The Dr Louise Newson Podcast - 22 - Distracted: Jack Suddaby on being diagnosed with ADHD as an adult

Episode Date: August 26, 2025

'It really weighs heavy. It’s like puttingon lots of different cloaks.’ Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a topic many are talking about right now, and thankfully, we’ve movedbeyond the outdated stereotype that it only affects young boys. And with somuch noise on social media alongside lingering stereotypes, is all thisattention truly helping people recognise their symptoms and get a diagnosis?And how does it feel to receive an ADHD diagnosis in adulthood – does it bringrelief, clarity, present new challenges, or a combination of allthree?   This week, Dr Louise Newson sits down withJack Suddaby to explore his ADHD diagnosis journey, from a lightbulb momentduring the COVID-19 lockdown to launching his podcast, Distracted. Jack opensup about the moment his symptoms pushed him to seek answers and how simpleshifts in his daily routine have transformed his life in surprising ways.  Louise discusses the connection betweenADHD and hormonal changes, from PMDD to menopause, and how these shifts canimpact symptoms, especially as ADHD often presents differently in women.   Louise and Jack explore how menopause andADHD, topics that are still under-recognised, are being talked about moreopenly, and how getting a diagnosis can truly change people’s lives by bringingunderstanding and clarity.  We’re delighted to have been nominated inthe Listeners’ Choice category for the British Podcast Awards. There’s stilltime to vote - ⁠click here⁠  Email [e-mail] with suggestions for newguests!    Disclaimer  The information provided in this podcastis for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute forprofessional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice ofyour physician or other qualified health providers with any questions you mayhave regarding a medical condition. The views expressed by guests are their ownand do not necessarily reflect the views of Dr Louise Newson or the NewsonHealth Group.       LET'S CONNECT   Website: Dr Louise Newson  Instagram: The Dr Louise Newson Podcast (@drlouisenewsonpodcast)• Instagram photos and videos   LinkedIn: Louise Newson | LinkedIn  Spotify: The Dr Louise Newson Podcast | Podcast on Spotify  YouTube: Dr Louise Newson - YouTube RELATED RESOURCESADHD and hormones in women‘Without perimenopause, I might not have realised Ihave ADHD’ 

So today on my podcast, I've got Jack Sudeby, who is founder of podcast House and also runs distracted podcast. We talk about ADHD, what it's like to have ADHD, how it could be diagnosed and how we can manage it. And we also talk quite a lot about the brain and how it works or works differently for certain people. It's a great conversation and I hope you learn a lot from it. So Jack, I am in your sitting room. This is your studio. I know. love it. It's just such a sanctuary. It's great. Now, I've been on lots of other people's podcast, including yours, talking about ADHD. But it's something I was never taught about at medical

school. We hear it. My children talk about it. Patients talk about it. When people say I've got ADHD, you can see other people looking as, what is it? What's going on? And I just thought it'd be really useful just to unpick it. Like, what is it? Is everyone with ADHD the same? Do they all treatment. Like there's so much I just thought I'll ask you but before I launch into too many questions just tell us a bit about your back story. I found out I had ADHD like a couple of years ago. I've I was in a relationship and it was like the first time that myself was fully reflected back I saw not just the good bits, the bad bits as well and I was like why am I not listening all the time and like why am I getting distracting and showing up late and all of these bits and suddenly I

had someone who was actually getting annoyed by it instead of just my family or whatever, you know, where I just like, oh, whatever. And so I was like, it was over lockdown. And it was sort of an explosion of mental health, especially ADHD. And so I was like, oh, maybe it's this. Maybe I can pin it to this. And I was in the barbers and I did like an online test. And it was just through the roof.

Yeah. And I did it again with my mum. And she found it hilarious because it was basically just ticking off. Every question was like designed for me. and then I did the test I went privately, did the test and got ADHD and then became since then

since then I just sort of had this first for wanting to know more about it a year or so ago I started a podcast called Distracted where we get on a bunch of guests and talk about all things ADHD and people are talking about it more aren't they but you know when I was at medical school many years ago

in the 80s and early 90s there was a little bit about ADHD it was always naughty boys that couldn't sit still, but it was always boys, not men, and it was if they ate too many sweets or, you know. Well, you're four times more likely to be diagnosed of ADHD if you're a bloke. Yeah. But you're just as likely to have ADHD if you're a woman.

Yes. Because 50% chance of getting it from your parents. So it's just boys are hyperactive. We're loud and it gets spotted at school because it's more problematic in the classroom. Whereas a woman, a girl, it typically comes. out as masking or it's in your head and anxiety. It sounds like a lot of a lot worse deal in many respects because it's all internal.

You've got that hyperactivity, but it's inside your head. Yeah. And then you can't see it. Yeah. So no one knows. And you don't even know. It's so foundational. And because you're masking so much, you're getting treated for anxiety or depression.

You're much more likely to have all of these things if you've got ADHD as well. and so you're getting treated for these symptoms when actually sometimes you've got to sort the ADHD or even just understand it because that's basically the big takeaway that I've had over the last few years A from being diagnosed but also from starting the podcast is a lot of it

it really goes back to shame and like feeling shame for these bad qualities and just recognising that you have it and understanding it goes so far to stopping yourself from feeling so guilty or rubbish about yourself and not being great at, you know, doing the bloody washing or whatever it is. But it is. It's the guilt, isn't it? And I think it's the lack of self-belief that there is something that's not quite right,

but what is right anyway. That's a whole different conversation. But it's, you know, in medicine I was always taught you, listen to the patient, you understand them, you try and help them. And then you might make a diagnosis. And treatment is really at the bottom. If you look at complaints for doctors, the most common complaint is not being listened to and not being believed. And I see this a lot, obviously in my work with hormones, but people who've had ADHD for many years, don't you say, they've been gaslit really?

They've been told they've got anxiety, depression, which they might have, but they're worried because they're always late. They're letting down their friends. They're not putting the washing on or whatever. But once they realize what's going on, it's quite a relief for people, isn't it? Yeah, a lot of people that come on the podcast say that they almost grieve their past life. Because for all those years where they've blamed themselves or knocked themselves or just masks, pretended to be someone they're not in so many different environments, it really weighs heavy. It's like putting on lots of different cloaks.

You put so many on it, you know, it can feel a lot. But there is this thing that trying to conform, isn't there? That, you know, school is really difficult for people. a lot of people for all sorts of reasons whether physically or mentally or often both because they're trying to conform, aren't they? It's a very tipbox. But even out in society,

people expect people to behave in certain ways or do certain things. But I'm very interested in the brain. I'm really, really interested in neurophysiology, neuroanatomy, neuropharmacology, neurophotology, so everything related to the brain when it works well and when it doesn't work well and all these amazing neurotransmitters, these chemicals and hormones that work in our brain.

So we still don't know much really about ADHD in a very molecular way, do we? From what we know really, it's about a lack of dopamine in the brain. And it's not really a lack. It's more just we're not managing it well. We're effectively searching for more dopamine. That makes us more impulsive. We can't stay focused as much. That's what a lot of the medication does.

Like, Ritalin, it gives you more dopamine. So you have a base level, so you're not constantly task switching or... But dopamine is our reward hormone, isn't it really? It's that, you know, when people do something pleasurable, they feel good about it. But if you don't have that, you don't feel quite as good doing the same thing that you've done before. But there's also, you don't want too much dopamine either. The neurotransmitters, it's a fine balance. a seesaw, isn't it? Yeah. But they also, dopamine changing will have an effect on neurodrenaline or

cortisol or serotonin, all the other hormones and neurotransmitters in the brain. It's amazing how closely they all work. Yeah. I mean, for me, it's like, I love it. I actually like the imbalance. I mean, sometimes it's not great, but I can hyperfocus on something when I find something I love and I'm lucky enough to, you know, do podcasting and run this space. So I get to do what I want to do all the time. And so I find it much easier to fall into that hyper-focused state where I can just go in for six, seven hours and get so much done. And it feels amazing.

So I'm lucky because I figured out what I liked very early on. But for some people, I mean, I got fired from four jobs. Did it? Before, yeah, I was constantly getting fired. Because if I wasn't good, didn't like it, I was rubbish. Yes. I was really not engaged, scatty, not turning up on time. just all of the classics.

And I used to think, remember when I was like 1918, I was like, why am I always getting fired? Is this normal? And then, you know, kept doing podcasting. I was like, oh, I'm not getting fired from this. Yeah, it's interesting, isn't it? Yeah. And I do think it's also like a bit of a misnomer

because it's attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Yeah. Which is quite a long, like, what does that really mean? But you've already said that you've got ADHD, but you don't really have an attention deficit if it's something you're enjoying. Yeah. So that makes it really confusing for people, doesn't it?

Just those words. We need to almost update it. It's so broad as well. It's such a broad. We could start making subcategories. It's like having a category called action or just like horror. You know, we can start making the subcategories now

and I think it would help people. As a doctor, I only want to make a diagnosis if it's going to change treatment or outcomes for a person. And like you say, for a lot of people, knowledge is such a power and having that knowledge is really important. But our brains are changing all the time. They're evolving and they change depending on what we eat, what our lifestyle is, what our sleep is, what our social interaction.

Everything is changing. So I sort of sometimes worry a bit for two reasons. Firstly, there is a lot of money to be made with ADHD at the minute. But there's also a medicalisation side. Like you've already said, there are drugs. And, you know, I'm a medical doctor. I prescribe all sorts of drugs. And drugs can be very important for the right person, for the right reasons.

And often drugs we give short term, not always long term. And I worry about medicalising too many people. Is it good that people are just being labelled without really understanding the brain and how it changes? And you might think you're fine as a woman and then suddenly your hormones change and that's going to play havoc to your ADHD

and who's helping people with that do you know? Yeah I think everyone this is why it's got so popular on TikTok and Instagram because everyone can relate to all the symptoms everyone's turned up late for stuff and everyone's not bothered by things they don't like

like it's when it's a disorder when it's actually impacting your life to the point where it's disrupting it I think for me getting the diagnosis was really to tell other people people that I had it with certainty almost. I knew I had it in my bones and everyone else I've spoken to you

who hasn't had the diagnosis who also really feels it. They just know. You don't have to get sort of, and for me anyway, it felt like just sort of a stranger over a Zoom call for 60 minutes, less, probably 45. He asked me a bunch of questions which was effectively, do you have ADHD or not? And then at the end of it, they were like, right, great,

do you want the drugs then? And it did feel like it was funneling. me to just take the drugs instead of like okay how do we set up a system where you can better help yourself in these areas where you're struggling instead of just like here's some meds and and look that was my experience and that was the one the one private place I went to yeah and so it's all going to be different depending where you go and absolutely and for some people you know they have the most amazing experience but I I also feel in medicine things are really load more than they were. You know, I had a very general training. My psychiatry training was very

general. My medicine training was very general. But now everyone is specialised in psychiatry. You have people that only deal with ADHD or only deal with schizophrenia or whatever. But it's almost like having physio for one part of you instead of having an osteopath to look at the whole picture. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. It's like if, you know, you've had a heart attack and not look at your blood pressure and not look at, you know, your nutrition and everything else as well. It just feels really in Congress with how medical training should be. And I think also what you want to do

is be able to have this longer term relationship with people as well. So they really understand. And, you know, my oldest daughter's always late and she drives us mad and she's always just lost her keys. But when she said, oh, I've read, or I've seen on TikTok that people with ADHD, I'm more likely to be late.

They're less likely to unload the washing machine or whatever. It's like, oh, okay, that's made her feel less bad, if you see what I mean. But also what it does, is when you kind of accept it, you're like, right, okay, I've got these things. I'm not, I'm, I can't just fix myself. Like, I'm just going to be better at like keeping my keys and my, you just go, no, no, I'm actually, I'm going to be bad at doing that, probably forever.

So let's set up some sort of system. So I have like a really bright phone case that's red with a zip pocket to put my keys in. So I can call my keys if I ever lose them, you know? So I always have every, like really, really. basic baby stuff. But it helps and it stops you from going, oh, I'm just like this. I need to, you know, it cuts out that noise. Yeah. And that it is a noise and life is really busy anyway. And then if you've got people that don't understand and then are blaming you the whole time. But I do worry if people don't get this holistic care, it's a very different way your brain works. And I find it's so interesting

the brain how it's, we can remold it, we can rewire it. We can get all this neuro, you know, changes in the brain. You know, the brain can grow and develop all the time and these neural pathways can, it's like a tree. Do you know what I mean? Right. So if you, it's like building up habits, basically. When you start building up a habit of always keeping my key in my right pocket,

I'll remember it. It's that muscle memory, you know, the more you like you do a yoga practice, it's just this second nature, isn't it? Or whatever. Yeah. And it is this. And I was learned at Torts at Medical School, the brain, like, moulds and develops and then as a teenager and then it settles down and then the brain cells just die with time.

Right. But it's not. We're constantly getting new brain cells, these new, it's like you want to prune those branches and then just get the tree to grow better. So you can still grow, throughout your whole life? Yeah, absolutely. Throughout your whole life. It's really important. And we've got these sort of these growth factors, these in the brain.

And they can change according to the environment. So if you have a very inflammatory diet, you have more inflammation, you're going to have less growth factors. So your tree will not be more like weeds. Whereas if you have an anti-inflammatory diet, you know, you eat better, you exercise, hormones can stimulate these growth factors as well. Then you can see if your brain is more organized, the cells work better. And that helps with all your sort of brain memory and everything else as well. Well, you can feel it after you just have a healthy meal.

Of course you can. You just feel like more alive. I had a pizza last night because I came home late. And this whole morning I've been feeling like sluggish and weird. And that's just like a micro example of what you're saying. But you can see that. But if you're not getting help and a lot of people with ADHD won't get help and then they might turn to drugs and then they're drinking more alcohol.

And then they're eating worse. And then everything feels worse. And it's this sort of spiral. And then your brain is like, oh my God, chaos, chaos. And that's where I feel like going back to the basics is really, important so we can understand. And of course, you know, if you've just had an argument with your partner, like, of course I'm going to eat worse. So my diet was a lot worse then. I wasn't doing yoga every morning because I had the children, you know. And so it's this downward spiral.

But I think the conversation is great, isn't it? People must be learning, you know, from your podcast, but there's so much more out there, isn't there for people to understand. Especially for women, I think as well. It's really exploding. I mean, probably across the whole health industry it's exploding for women my girlfriend is an osteopath and she's constantly like is this right is this right it's because it's there's so much new information all the time now but for ADHD especially women like we said it's it's less diagnosed and there's way less tests on women so um yeah it's kind of like a revolution and the more conversation the better you know there's everyone always says oh everyone's ADHD now and i just think it's so silly why would you not want to empower people and

give them an opportunity to learn about themselves. I think it's also, it can be a superpower for lots of people if they find the right career, a job, you know, just lifestyle and everything else as well. And I think it's similar in some ways to dyslexia. My middle daughter was diagnosed with dyslexia, and actually that just meant she had extra time in exams, took the pressure off.

I mean, she can explain to people then. She's got a very visual mind, you know, very visual. and it's in some ways she doesn't need treatment but it explains to people and I think it's all about explaining to people what it means and I think we're sort of getting there with ADHD but people still don't quite

because of the disorder bit it sounds almost as a disease and I think that's where people can be misjudged actually interesting I would say it's I would say actually the younger generations it's a different conversation yeah I think it's more kind of accepted

in younger generations now, especially like 27 below. I feel like it's kind of, okay, we get it. That's great because I feel, I see a lot of women in their 40s who have been diagnosed, often it's symptoms have got worse because their hormones have changed.

And they then say, I wish I'd known this 20 years ago. I wish that now I understand how I've behaved and how things have been. And especially this hormonal vein, variation. Yeah, I mean, you mentioned PM, sorry to cut you off, but you mentioned PMDD. Yeah.

I mean, from the studies I've seen, it affects about 4% of women. At least. But with ADHD, well, probably many undiagnosed. But with ADHD, it's 40%. Yeah. So you're far more likely to get it with ADHD. And imagine not knowing you had ADHD and just having these extreme sort of hormonal changes every month.

Yeah. And then realizing you have it in your 50s, 60, going through men or It's really scary. I was talking to someone yesterday who just listened to one of my podcasts, and he's remarried, he's divorced. I knew that. But then he said, that's why we had such a bad time. I had no idea because it was once a month, a few days. Her behaviour was awful. Her drinking was awful. A shouting was terrible. Total self-sabotage. It is. And this self-sabotage is really common, actually, isn't it? People want to look after themselves, but it's almost you have. have this can have this downward spiral as well. It's weird. I get it sometimes. Like it's almost for me it's like when it,

when it passes a point, I just like, if my room gets past a point of messiness, I just completely sacrifice the room. I'm not, I don't, it's done now. It's messy.

And I was, I cleaned it up the other week and I've managed to maintain it. It's fine because it's like, well, it's clean now. I can keep it clean. But it's a weird, it's a weird psychological,

point that you can't break up as it goes into chaos. But that's where you need other people to help you. It's interesting because my two daughters are living together at the minute. One's incredibly tidy and the other one likes it to be tidy but she's quite messy. And it was just interesting. One of them was saying to the other, when you've eaten, see putting the plate in the dishwasher as an extension of your meal. And Jessica was like, oh no, I see it as something different.

I see it as I eat. And then I clear up later. She said, no, no, no, you can't do that. I can't live with you if you do that because I can't have the dirty plates on the side. So Jessica was then like, oh, I get that. Okay, I'm going to do that. And it's very simple. It's just interesting.

But that's where the brain, I think, is so magical because it can be changed. But I think the way it can be changed and other influences are so important for people to understand. And I know I harp on a lot about hormones, but obviously you've got the beneficial hormones that we give to people. But then you've also got contraception. I know we've spoken about this before, these synthetic hormones. that are blocking our natural hormones working. So although people don't get this variation, they often then find things very difficult.

Their mood can go down, their concentration can be less good, they can be less motivated. And if they're also then on drugs for ADHD, you've got double whammy actually. Yeah, I hadn't thought about that. Do you prescribe hormones to men as well? I don't, but I'm very interested in hormones to men.

I often diagnose because actually testosterone, is a male and a female hormone. But a lot of, I'm in a group with a lot of doctors who do specialize in ADHD and men as well as women. And like I do with women, they notice with men, testosterone makes a massive difference. It's very sort of calming on the brain. It makes it very, a lot easier to think

when people take testosterone as well. And testosterone is made in the brain. It's a really important neurosteroid. And when you've got good levels of testosterone, you're going to have better levels of testosterone. dopamine, serotonin and everything else as well. Is that why I feel so sharp, like after a gym session? Yeah, but often.

Because I would have produced so much testosterone. Yeah, probably because your muscles produce testosterone as well. And that's why exercising is really important because our muscles and our bones are metabolically active. You know, those hormones going the blood, going to the brain. Massive. And, you know, you get this endorphin hit as well, don't you? Oh, yeah.

I mean, I think exercise, it's like such an obvious one. But for people with ADHD specifically, it's like huge. It's huge. It's huge. Just to get that hyperactivity out. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just to get it out. And I just feel like I can focus better after doing some exercise.

I mean, exercise, you know, if we could prescribe it, it would be the best drug ever. Yeah. But it's just underrated, but it's so important. It's like one of the most important things anyone, everyone needs to do it. Like if you can, you need to be able to do some form. Nobody regrets doing exercise. It's sort of hard to ask people. to do it because it's seen as a bit offensive, I think.

Yeah, but we need to do it more. Yeah. So, a lot of so much, we need to just know more, understand more, but I'm really grateful that you've been so open, and I think just get people to think differently, hopefully, and think about their brain, think about how we need to look after our brain. Yeah. But three take-home tips.

Oh, okay. Yeah. I knew this is coming as well. You knew it's coming. Okay. So if someone's thinking they might have ADHD and they're just a bit confused, What are the three simple things that you would say? You can just take an online test,

which is like a nice gateway into something external going, yes, yes, yes. It takes like 10 minutes. I did a bunch of different ones. And the questions are similar, but that can really help. Also, just if you're watching videos on social media, follow a few, like, ADHD-related pages.

And if it really feels like it's connecting, with you there's a reason for that it's probably a reason for that when I when I first found out and I saw content online God I just went obsessive I was watching so much because it was so Lafartic Lefartic

Cathartic I just felt so heard and there was a community there which was similar to me and again it was like that first step in removing the shame so that's what I'd say binge social stuff

and do some online tests and speak to family and friends because then it doesn't feel like a big thing in your head Absolutely You'll also find probably that if you've got ADHD some of your mates will as well You tend to attract each other Yeah so sharing is most important

And sharing knowledge as well Which is great So oh thanks Jack's been great Thanks having me on