This is simply a link of the audio interview (and its write up) of Dr Helen Read on BBC Radio 5 Live. I recently came across it and because Dr Helen Read is someone I highly respect for many reasons, I listened straight away, then shared with close friends, and now felt it should be shared further.
Dr Helen Read used to be the ADHD lead consultant in the South London Oxleas ADHD team. Her knowledge of and passion for ADHD in adults is both inspiring and infectious.
Her consultancy offers diagnosis and many useful resources for adults who may have ADHD.
The interview linked here covers:
many comorbidities of the condition and the negative effects, perhaps even the havoc, that they wreak on the lives of adults with ADHD
how ADHD is often misrepresented and understood by both the media and misinformed people in society
how ADHD can often be misdiagnosed and how adults who have waited years for diagnosis can be wrongly dismissed as ADHD-free because they don't display clichéd ADHD traits on the day of diagnosis
how certain demographics in society are particularly affected by misdiagnosis and the condition's misrepresentations - and I found the explanation of how adult women are often diverted from ADHD diagnosis because they are assumed to be anxious, depressed or even bi-polar (this part was really shocking to me and yet when I thought of female friends who have pursued diagnosis their stories clearly fitted the narrative Dr Read explains).
I hope you find it useful and I would wholeheartedly recommend Dr Read - her experience in working with ADHD patients, her knowledge of the condition and her genuine compassion makes her a unique expert in this field.
