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ADHD Mums

Jane McFadden
ADHD Mums
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300 episodes

  • ADHD Mums

    ADHD Assessment: What Actually Happens in a Psychiatrist's Appointment (with Dr Brendan Daugherty)

    03/08/2026 | 34 mins.
    **This episode is general information only and is not medical advice. If any of it applies to you, please talk it through with your own GP or psychiatrist**
    Have you ever walked out of a psychiatrist's office more confused than when you walked in? Not sure what just happened, whether you got a diagnosis, what you were supposed to ask, or whether the thing you were terrified of — coming across like you were just there for the stimulants — is exactly what you did. For a lot of women getting an ADHD assessment at 40, the appointment itself is the black box. Nobody tells you the order to see a GP, psychologist and psychiatrist in, what happens if your school reports are gone and your parents have died, why they start you on one medication and not another, or what a drug holiday actually is.
    So this week Jane sat a psychiatrist down and asked him to open the box. Dr Brendan Daugherty walks through the whole thing — the pathway, the assessment, how they choose your first medication, and the one thing that makes these appointments go better. Bring the questions you've been too embarrassed to ask.
    CHAPTERS
    00:00 — Walking out more confused than when you walked in
    02:36 — GP, psychologist, psychiatrist — the actual order, and when to skip a step
    04:38 — Have the waitlists really improved? A straight answer
    05:44 — The two kinds of women who book an assessment — which one are you?
    09:50 — 'ADHD is a bit like a shield' — and what's underneath when the medication lifts it
    13:19 — 'I'm scared I'll look like I'm drug seeking' — the post Jane sees every week
    15:26 — How a psychiatrist spots the woman who's masked her whole life and looks fine
    16:56 — No school reports, parents gone — how do you even get diagnosed? (evidence before 12)
    19:15 — The squat-rack phone call that diagnosed Jane's ADHD in real time
    23:23 — How they actually choose your first medication — first-line vs second-line
    25:28 — Long-acting or short-acting, and why it's not one-size-fits-all
    26:18 — Drug holidays: why they're prescribed, and why the evidence is weaker than you think
    29:34 — What's changing in psychiatry for women — hormones, the cycle, and menopause
    What We Cover
    Why so many women walk out of the appointment with no idea what just happened — and the questions nobody tells you to bring
    The actual order to see a GP, psychologist and psychiatrist in, when you can skip a step, and when doubling up is a waste of your money
    The two completely different reasons women book an assessment — and why knowing which one you are changes where you should book
    What Brendan means when he says attention problems aren't always ADHD — the medical and hormonal things a rushed assessment misses
    'ADHD is a bit like a shield' — the conversation about what surfaces when the medication lifts it, and why Jane went back to short-acting
    The post Jane sees in the Facebook group every single week — 'I'm terrified I'll look like I'm drug seeking' — and exactly how a psychiatrist actually hears that
    How a psychiatrist recognises the woman who's held it all together on the outside and is burnt out underneath
    What happens when you don't have school reports and your parents have died — how the 'evidence before 12' rule actually works in practice
    How they choose which medication to start you on, first-line versus second-line, long-acting versus short — in plain English
    Drug holidays — why they get prescribed, why the evidence is weaker than it sounds, and what that means for your Saturday sport chaos
    What's genuinely changing for women in ADHD care — the hormonal picture, the menstrual cycle, and menopause

    Free Resources
    Preparing for Diagnosis — for the mum wondering if it's ADHD and what to do next — https://adhdmums.com.au/product/preparing-for-diagnosis/
    Paid Resources
    Pre-Diagnosis Workbook — the deeper version of 'get clear before you spend the money on an assessment' — https://adhdmums.com.au/product/prediagnosisworkbook/
    Related Episodes
    How to Get a Diagnosis in Australia (Part 1) — S1 EP7, with Dr Jacinta Thomson — https://adhdmums.com.au/podcast_episode/s1-ep7-how-to-get-a-diagnosis-in-australia-part-1/
    ADHD Medication: Stimulants vs Non-Stimulants — S2 EP40, Jane solo — https://adhdmums.com.au/podcast_episode/episode-40-adhd-medication-stimulants-vs-non-stimulants-solo-episode-with-jane-mcfadden/
    About the Guest
    Dr Brendan Daugherty is a child, adolescent, adult and forensic psychiatrist and a Fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists. He's the co-founder of Pandion Health, an Australian telehealth platform providing specialist-led ADHD assessment and ongoing care for adults and children.
    You can find Brendan here:
    Website: https://www.pandionhealth.com.au
    Instagram: @itsdrbrendan (and the clinic, @pandionhealth)
    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendandaugherty/
    📬 Listener Questions & Community
    🎙️ Ask a Listener Question (voice)
    Voice notes are preferred when possible — hearing your voice helps add context — but you’re very welcome to submit a written question instead.
    Send a WhatsApp voice or written on 0403 457 313
    Send a SMS voice or written on 0403 457 313
    👥 Join the ADHD Mums Facebook Group
    👥 Receive the episodes in your inbox
    References & Further Reading
    On dexamphetamine vs methylphenidate (Brendan's 'a little bit better' point, ~24:24):
    Cortese, S. et al. (2018). Comparative efficacy and tolerability of medications for ADHD in children, adolescents, and adults: a systematic review and network meta-analysis. The Lancet Psychiatry, 5(9), 727–738. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(18)30269-4
    On stimulant 'drug holidays' and growth (~26:18):
    Drug holidays and the ~2cm growth question are genuinely contested in the literature. The most-cited long-term data is the MTA follow-up (Swanson et al., 2017, Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry), which found a small average height reduction associated with consistent stimulant use. Brendan's framing — that it's 'a bit overblown' and the adult evidence for weekend breaks is weak — matches the current consensus.
    On combined medication + non-medication treatment (~23:23):
    The MTA Cooperative Group studies remain the reference point for Brendan's 'they work best in combination' statement.
  • ADHD Mums

    Mental Load: 'I'm Just Tired of Being the Only Adult.' When the Kids Start Paying For It.

    02/08/2026 | 24 mins.
    The mental load starts as the thing you can laugh about — the admin, the medal for mowing the lawn. And then, somewhere underneath it, it stops being funny. It's the sentence that comes out of your mouth before you can stop it: 'would you mind having the kids on Saturday so I can get a haircut' — asking the other parent for their own children like you're lodging annual leave with HR. It's 'they were so good while you were gone,' and knowing 'good' meant nobody got fed. It's being so tired of being the only adult in the building that you stop being angry and just go quiet.
    This is Part 3, the last in the series, and it's the heavy one. It begins with a laugh and then it lets that laugh go. This one is for you, on your own, with your headphones in — and if you're right on the edge of exasperation today, Jane's honest recommendation is that you save this one for another day. Built entirely from what you wrote in. Support links are in the notes below.
    CHAPTERS
    00:00 — The last one. It starts funny, then it doesn't.
    00:44 — 'I shouldn't have to book my own kids in like it's annual leave'
    01:37 — Watch where the school emails go — and the 11-day anaphylaxis email
    03:37 — 'It was so easy while you were gone.' Was it though?
    05:41 — The 7am text from Cassie, and what Jane wrote back without thinking
    07:32 — 'I'm not even angry anymore. I'm just so tired of being the only adult.'
    07:46 — The nine-year-old asked to regulate himself while the 39-year-old isn't
    11:33 — The question underneath all of it: are these women still with them?
    12:37 — 'Supportive of what?' — when the pat on the back keeps you carrying it
    14:39 — The economy of gratitude — his effort is a gift, yours is the weather
    15:03 — 'He's cheaper than hiring someone' — the accounting that holds women in place
    16:58 — Why this lands twice as hard on an ADHD mum — the load that has no gender, and the one that does
    20:52 — Why leaving isn't the easy answer, and the thing nobody says about single-mother poverty
    22:38 — This series was never mine. It was yours.
    What We Cover
    The sentence so many women said comes out of their mouths and they don't know how they got there — asking the other parent to mind their own kids
    Where the pattern hides in plain sight — whose inbox the school actually emails, and the 11-day reply to an anaphylaxis email that says everything
    'It was so easy while you were gone' — what 'good' actually meant, and where the bar for care got left
    The 7am text from a friend that Jane laughed at before she worried, and the moment it turned from a joke into something real
    The messages about children being asked to manage their emotions while a grown adult in the same house isn't — and what it costs the kid who gives up on a parent
    The question that started sitting under every message — are these women still with their partners, and if it's this hard, why do we stay?
    'Supportive of what?' — the uncomfortable idea that the comfort itself might be the thing keeping you carrying all of it
    A sociologist's phrase you can't unhear — why his effort gets thanked and yours becomes the weather
    Why this exact load lands twice as hard on an ADHD mum — the part that has no gender, and the part that absolutely does
    The honest, un-tidy truth about why leaving isn't a clean answer — and the structural thing nobody wants to name

    🆘 Support
    If anything in this episode landed close to home, you don't have to sit with it alone.
    1800RESPECT — national domestic, family and sexual violence counselling — 1800 737 732, or 1800respect.org.au (24/7, free, confidential).
    Lifeline — 13 11 14, or lifeline.org.au (24/7 crisis support).
    If you're not sure whether what you're experiencing 'counts,' you can still call. They will talk it through with you.
    Free Resources
    Household Family Meeting Template — for the 'hand over a whole job, not a favour' conversation this episode is really about — https://adhdmums.com.au/product/adhd-household-family-meeting-template/
    Related Episodes
    The Admin Husband: 'Do We Have Parmesan?' — Part 1 —
    https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/mental-load-do-we-have-parmesan-cheese-he-was-standing/id1686843092?i=1000777917338
    The Gold Medal Husband: 'Did You See the Lawn?' — Part 2
    https://adhdmums.com.au/adhd-podcast-episodes/mental-load-he-mowed-the-lawn-once-and-wanted-to-know-if-you-saw-it/
    I Love My Family… But I'm So F**king Angry (Mum Rage Part 1) — S2 EP84 — https://adhdmums.com.au/podcast_episode/episode-84-i-love-my-family-but-im-so-fking-angry-mum-rage-part-1/
    What We Wish Our Partners Knew About the Mental Load — And How to Truly Support Us — S2 EP75 — https://adhdmums.com.au/podcast_episode/episode-75-what-we-wish-our-partners-knew-about-the-mental-load-and-how-to-truly-support-us/
    References & Further Reading
    Hochschild, A. R. (1989). The Second Shift: Working Families and the Revolution at Home. Viking.
    (The 'economy of gratitude' Jane cites — whose effort reads as a gift to be thanked, and whose reads as the background running of the house.)
    Also relevant — the cognitive/mental load framework underpinning the whole series:
    Daminger, A. (2019). The Cognitive Dimension of Household Labor. American Sociological Review, 84(4), 609–633. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122419859007
    📬 Listener Questions & Community
    🎙️ Ask a Listener Question (voice)
    Voice notes are preferred when possible — hearing your voice helps add context — but you’re very welcome to submit a written question instead.
    Send a WhatsApp voice or written on 0403 457 313
    Send a SMS voice or written on 0403 457 313
    👥 Join the ADHD Mums Facebook Group
    👥 Receive the episodes in your inbox
  • ADHD Mums

    Mental Load: He Mowed the Lawn Once and Wanted to Know If You Saw It.

    29/07/2026 | 24 mins.
    The mental load is not the doing. Everyone thinks it's the doing. It's the buy now, pay later maths you run when your partner tells you to rest — the hour you lie down and spend the whole hour calculating what this hour is costing you tomorrow. It's being the default parent, the one whose invisible labour only gets noticed the second it stops. And then, into that, walks the one who did the single most visible job in the house and needs you to see it. He mowed the lawn. He unpacked the dishwasher. Once. And he's standing in the middle of the kitchen, glowing, waiting for the medal.
    CHAPTERS
    00:00 — 'You rest, take a load off' — and why every woman's shoulders just went up
    01:35 — Buy now, pay later: what an hour of rest actually costs you
    02:39 — Dani, patron saint of this episode, and her four voice memos
    03:19 — Kat's dishwasher, the border collie, and the dead bird at your feet
    04:06 — 'Did you see the lawn?' The line that named the whole episode
    06:37 — The barbecue vasectomy story (you'll want to sit down)
    08:31 — The 3am texts, where it stops being funny — the wet bed, his one turn
    09:42 — 'I'm stressed about the mess. What are you going to do about it?'
    11:04 — The head lice question that broke everyone: 'or did you just decide that?'
    12:15 — Why is it always her? Susan Walzer, 1996, and thinking vs doing
    12:38 — He doesn't just do less. He's reading a different ledger.
    13:33 — Why this isn't gaslighting — and why that makes it harder to fix
    15:31 — What doesn't work: the chart, the PowerPoint, the tagging him in articles
    15:50 — What actually works: handing over whole domains, not tasks
    17:20 — How same-sex couples split it, and why they had to do it out loud
    19:55 — 'You're a bit of a perfectionist' — what he actually means when he says it
    What We Cover
    Why 'you rest, I've got it' makes every woman's shoulders climb up around her ears — and the brutal maths hiding inside that hour of 'rest'
    The border collie, the dead bird, and the exact face a partner makes when he's unpacked the dishwasher once and needs you to notice
    The listener line that named this whole episode — and what she really wanted to say back
    The barbecue vasectomy story, which has to be heard to be believed, and what six women two metres away were actually doing while he told it
    The 3am texts, where the funny runs out — the wet bed and the one night it was his turn, and what he suggested instead of changing the sheets
    The head lice question that undid everyone — three little words that turned a job she'd been doing for three months into something she'd apparently invented
    Why it's her doing the tracking, the meds, the mattress — a piece of 1996 research, and a newer one that's sharper and more unsettling
    Why he isn't lying and isn't gaslighting when he says the house is fine — he's genuinely reading a different ledger, and that's the bit that's hard to fix
    The three things that don't work (you've tried all three), and the one thing that does — and it isn't a better chore chart
    What a man actually means when he calls you a perfectionist — this one's going on a tea towel

    Free Resources
    Household Family Meeting Template — the closest thing to the 'hand over whole domains' conversation this episode is really about — https://adhdmums.com.au/product/adhd-household-family-meeting-template/
    Paid Resources
    Pre-Diagnosis Workbook — for the mum who's listening to this and starting to wonder about herself — https://adhdmums.com.au/product/prediagnosisworkbook/
    ADHD Mums Shop — https://adhdmums.com.au/shop/
    Related Episodes
    The Admin Husband: 'Do We Have Parmesan?' — Part 1 of this series —
    https://adhdmums.com.au/adhd-podcast-episodes/adhd-invisible-load/
    What We Wish Our Partners Knew About the Mental Load — And How to Truly Support Us — S2 EP75 — https://adhdmums.com.au/podcast_episode/episode-75-what-we-wish-our-partners-knew-about-the-mental-load-and-how-to-truly-support-us/
    Making the Invisible Mental Load Visible: How to Share the Load Without the Stress (Part 3) — S2 EP73 — https://adhdmums.com.au/podcast_episode/episode-73-making-the-invisible-mental-load-visible-how-to-share-the-load-without-the-stress-part-3/
    The Invisible Job: Being the One Who Holds Everything Together — S3 — https://adhdmums.com.au/adhd-podcast-episodes/the-invisible-job-being-the-one-who-holds-everything-together/
    References & Further Reading
    Walzer, S. (1996). Thinking About the Baby: Gender and Divisions of Infant Care. Social Problems, 43(2), 219–234. https://doi.org/10.2307/3096999
    (The 1996 study Jane cites — women do the thinking, men do the doing.)
    Daminger, A. (2019). The Cognitive Dimension of Household Labor. American Sociological Review, 84(4), 609–633. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122419859007
    (The four stages: anticipate, identify, decide, monitor — decision-making is shared, everything else falls on women.)
    On same-sex couples splitting cognitive labour more evenly:
    Pinho, M. & Gaunt, R. (2023). The management of cognitive labour in same-gender couples. PLoS ONE. (Same-gender couples negotiate the division explicitly rather than defaulting.)
    On the newer 'different perceptions of the same household' research:
    Weeks, A. C. & Ruppanner, L. (2024). A typology of US parents' mental loads: Core and episodic cognitive labor. Journal of Marriage and Family. https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.13057
    📬 Listener Questions & Community
    🎙️ Ask a Listener Question (voice)
    Voice notes are preferred when possible — hearing your voice helps add context — but you’re very welcome to submit a written question instead.
    Send a WhatsApp voice or written on 0403 457 313
    Send a SMS voice or written on 0403 457 313
    👥 Join the ADHD Mums Facebook Group
    👥 Receive the episodes in your inbox
  • ADHD Mums

    Is Daycare Causing ADHD? Debunking the Diary of a CEO Episode. (with Amanda Moses)

    27/07/2026 | 40 mins.
    Someone sent you the clip. Or your friend messaged about it. Or your mother-in-law forwarded it without comment and you sat there for a minute knowing exactly what she meant by that. The Diary of a CEO episode with Erica Komisar — the one saying ADHD isn't real, it's a stress response, and if your child has it the inconvenient truth is that you caused it. Two and a half hours long. Fifteen million subscribers. Ranked second on Spotify globally. So it doesn't stay in the episode — it gets clipped and reposted and lands in your DMs.
    This is the debunk. Senior psychologist and ADHD assessor Amanda Moses is back — the actual person who spends her days doing the assessments. Fourteen years in the field, Australia and the UK. Amanda pulls the clips apart word by word. The genetics. The 'malpractice' claim about medication. The 1950s theory this whole episode is quietly rebuilding under a new name.
    CHAPTERS
    00:00 — The email from a listener that made me pick up the phone to Amanda
    01:00 — What Erica Komisar is, and what she isn't
    02:30 — Clip 1: 'ADHD isn't a disorder. It's a stress response.'
    03:20 — Why the drop-the-D movement isn't about stress — and the heritability she's leaving out
    06:03 — Clip 2: 'There is no genetic precursor to ADHD.'
    07:30 — One minute there's no gene. The next minute there is. Which is it?
    13:37 — Clip 3: 'The way we treat ADHD is malpractice.'
    14:35 — Amanda on her own medication, and 'what do you mean people walk around like this for free?'
    23:37 — Clip 4: 'When your child gets an ADHD diagnosis, the first thing you should do is see a therapist.'
    25:17 — Refrigerator mother. 1950s. Same architecture. New diagnosis.
    29:07 — Where Erica raised her children. And what she could afford to sacrifice.
    33:17 — The economics that make her advice a fantasy for anyone under fifty
    36:31 — Amanda's take-home: you did not cause this
    What We Cover
    The email from a listener that made Jane stop what she was doing and pick up the phone to Amanda
    What Erica Komisar is not — three qualifications she doesn't hold, one of which will surprise you
    The exact quote from clip one that Amanda says has nothing to do with the actual conversation the field is having
    The number Steven Bartlett read out to Erica that she then argued didn't exist
    The 1950s theory about mothers that was dismantled decades ago — and the sentence in this podcast that revives it word for word
    What Amanda said about her own medication that Jane says she wishes someone had said to her three years earlier
    The scaffolding Erica had that made her parenting choices possible — and why no woman under fifty has that same scaffolding now
    The one sentence Jane wanted on the record because she couldn't say it professionally — Amanda's response is why you love her
    Amanda's one take-home if your stomach dropped listening to that clip and you don't know where to go with the guilt

    Free Resources
    Household Family Meeting Template — for the load this episode is really talking about — https://adhdmums.com.au/product/adhd-household-family-meeting-template/
    Explaining ADHD to Kids Guide — https://adhdmums.com.au/product/explaining-adhd-to-kids-parents-guide/
    Paid Resources
    ADHD Mums Shop — https://adhdmums.com.au/shop/
    Related Episodes
    ADHD or PTSD? Why So Many Women Are Misdiagnosed — S2 EP82, with Amanda Moses — https://adhdmums.com.au/podcast_episode/episode-82-adhd-or-ptsd-why-so-many-women-are-misdiagnosed-with-amanda-moses/
    Is It Social Anxiety — or Is It Autism? — S3 EP34, with Amanda Moses — https://adhdmums.com.au/podcast_episode/episode-34-is-it-social-anxiety-or-is-it-autism-with-amanda-moses/
    References & Further Reading
    On ADHD heritability (the 74–80% figure):
    Faraone, S. V. & Larsson, H. (2019). Genetics of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Molecular Psychiatry, 24(4), 562–575. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-018-0070-0
    On the polygenic architecture Amanda references (many genes, small individual effect):
    Demontis, D. et al. (2019). Discovery of the first genome-wide significant risk loci for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Nature Genetics, 51(1), 63–75. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41588-018-0269-7
    On the 'refrigerator mother' theory Amanda names:
    The term originated with Leo Kanner in the 1940s and was popularised through the 1950s and 60s (most notably by Bruno Bettelheim). It was dismantled from the 1960s onward as autism's biological and genetic basis was established.
    About Amanda Moses
    Amanda Moses is a senior psychologist, board-approved supervisor, and ADHD and autism assessor with over 14 years of clinical experience across Australia and the UK. She specialises in complex assessments — the ones that don't fit neatly inside the box.
    Amanda offers clinical training and accessible resources for community members looking to understand autism and ADHD more holistically. Amanda's 'Understanding Neurodivergence Series' combine research, lived experience and practical reflection tools in a way that is clear and easy to follow. In 2026, the series was fully redesigned in collaboration with a professional designer and accessibility expert to improve visual accessibility and overall usability, while maintaining clinical depth. They are written for both therapists and neurodivergent people who want to better understand autistic and ADHD experiences. Each guide includes structured explanations and worksheets that can be used in therapy or independently. The focus is on supporting learning, self-understanding and strengths-based reflection in a way that is respectful and genuinely neurodiversity-affirming.
    Understanding Neurodivergence Series: https://www.amandamosespsychology.com.au/clinicalresources/?categories[]=understanding-neurodivergence-series#category-tiles
    Amanda's Instagram
    📬 Listener Questions & Community
    🎙️ Ask a Listener Question (voice)
    Voice notes are preferred when possible — hearing your voice helps add context — but you’re very welcome to submit a written question instead.
    Send a WhatsApp voice or written on 0403 457 313
    Send a SMS voice or written on 0403 457 313
    👥 Join the ADHD Mums Facebook Group
    👥 Receive the episodes in your inbox
  • ADHD Mums

    Mental Load: 'Do We Have Parmesan Cheese?' He Was Standing at the Fridge. I Was Interstate

    22/07/2026 | 28 mins.
    The mental load is the thing you couldn't name for years — the invisible mental load that means one adult in the house knows when library day is and one adult keeps asking. The one who anticipates, identifies, decides, and monitors, and the one who stands next to the dishwasher and shouts through to the lounge room to ask if it's clean. You've known the pattern for years. You've done the therapy. You've read the book. You've made the 1.2-metre colour-coded family planner. And he still texts you from home, from within arm's reach of the fridge, to ask about the Parmesan.
    This week the ADHD Mums Facebook group broke open. So many messages, voice notes, and 4am DMs from women hiding in their own ensuites that Jane's had to split it into three episodes. This is Part 1 — the Admin Husband. Part 2 is the Gold Medal Husband next week. Part 3 is coming.
    CHAPTERS
    00:00 — The Facebook post that broke the internet
    00:27 — Lisa. 4am. From inside her own ensuite. Husband asleep in the next room.
    01:23 — Please stop asking us what time school pickup is
    02:03 — Renee: 'I made the calendar. I bought the calendar. I put it up. I synced it to your phone.'
    03:32 — Do men use Siri? A serious question.
    04:59 — The 1.2-metre colour-coded family planner he walks past every single day
    06:47 — He texts her the address of the program she set up, booked, paid for and drives to every week
    09:26 — Parmesan. He's at the fridge. She's in Adelaide.
    10:55 — The T-shirt drawer that hasn't moved in three years
    12:20 — The 36-minute toilet holiday, and what he's actually doing in there
    14:18 — Alison Daminger's four stages of the mental load — and which one he only turns up for
    16:35 — Affordance perception: he isn't ignoring the crumbs. He genuinely can't see them.
    19:16 — Same-sex couples don't do this. Which tells you something.
    21:53 — 'Accidentally, lovingly raising the next man to look at a bench and just see a bench.'
    22:36 — 'Just ask me if you need help.' Why that sentence is worse than no help.
    What We Cover
    The Facebook post that unleashed more DMs and voice notes than anything else on the show — including one from a woman messaging at 4am from inside her own ensuite while her husband slept in the next room
    What Renee has done to try and stop her husband asking her what's on today for the seventh time before 9am — and why none of it worked
    The 1.2-metre colour-coded family planner one member has installed on her wall. Her husband walks past it every single day. He hasn't looked at it once. She's been tracking.
    Why he can find the remote. Why he can conduct a full detective investigation into a missing beer. And why the billboard is invisible.
    The Parmesan text. From another state. Not a rhetorical device — a real message.
    A sociologist who broke the mental load into four stages, and the one stage he actually turns up for
    Two philosophers on why your partner isn't lying when he says he doesn't see the bench. He's not seeing it the way you're seeing it — and this is the bit that stopped Jane in her tracks
    What the research on same-sex households is actually telling us — and it's not that men's brains are different
    The 36-minute toilet holiday. The medical event. What he's really doing in there.
    Why answering him when he shouts through from the kitchen is the exact thing that keeps you Siri
    The sentence a Facebook group member said out loud that Jane hasn't been able to stop thinking about since — 'I'm accidentally, lovingly raising the next man to look at a bench and just see a bench'

    Free Resources
    Household Family Meeting Template — for moving off stage-three-only and onto shared stages one and two — https://adhdmums.com.au/product/adhd-household-family-meeting-template/
    The ADHD Mums Facebook Group — where this whole episode came from, and where Part 2 and 3 are being built right now — https://facebook.com/groups/adhdmumspodcast
    Paid Resources
    ADHD Mums Shop — https://adhdmums.com.au/shop/
    Related Episodes (the mental load / invisible labour series)
    The Invisible Job: Being the One Who Holds Everything Together — https://adhdmums.com.au/adhd-podcast-episodes/the-invisible-job-being-the-one-who-holds-everything-together/
    The Invisible Coordination Load: Why ADHD Mums Carry the Work Systems Won't — https://adhdmums.com.au/adhd-podcast-episodes/the-invisible-coordination-load-why-adhd-mums-carry-the-work-systems-wont/
    The Hidden Cost of Being the Good Girl — How the Mental Load Became Ours — https://adhdmums.com.au/adhd-podcast-episodes/the-hidden-cost-of-being-the-good-girl-how-the-mental-load-became-ours/
    References & Further Reading
    Daminger, A. (2019). The Cognitive Dimension of Household Labor. American Sociological Review, 84(4), 609–633. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122419859007
    Affordance perception — a framework from ecological philosophy (originating with James J. Gibson, developed further in gender and household-labour applications). This is a philosophical framework, not a clinical psychology finding. Cited as one lens that fits the pattern, not as a settled explanation.
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About ADHD Mums
Being a mum is hard enough. Being a mum with ADHD — or raising neurodivergent kids is a whole different level. ADHD Mums is the unfiltered, science-meets-reality podcast hosted by Jane McFadden, educational neuroscientist, advocate, and mother of three. This isn’t another polished parenting show with 'ten easy tips.' It’s real stories, confessions we’re not supposed to say out loud, and the research that explains why so many of us are running on empty. Every week you’ll hear: 🎙️ Confessions — raw, anonymous truths from mums navigating rage, burnout, and survival. 🧠 Expert insights — from neuroscientists, clinicians, and policy leaders on ADHD, autism, and mental health. 💬 Advocacy in action — exposing ADHD medication shortages, NDIS red tape, and the hidden costs mothers carry. With over 1 million downloads already tuning in from across the world, the podcast has already influenced ADHD reforms in Australia, been featured in national media, and pushed politicians to answer the questions mothers are asking. If you’ve ever screamed in the car, forgotten every form until the night before, or wondered if you’re the only one falling apart — this podcast is your proof that you’re not broken, you’re just telling the truth.
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