful and I find him to have such an accessible way to approach really serious issues like we discussed in the last episode, but also they're relevant for any neurodivergent pattern, and one of those patterns is ADHD. Now in the last episode, I'll link to it in the show notes. Don't worry, you don't need to listen to it right now. We're gonna cover everything that you need to know in this episode, but you should go check it out. It is very powerful. In that episode, Dr. Palmer discussed his brain energy theory and his research that shows the connection between diet, brain function, and mental health. He shared in that episode that improving your metabolic health, which just means changing your diet and making better lifestyle choices, has a really significant impact on the functioning of your brain and on your mental health. He calls this his brain energy theory. Well, this research has very important implications for understanding and learning how to thrive with ADHD. And so Dr. Palmer is here today to tell you something that I want you to hear. There's nothing wrong with you. I'm gonna say it again. There's nothing wrong with you. And when you're struggling, at least when I'm struggling, and when my family struggles, I notice that we internalize the struggle. So Dr. Palmer, he is here to say, "You're not the problem." There may just be an issue with your brain and how it metabolizes your food. And you know what? You wanna hear the coolest part? Dr. Palmer says, "We can fix this." Ooh, I love that. Now, I wanna ask you to please listen all the way to the end because Dr. Palmer outlines the specific protocol that he recommends to his patients here in Boston. And I'm gonna underscore something, something that Dr. Palmer repeats. If you feel inspired to make changes to your diet or your lifestyle, please always consult your doctor before doing so. And I wanna ask you, whether you're listening for yourself or you're listening for somebody in your life that struggles with some issue like ADHD, this is information that could change somebody's life. Dr. Palmer is no joke. He has a wait list that is several years long, and he is here today for you and your loved ones. So please, share this with anyone in your life who can benefit from this information. First, please, please, please, if you have not taken a moment to subscribe to the channel, please do so. It really helps me bring these amazing resources to you at zero cost. And please share this episode. It could really not only change your life, but it could change the life of anybody else that you love. All right. You ready? Let's dig in with the amazing Dr. Chris Palmer. As somebody who is diagnosed with ADHD and has kids who have ADHD, I am so excited to have the opportunity to learn from you, Dr. Palmer. And so why don't we start at just the basic level, what is ADHD?