Books

1. You Mean I’m Not Lazy, Stupid, or Crazy?! by Kate Kelly and Peggy Ramundo: The title of this book pretty much sums up how illuminating an ADHD diagnosis can be. Too often, undetected symptoms of ADHD can feel like personal failures, and this book is a great first resource for looking at yourself and your struggles in a new light. You don’t need a new diagnosis to appreciate it, though; it’s full of applicable tips for living with ADHD day-to-day.

2. Smart but Stuck by Thomas E. Brown, Ph.D.: The emotional impact of ADHD is not talked about a ton, despite the fact that many of its symptoms impact emotions and that ADHD often co-occurs with mood and anxiety disorders, so this was one of the first books my psychiatrist assigned me as homework. It’s not a self-help book, but a collection of stories of people from various walks of life struggling with ADHD. It’s helpful to see the many ways the disorder can manifest, whether at work, school, or in the subjects’ social and romantic lives.

3. The Adult ADHD Tool Kit by J. Russell Ramsay, Ph.D., and Anthony L. Rostain, M.D.: This coping guide is kind of a beast—but in a good way. It’s a comprehensive tool kit filled with strategies around planning, motivation, procrastination, and emotional challenges across the board. No matter what you personally struggle with, there are likely at least a few tips for you in here.

4. Driven to Distraction and Delivered from Distraction by Edward M. Hallowell, M.D., and John J. Ratey, M.D.: I admittedly haven’t read these books in full, but I have a supersoft spot for Driven to Distraction regardless. It’s the source of the specific unique list of ways ADHD manifests that my psychiatrist gave me (you can check out that list here), and well, it was life-changing. My personal experience aside, though, these two books are classics in the ADHD genre for a reason and come highly recommended by many.

5. The Mindfulness Prescription for Adult ADHD by Lidia Zylowska, M.D.: Many dealing with challenges around motivation, procrastination, and achieving goals (hallmark struggles of ADHD for some) have recommended this eight-step program. It also comes with an audio companion with guided mindfulness exercises.

6. A Radical Guide for Women with ADHD by Sari Solden, M.S., and Michelle Frank, Psy.D.: The most common understanding of ADHD is pretty cis-male-centric when, in reality, ADHD can present differently depending on gender. Work through this guided workbook alone or with your therapist (especially if you need a little extra extrinsic motivation).

7. The Attention Deficit Disorder in Adults Workbook by Lynn Weiss: Another popular and practical guided workbook for learning new insights and exercises around living with ADHD. What can I say? Homework is helpful.

8. ADD-Friendly Ways to Organize Your Life by Judith Kolberg and Kathleen Nadeau, Ph.D.: Raise your hand if you consider yourself a neat or organized person and yet have trouble actually staying neat and organized? Yeah, that’s because with ADHD, it’s tough to match intentions with follow-through sometimes. Meet your new favorite book.

9. The New ADHD Medication Rules: Brain Science & Common Sense by Charles Parker, M.D.: Okay, this short book that my psychiatrist asked me to read is boring as heck, but it turned out to be extremely helpful in a very specific way. Meant for clinicians, it covers many factors involved in the trial-and-error process of finding the right medication and dose to treat ADHD. As someone who often felt overwhelmed in psychiatry appointments when it came time to describe how my medication was working, the book helped me know what to pay attention to so I could report it back to my doctor as we worked together to find the right meds and dose. (And no, despite the mention of “overmedication” in the synopsis, it’s not antimedication, so don’t worry about getting shamed about the treatment you need.)

10. Your Life Can Be Better by Douglas A Puryear, M.D.: If you want a big, compassionate hug along with your advice, try this book written by a psychiatrist who got diagnosed with ADHD at 64. With a lot of vulnerability, he shares all the ways we often don’t realize ADHD makes our life more difficult and how he’s personally dealt with them.

People, blogs, communities, and more to follow

1. Pina Varnel: The artist behind “ADHD Alien,” a widely popular comic that distills common ADHD struggles in a way that will make you feel so seen and so much less alone. Here are all Pina’s comics in one thread so you can enjoy.

2. @ADHDActually: Sometimes you just need the memes, you know? But on top of the memes, Zoe also shares insight into her life with ADHD from diagnosis to day-to-day challenges.

3. Dani Donovan: Another artist known for cathartic and relatable ADHD comics. Find all Dani’s ADHD comics here, as well as other content on TikTok and Patreon.

4. René Brooks: Known for her blog Black Girl, Lost Keys, Brooks was one of the first content creators I stumbled upon when trying to understand more about my new diagnosis. I can’t overstate how much helpful content she has written.

5. Sam Dylan Finch: ADHD content isn’t the only thing you’ll get if you follow Healthline editor Finch, but if you come for the ADHD content, you’ll likely stay for all the mental health and queer content too. Finch’s engaged audience is also super helpful for added ADHD content—this thread is filled with crowdsourced tips for managing ADHD.

6. How to ADHD: By far the most common resource to follow that people recommended to me, YouTuber Jessica McCabe’s channel is full of useful how-to videos for anyone living with ADHD. Start with her guide to working or learning from home or her explainer on ADHD and motivation, then fall down the rabbit hole of learning. Just, you know, watch out for hyperfocus.

7. r/ADHD and r/adhdwomen: Much like on Twitter, the ADHD communities on Reddit are bustling hubs for tips, solidarity, and education. Even if you’re not usually a Reddit user, it’s worth it to search if you’re ever struggling. Chances are if you’re dealing with something related to ADHD, there’s a helpful thread on it there.

8. Kaleidoscope Society: A community for women and nonbinary folks with ADHD, Kaleidoscope Society not only is a solid follow just for how much it boosts other ADHD posts from around the internet, but also regularly highlights the stories of folks with ADHD. Not to mention it has a podcast, ADHD Decoded.

9. @clitvengeance: As they write in their bio, “Come for the memes, stay for the selected readings.” This post pretty much sums up how helpful the internet and resources like the ones on this list can be when it comes to understanding ADHD beyond what you’d hear from a doctor.

10. ADDitude magazine: Not to totally tell on myself as a product of the digital age, but I often forget niche interest magazines like ADDitude exist. So here’s your reminder too! There’s a whole ADHD-themed mag waiting for you with a seemingly endless archive of content.

11. @authenticallyADHD: Life coach Jak’s Instagram is full of vulnerable and inspirational ADHD content, from stories and confessions to tips and events. Also, it’s just...really pretty.

12. Totally ADD: This comprehensive site is a well of resources, including FAQs about common ADHD struggles, an active blog, book recommendations, and lists of trustworthy organizations and tools for connecting with a professional who specializes in ADHD.

Helpful articles, videos, and episodes

1. “ADHD Is Different for Women” by Maria Yagoda: Seven years after it was originally published, I still see this article circulate on a semiregular basis, in large part because it provides such an oh shit moment for so many. Yagoda’s other work on ADHD can be found in this thread too.

2. “ADHD isn’t just ‘difficulty paying attention’” by @teenagewldlife. A few weeks ago, #ADHD was trending on Twitter and we have this thread to thank for that. It’s a good primer that cuts through a lot of misconceptions around ADHD, so you might want to bookmark it to send to people who need a TL;DR.

3. “The House that ADHD Built: how to set up your living space so your lack of EF works for you” by u/pompompompi: I found my way to this Reddit thread after reading this low-key mind-blowing thread from the O.P. Like I mentioned above, Reddit can be a treasure trove.

4. “This is how you treat ADHD based off science” featuring Russell Barkley, M.D.: This educational video highlights the most common mistakes people make when treating ADHD. He hooked me right from the beginning when he declared, "You have a disorder of performance but not knowledge. You know what to do but can't do it." Which, yes.

5. “Failing at Normal: An ADHD Success Story” featuring Jessica McCabe: Another video featuring McCabe of How to ADHD, this time of her moving TEDx talk. Just watch it.

6. “How ADHD Ignites Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria” by William Dodson, M.D.: This article covers a little-known potential symptom of ADHD: rejection sensitive dysphoria, which is severe negative emotions stemming from perceived rejection, failure, or critique. Dr. Dodson writes about how it can imitate mood disorders with suicidal ideation—extremely illuminating for people like me who spent a long time in treatment for depression and suicidal ideation before their ADHD diagnosis. Also by Dr. Dodson, “3 Defining Features of ADHD That Everyone Overlooks” covers this and more.

7. The Dildorks, episode “Lady HD”: This podcast about sex, dating, and masturbating might not be the first place you expect to find an in-depth conversation about ADHD, but surprise, ADHD can touch every aspect of your life—including sex and sexuality.

8. “ADHD sucks, but not really” featuring Salif Mahamane: One more incredible TEDx talk (there are a surprising number of them on YouTube if you’re feeling so inclined to sink the rest of your day into it). No need to sum it up—just watch.

9. “I Have ADHD. Here Are 9 Productivity Tips That Really Help Me” by Isabelle O'Carroll: You didn’t think I’d make it through this article without including a SELF recommendation, right? Self-explanatory and helpful.

10. “Here’s What You Should Know About Dating Someone With ADHD” by Caroline Kee. An oldie but goodie, this covers a lesser talked-about aspect of ADHD: how it impacts relationships. (Also, I’m biased because we worked together, but in general, anything Kee wrote about ADHD during her time at BuzzFeed is gold.)

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