ADHD Mums

Jane McFadden
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  • Mental Health
  • Updated weekly

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 — an Autistic and ADHD mum with a Master's in Neuroscience and Psychology and certification as an ADHD and Autism assessor. 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 clinicians, researchers, 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 from around the world, the podcast has 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. New episodes weekly. Join the Facebook group: facebook.com/groups/adhdmumspodcast

  1. 9 hr ago

    32. ADHD Overstimulation: Why You Snap at 4pm When You Were Fine at 9am

    You were fine at 9am. Genuinely fine. Then it's school pickup, the gates open, there are dogs and toddlers and a teacher walking towards you, and one kid starts up with let's go to the park, let's go to the park. And you hear yourself snap at someone who did nothing wrong. You didn't ignore the warning signs. You weren't getting them. That's a different problem, and it needs a different fix. Related Episodes Every Mum Rage episode in one place — the collection Jane mentions in this episode → https://tr.ee/adhdmumsmumrage ADHD and Sensory Overwhelm: Identifying Triggers and Finding Relief — with Rebecca Torpie → https://adhdmums.com.au/podcast_episode/episode-13-adhd-sensory-overwhelm-identifying-triggers-and-finding-relief-with-rebecca-torpie/ Energy Accounting Guide (free) — the guide Jane mentions in this episode, for working out where your capacity actually goes → https://adhdmums.com.au/product/adhd-mums-energy-accounting-guide/ Join the ADHD Mums Facebook group — where Jane runs body doubling sessions for the dreaded tasks → https://facebook.com/groups/adhdmumspodcast Instagram — body doubling also runs in the broadcast channel → https://www.instagram.com/adhd_mums/ All episodes → https://adhdmums.captivate.fm/listen 📬 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

    32. ADHD Overstimulation: Why You Snap at 4pm When You Were Fine at 9am

  2. 2 days ago

    31. Why Am I Always Sick? ADHD, Burnout and the Boom-Bust Cycle (with Bianca Comfort)

    Have you ever been told your bloods are fine, it's just busy mum life, and walked out still dizzy, still flat, still carrying a headache you've had for so long you forgot it wasn't normal? Have you ever watched a friend do eight-hour days like it's nothing and quietly decided the difference must be you — that you're just weaker, and you need to suck it up? There's a reason your body keeps stopping after twenty years of pushing through. Bianca Comfort has lived it and treats it, and she says the crash isn't the failure. It's the last thing your body has left to tell you. RESOURCES & REFERENCES Free Resources ADHD Physical Health & Emotional Wellbeing Kit — for the burnout, the chronic symptoms, and the body-keeps-score part — https://adhdmums.com.au/product/adhd-physical-health-emotional-wellbeing-kit/ Energy Accounting Guide — the closest thing to the energy-mapping Bianca walks through — where your limit actually is — https://adhdmums.com.au/product/adhd-mums-energy-accounting-guide/ Paid Resources ADHD Reset Workbook — Values, Energy & Planning — for mapping what fills the tank and what drains it — https://adhdmums.com.au/product/adhd-reset-workbook-values-energy-planning-for-adhd-mums/ ADHD Mums Shop — https://adhdmums.com.au/shop/ Related Episodes Burnout, Pain & Weird Symptoms? The ADHD Link No One Told Us About — Jane solo — https://adhdmums.com.au/podcast_episode/episode-62-burnout-pain-weird-symptoms-the-adhd-link-no-one-told-us-about/ ADHD and EDS/POTS: Vanessa's Journey Through Chronic Health Challenges — https://adhdmums.com.au/podcast_episode/episode-41-connection-between-adhd-eds-and-pots-vanessas-journey-through-chronic-health-challenges/ Preventing Burnout: The Power of Setting Boundaries — with Kara Lynch — https://adhdmums.com.au/podcast_episode/episode-37-adhd-autism-or-both-karas-story-of-burnout-and-sensory-overload/ When You Can't Relax Even When It's Quiet — What Your Body Is Doing and Why — https://adhdmums.com.au/podcast_episode/why-adhd-mums-cant-relax/ Masking & ADHD — Jane — https://adhdmums.com.au/podcast_episode/masking-adhd-s1-ep11/ Hypermobility, POTS and MCAS: The Conditions That Cluster With ADHD (with Dr Jason Lam) — https://adhdmums.com.au/episode/hypermobility-pots-mcas-adhd About the Guest Bianca Comfort is a clinical psychologist running a telehealth clinic dedicated to chronic illness and neurodivergence, and the former Vice President of the Australian Psychological Society. She's autistic and ADHD herself, and lives with EDS, POTS, MCAS and ME/CFS — she treats this from both sides of the desk. 📬 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

    31. Why Am I Always Sick? ADHD, Burnout and the Boom-Bust Cycle (with Bianca Comfort)

  3. 2 Sept

    30. ADHD and Losing Things: Why You Get It Ready Early and Still Can't Find It

    Have you ever bought the perfect birthday present weeks early, felt properly pleased with yourself, and then lost it before the birthday? Filled in the form, folded the flap, put it somewhere safe on the Sunday — and by Wednesday it had gone? Renewed the passports early, put them in the safe place, and then had no idea where the safe place was? You've been told your problem is that you're disorganised. It isn't. There's a job that piece of paper was doing that nobody ever told you about, and every system you've ever bought only does half of it. Episode's Jane mentioned: ADHD Stress and Emotional Regulation: What Your Kids Noticed That You Didn't— the soccer photo envelope episode this one follows on from → https://adhdmums.com.au/adhd-podcast-episodes/why-are-you-always-so-stressed-out-my-eight-year-old-asked-me-that-an-hour-after-i-called-myself-organised/ QUICK RESET: 'I'm Not Lazy — My House Just Doesn't Have a Memory' → https://adhdmums.com.au/podcast_episode/episode-49-quick-reset-im-not-lazy-my-house-just-doesnt-have-a-memory/ Free Resources: Household Family Meeting Template (free) → https://adhdmums.com.au/product/adhd-household-family-meeting-template/ Send Jane a voice memo — what did you do early that still disappeared? WhatsApp 0403 457 313 → https://wa.me/61403457313 Join the ADHD Mums Facebook group → https://facebook.com/groups/adhdmumspodcast Mentioned in this episode Barreau, D. & Nardi, B. (1995). Finding and reminding: File organization from the desktop. ACM SIGCHI Bulletin, 27(3), 39–43. All episodes → https://adhdmums.captivate.fm/listen 👥 Receive the episodes in your inbox

    30. ADHD and Losing Things: Why You Get It Ready Early and Still Can't Find It

  4. 31 Aug

    29. Hypermobility, POTS and MCAS: The Conditions That Cluster With ADHD (with Dr Jason Lam)

    You might be the bendy one. Or the dizzy one, the one with the headaches that never really stop, the one who reacts to food nobody else reacts to. Tired in a way sleep doesn't fix. And every time you get to a GP, you can't quite land on the same page as them. Dr Jason Lam is a GP and sports medicine registrar who spends his days on the things that get missed — hypermobility, Ehlers-Danlos, POTS, MCAS, and the way they tangle together in a neurodivergent body. This is the episode that joins the dots nobody has joined for you. RESOURCES & REFERENCES Free Resources ADHD Physical Health & Emotional Wellbeing Kit (free) → https://adhdmums.com.au/product/adhd-physical-health-emotional-wellbeing-kit/ Energy Accounting Guide — https://adhdmums.com.au/product/adhd-mums-energy-accounting-guide/ Paid Resources ADHD Mums Shop — https://adhdmums.com.au/shop/ Related Episodes ADHD and EDS/POTS: Vanessa's Journey Through Chronic Health Challenges → https://adhdmums.com.au/podcast_episode/episode-41-connection-between-adhd-eds-and-pots-vanessas-journey-through-chronic-health-challenges/ HORMONES: Histamine + Hormones — Why You Feel Like You're Falling Apart → https://adhdmums.com.au/podcast_episode/episode-37-hormones-histamine-and-adhd-why-you-feel-like-youre-falling-apart/ About the Guest Looking for a practitioner? Dr Jason Lam points listeners to the practitioner registers at the Ehlers-Danlos Society and Connective Tissue Disorders Network Australia. Join the ADHD Mums Facebook group → https://facebook.com/groups/adhdmumspodcast More from Dr Jason Lam — https://www.thedancedr.com.au — Instagram @_thedancedr Dr Jason Lam — useful links and resources are on his website → https://www.thedancedr.com.au All episodes → https://adhdmums.captivate.fm/listen 📬 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

    29. Hypermobility, POTS and MCAS: The Conditions That Cluster With ADHD (with Dr Jason Lam)

  5. 26 Aug

    28. ADHD and Friendship: Why You Can't Send the Text (Even to People You Like)

    There's a mum at pickup you really like. Ninety seconds every afternoon, one of those chats where you both go 'yeah, exactly' — and then the kids spill out, someone's swinging a backpack like a helicopter, someone's demanding the petrol station, and you're pulled away before you can even say goodbye. And every day you get back to the car thinking: I should have her over. We should do a barbecue. I'd love to actually talk to her for more than ninety seconds. You got her number in January. It's the end of July. And you've made no progress at all. You've probably already filed that as proof you're flaky, cold, a bad friend. This episode is Jane taking that story apart — because the silence between you and someone you genuinely like usually isn't 'I don't want this.' It's 'I want this, but I have no hands to build it with.' CHAPTERS 00:00 — Nat, the 90-second pickup chat, and the barbecue that never happens 02:29 — Got her number in January. It's July. No progress. 03:57 — 'I'm flaky, I'm cold, I'm a bad friend' — the personality we build around it 05:33 — The executive-function tax on turning a pickup mum into a real friend 06:36 — It's not that you need to try harder. It might be the fuel tank. 07:13 — The mum with the same life who still hosts the perfect Sunday barbecue 08:36 — Good girl conditioning: when friendship becomes your job to carry 10:45 — When you can't stand the silence — and what your brain files it as 12:09 — Why a late-diagnosed brain has had decades to build 'I ruin friendships' 14:31 — The flicker of energy, and the threat analysis that kills the text 15:54 — The heart-react as a hostage 'proof of life' photo 17:35 — Moving to acreage, and quietly deleting myself 18:43 — 'I want this, but I have no hands to build it with' 20:16 — Why 'just put yourself out there' aims you straight at burnout 22:11 — What actually works: the low-fuel, no-apology text 23:42 — Drop the bar. Plug a friend into the worst 40 minutes of your week. 26:28 — Maybe the skill isn't the barbecue. It's letting friendship be uneven. WHAT WE COVER The pickup mum you really like, the barbecue you keep meaning to have, and the seven months that have quietly gone by Why 'I'm flaky, I'm cold, I'm a bad friend' becomes a personality — and what it's actually covering for The hidden executive-function tax on turning a mum you like into a mum who's actually your friend: remembering, initiating, holding the plan, pushing through the 'what if it's awkward' Why the friend with the same number of kids and the same Saturday sport still hosts the perfect Sunday barbecue — and why it's not that she's better at friendship Good girl conditioning, and what happens when you learned early that friendship is your job to carry, keep alive, and never drop The other version — when you can't stand the silence, and your brain files 'haven't heard from them in ages' as danger The flicker of energy to send the text, and the threat analysis your brain runs to talk you out of it The heart-react on her story as a 'hostage proof of life' photo — I'm here, I'm fine, please don't give up on me Why 'put yourself out there, just make more effort, have them over' is telling you to spend the exact thing you've run out of What actually works with an empty tank: the low-fuel, no-apology text, dropping the bar, and letting the friendship be uneven and survive anyway FREE RESOURCES Energy Accounting Guide — mentioned in the episode — budget your energy for your real capacity, not what you think you should be doing — https://adhdmums.com.au/product/adhd-mums-energy-accounting-guide/ Household Family Meeting Template — for the load underneath 'there are no leftovers' — https://adhdmums.com.au/product/adhd-household-family-meeting-template/ PAID RESOURCES ADHD Mums Shop — https://adhdmums.com.au/shop/ RELATED EPISODES School Pick-Up Can Be Draining! How to Stop Overthinking & Save Your Social Energy — S2 EP65, Jane solo — https://adhdmums.com.au/podcast_episode/episode-65-school-pick-up-can-be-draining-how-to-stop-overthinking-save-your-social-energy/ QUICK RESET: I Cancel Plans Because I Don't Have the Energy to Fake My Personality — S3 EP14, Jane solo — https://adhdmums.com.au/podcast_episode/episode-14-quick-reset-i-cancel-plans-because-i-dont-have-the-energy-to-fake-my-personality/ You Were the Good Girl. That's Why You're Falling Apart Now. — S3 EP35, Jane solo — https://adhdmums.com.au/podcast_episode/episode-35-you-were-the-good-girl-thats-why-youre-falling-apart-now/ Too Much? Or Just Misunderstood: ADHD, RSD & the Power of Emotional Intensity — S2 EP83, Jane solo — https://adhdmums.com.au/podcast_episode/episode-83-too-much-or-just-misunderstood-adhd-rsd-the-power-of-emotional-intensity/ 📬 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

    28. ADHD and Friendship: Why You Can't Send the Text (Even to People You Like)

  6. 24 Aug

    27. ADHD and Survival Mode: How to Stop Trying Harder and Actually Thrive (with Rachel Few)

    From the outside, she's on top of it. Then something small happens — a cold, a bad night, one extra thing — and the whole thing collapses. And she decides the collapse is the problem. She needs to be better. More disciplined. Try harder. But the collapse isn't the problem. The collapse is information. The problem is that she's been running her whole life on a system that was never built for her brain — and every time it falls over, she reads it as proof that she's the thing that's broken. Rachel Few is back, and this one is about the loop underneath all of it: if I could just try harder. Why effort was rewarded your whole life, why it stopped working the moment you had kids, and what it actually takes to stop surviving and start thriving — not the influencer version with the one massage and the full cup, the real one. CHAPTERS 00:00 — The collapse isn't the problem. The collapse is information. 02:07 — Why 'just try harder' worked for years — until it didn't 03:12 — Jane's two years out of school, and the effort trap hiding inside a success story 04:36 — Add kids, and the sprint you can't run as a marathon 05:42 — Fight or flight: why you can't get the drone view of your own life 06:41 — Why every mum deserves a coach, and nobody questions it for a marathon 06:56 — The homework trap — leaving every appointment with more to do 09:02 — Why women keep landing back on 'I'm the problem' 10:25 — Effort that's purposeful vs effort that's just doing, doing, doing 11:26 — 'I've done years of therapy but I still can't get the shopping done' 13:22 — When to go back and unpack, and when to stay in the here and now 15:27 — The Friday meltdown that actually started on Monday 16:48 — The map: why women stop feeling like they're winging it 17:45 — The wine-and-big-plans trap, and Jane's real conversation with her husband 20:15 — The rugby coaching question — is it the thing you want, or one of four? 23:38 — Doing the mapping for our kids but never for ourselves 26:35 — Her one takeaway: cancel half a day RESOURCES & REFERENCES For more on Rachel Few — https://rachelfew.com/ Free Resources ADHD Physical Health & Emotional Wellbeing Kit — for the burnout and the body-keeps-score part — https://adhdmums.com.au/product/adhd-physical-health-emotional-wellbeing-kit/ Paid Resources ADHD Reset Workbook — Values, Energy & Planning — the closest thing to the 'what fills my cup, what goes, where are my spoons' mapping Rachel walks through — https://adhdmums.com.au/product/adhd-reset-workbook-values-energy-planning-for-adhd-mums/ ADHD Mums Shop — https://adhdmums.com.au/shop/ Related Episodes Overstimulated Before 7am — And No One Sees the Work — with Rachel Few — her first episode, one of the most-consumed on the show — https://adhdmums.com.au/adhd-podcast-episodes/rachel-few/ What Is Underneath the Mask? Uncovering Who You Are After Diagnosis — S2 EP17, with Tanya Hicks — https://adhdmums.com.au/podcast_episode/episode-17-underneath-the-mask-uncovering-who-you-are-after-diagnosis/ Burnout, Pain & Weird Symptoms? The ADHD Link No One Told Us About — S2 EP62, Jane solo — https://adhdmums.com.au/podcast_episode/episode-62-burnout-pain-weird-symptoms-the-adhd-link-no-one-told-us-about/ Preventing Burnout: The Power of Setting Boundaries — S2 EP37, with Kara Lynch — https://adhdmums.com.au/podcast_episode/episode-37-adhd-autism-or-both-karas-story-of-burnout-and-sensory-overload/ About the Guest Rachel Few runs Neurodivergent Counselling and Mentoring on the Sunshine Coast — telehealth, available Australia-wide. As a social worker, former school counsellor, and neurodivergent mother herself, her approach is holistic and body-centred: working with the nervous system as much as the brain. Website: https://rachelfew.com — free 15-minute connection calls available via her site. 📬 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

    27. ADHD and Survival Mode: How to Stop Trying Harder and Actually Thrive (with Rachel Few)

  7. 19 Aug

    26. Why You Can't Accept Kindness: Masking, Surface Acting and the Wall That Blocks Love In

    Your best friend leaves a box of tampons on your doorstep on the worst day of your fortnight — no fuss, no waiting around, just quietly handling the piece of the nightmare nobody else saw. And you well up. Real tears. And then you wait ten minutes to make sure she's gone before you'll even open the door, delete the thank-you you started typing, and walk off. Because you could not have said it to her face if someone paid you. If you're the woman who leaves a gift on a doorstep and runs, who dodges goodbyes with people she loves, who can't stand inside a thank you — you've probably filed that away as proof you're cold. Broken in the part where you're meant to feel things. This episode is Jane pulling that file back out and finding the opposite: it's not that the love is missing. It might be flooding. Masking, surface acting, and the wall that goes up right where other people let love in — and why every piece of advice you've been given points you the wrong way. CHAPTERS 00:00 — Twenty-one, on an Emirates training flight, and my face is the problem 01:34 — Learning the Barbie-princess smile in the mirror 02:32 — The box of tampons, and the door I couldn't open 04:45 — Ten minutes, a deleted text, and walking off in tears 05:31 — The filing cabinet: 'there's something wrong with me,' opened at 2am 06:22 — The goodbyes I swerve, the thank-yous I can't stand in 07:43 — 'I'm not cold. I cried over a box of tampons.' 08:33 — The real problem: a feeling with no volume control 08:56 — What was actually happening on those flights 13:46 — Surface acting: the sociologist who studied this in 1983 16:05 — Two settings — perform the okay face, or leave 18:49 — Why every piece of 'just be present' advice fails someone like me 20:55 — The therapy this is secretly built on — ACT, and acting on what you value 23:00 — The moment was never the love. The tampons mattering that much was. 25:04 — What I'd do differently: feel it, then send something real by text 26:50 — You get to love people in your own way WHAT WE COVER The Emirates training flight where Jane was told, over and over, that her technically-perfect service didn't matter — her face did Learning to perform the 'Barbie princess' smile in the mirror, and what years of that installs in a nervous system The box of tampons on the doorstep — one of the kindest things anyone's ever done for her — and why she waited for her friend to leave before she'd open the door The 2am filing cabinet labelled 'there's something wrong with me,' and the subtheme she found inside it The goodbyes she actively swerves, the gifts she leaves 'like a robber,' and the years of reading all of it as proof she's cold The reframe: it was never a missing feeling — it's a feeling that arrives with no volume control, like a flood, with nowhere safe to show it What was really happening on those flights — the workers, the conditions, the smiling over something that was not fine — and how surface acting burns you out Why every piece of standard advice — slow down, be present, make eye contact, receive it properly — aims you straight at the exact thing your body evacuates for a reason The evidence-based therapy this is secretly built on, and the one shift inside it that changes everything What Jane would do differently now — and the real, texted, kitchen-bench version of 'thank you' that works for a nervous system like hers FREE RESOURCES ADHD Physical Health & Emotional Wellbeing Kit — for the emotional-regulation and burnout side of years of masking — https://adhdmums.com.au/product/adhd-physical-health-emotional-wellbeing-kit/ Energy Accounting Guide — for the cost of surface acting, day after day — https://adhdmums.com.au/product/adhd-mums-energy-accounting-guide/ PAID RESOURCES ADHD Mums Shop — https://adhdmums.com.au/shop/ RELATED EPISODES Too Much? Or Just Misunderstood: ADHD, RSD & the Power of Emotional Intensity — S2 EP83, Jane solo — https://adhdmums.com.au/podcast_episode/episode-83-too-much-or-just-misunderstood-adhd-rsd-the-power-of-emotional-intensity/ An RSD Story. Taking My Own Advice — S1 EP9, Jane solo — https://adhdmums.com.au/podcast_episode/an-rsd-story-taking-my-own-advice-s1-ep9/ You Were the Good Girl. That's Why You're Falling Apart Now. — S3 EP35, Jane solo — https://adhdmums.com.au/podcast_episode/episode-35-you-were-the-good-girl-thats-why-youre-falling-apart-now/ Masking & ADHD — S1 EP11, Jane solo — https://adhdmums.com.au/podcast_episode/masking-adhd-s1-ep11/ REFERENCES & FURTHER READING On 'surface acting' — the 1983 flight-attendant research: Hochschild, A. R. (1983). The Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human Feeling. University of California Press. On Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT): an evidence-based therapy built on acting in line with your values rather than waiting to feel the 'right' feeling first. The most widely used plain-language ACT resource in Australia is Dr Russ Harris's The Happiness Trap. 📬 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

    26. Why You Can't Accept Kindness: Masking, Surface Acting and the Wall That Blocks Love In

  8. 17 Aug

    25. When You Say Too Much: ADHD, Oversharing and the Room Going Quiet

    Have you ever answered a simple question with the whole real answer — and watched the room go a particular kind of quiet? Have you ever lain awake at 2am running back one thing you said in a group chat three years ago, certain everyone clocked it the way you did? Have you ever walked out of a room having already decided you were the too-much one before anyone said a word? There's a reason your brain gave the director's cut when everyone else gave three sentences. It's not the reason you've been telling yourself. CHAPTERS 00:16 — The plastic chair, the room going quiet, and knowing before you know why 00:46 — Six weeks postpartum, new town, no family, no one to talk to but her husband 01:11 — The things about babies nobody says out loud because they're 'obvious' 02:33 — Why she joined a mother's group, and the morning it all went sideways 03:27 — Twenty minutes late, sweaty, in her husband's vomit-swapped T-shirt 04:13 — Bows, baptism outfits and homemade plates: the prep she didn't know about 05:29 — Three questions. Name, baby's name, the birth. Easy. 06:07 — What recent trauma does when someone kindly asks you to tell it 08:00 — The Wi-Fi freeze: watching the room drop out in real time 09:00 — Morning tea, the decaf, and 'where the f*ck are we?' 10:01 — Kate's three sentences, and the instruction Jane never heard 11:30 — The most embarrassing moment, and the one heading she filed it under for years 12:44 — Going back into the room with the lens she has now 12:55 — The two filters: the words she heard vs the contract underneath them 14:00 — The freeze wasn't a verdict — it was sorting happening in front of her 14:49 — Why it was actually the most efficient thing she's ever done 15:10 — The next week: the biscuits, the permanent marker, the friend for life 16:43 — The pram that rolled past the window on its own 17:24 — Watching the room split again — who moves away, who leans in 18:11 — Told to be less your whole life — and why she won't join that group 19:14 — Being an adult: let people move towards you or away, but let them choose 20:11 — Telling everyone who you are up front, and the door it leaves open RESOURCES & REFERENCES Free Resources After Your Diagnosis Kit — for the 'oh, that's why I've always done that' realisation — https://adhdmums.com.au/product/adhd-mum-after-diagnosis-kit/ Paid Resources Navigating School Pick-Up & Social Settings — the guide Jane names in this episode: how ADHD and autistic mums read social situations, how neurotypical people do, and how to bridge the gap — https://adhdmums.com.au/product/surviving-school-pick-up/ ADHD Reset Workbook — Values, Energy & Planning — for the days the too-much shame has flattened you — https://adhdmums.com.au/product/adhd-reset-workbook-values-energy-planning-for-adhd-mums/ ADHD Mums Shop — https://adhdmums.com.au/shop/ Related Episodes Is It Social Anxiety — or Is It Autism — S3, with Amanda Moses — the 'said too much, read the room wrong' feeling — https://adhdmums.com.au/podcast_episode/episode-34-is-it-social-anxiety-or-is-it-autism-with-amanda-moses/ Too Much? Or Just Misunderstood: ADHD, RSD & Emotional Intensity — Jane solo — the after-sting of 'too much' — https://adhdmums.com.au/podcast_episode/episode-83-too-much-or-just-misunderstood-adhd-rsd-the-power-of-emotional-intensity/ The Untold Struggles of Motherhood (Part 1) — Jane solo — new-baby isolation, no support — https://adhdmums.com.au/podcast_episode/episode-45-the-untold-struggles-of-motherhood-part-1/ Is It ADHD or Motherhood? — Jane solo — the invisible rulebook nobody hands you — https://adhdmums.com.au/podcast_episode/episode-22-is-it-adhd-or-motherhood-solo-episode/ 📬 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

    25. When You Say Too Much: ADHD, Oversharing and the Room Going Quiet
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About

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 — an Autistic and ADHD mum with a Master's in Neuroscience and Psychology and certification as an ADHD and Autism assessor. 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 clinicians, researchers, 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 from around the world, the podcast has 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. New episodes weekly. Join the Facebook group: facebook.com/groups/adhdmumspodcast

Information

  • Creator
    Jane McFadden
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    305
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Jane McFadden
  • Show Website
    ADHD Mums

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