Danielle Elliott — documentarian, writer, and host of the Climbing the Walls podcast for Understood.org — shares her journey from a breakup-triggered Google search for "extreme reactions to rejection" to an ADHD diagnosis at age 36. Her question: "How did we miss an entire generation of women?" This conversation unpacks late diagnosis and the mourning-to-superpower-to-balance arc, executive functioning struggles in relationships/careers/parenting, emotional dysregulation and shame, why masking and compensation delay diagnosis (often until high school, college, graduate school, or beyond), how hormonal shifts (menstrual cycle, perimenopause, menopause) affect symptoms, why the DSM's "symptoms by age 12" criterion misses women, the neurodiversity evolution ("thousands of types of brains"), diagnostic methods (clinical assessment vs social media checklists), treatment approaches (medication, exercise as medicine, therapy), the critical research gap on adult women and hormones, and why we need to believe women navigating this experience. Different brains designed to do different things — self-awareness is empowerment.
WHAT YOU'LL LEARN
Why late ADHD diagnosis in women is common — masking, compensation, societal expectations, diagnostic criteria based on boys; "how did we miss an entire generation?"
What the self-awareness journey looks like — mourning period (grief for what could have been), superpower frame (attributing everything to ADHD), balanced understanding (it's how my brain works, empowering to know)
How ADHD shows up in women — executive functioning struggles (organization, scheduling, prioritization), emotional dysregulation, shame, challenges in relationships/careers/parenting
Why masking delays diagnosis — bright/gifted individuals compensate; diagnosis often doesn't happen until high school, college, graduate school, adulthood when demands exceed capacity
How hormones affect ADHD symptoms — menstrual cycle shifts symptoms; perimenopause/menopause can trigger first awareness; research gap on adult women and hormonal factors
What DSM criteria misses — "symptoms by age 12" criterion doesn't account for masking, late-emerging functional impairment, hormonal factors; evolving understanding needed
Why neurodiversity reframes everything — "thousands of types of brains"; different brains designed to do different things; Gen Z (53% identify as neurodivergent) owns it without stigma
How proper diagnosis works — clinical assessment by trained professionals, not social media checklists; functional impairment is key criterion; telehealth made diagnosis more accessible
Why movement is medicine — John Ratey's research: 60%+ of brain function activated by movement; exercise as essential daily practice for ADHD brain
What research gaps exist — adult women severely under-researched; need studies on ADHD and perimenopause/menopause/postmenopause; hormonal research maxes out at age 18-23
LEARN MORE
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May 22, 2025
Danielle Elliot
Climbing the Walls: The Rise of ADHD in Women
"I don't see it as a deficit or a superpower. I see it as a way that my brain works. And I see understanding how my brain works as a really empowering thing."
TIMESTAMPS
00:04:19 – Danielle's ADHD Origin story
00:06:37 – Late diagnosis shock
00:18:42 – Self-awareness journey
00:26:23 – Neurodiversity evolution — different brains designed to do different things
00:28:56 – Language matters — "mental illness" vs "neurodiversity"
00:41:14 – Women's ADHD themes
00:45:27 – DSM criteria challenged
00:52:47 – Diagnosis methods
01:04:10 – Movement as medicine
01:07:08 – Call for research
SHOW NOTES
On today’s episode, Dr. Dan interviews Danielle Elliot – a health and science journalist, documentarian, and host of Climbing the Walls, a new limited-series investigative podcast about ADHD in women.
Danielle was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 36. On this critical episode, Dr. Dan and Danielle discuss the rising tide of ADHD diagnoses in women, Danielle’s journey from diagnosis to the podcast, why women historically weren’t diagnosed with ADHD (and what’s led to new ADHD diagnoses nearly doubling among women ages 20–49 between 2020-2022 according to CDC) and finally, why it’s essential to break the silence around this misunderstood topic.
LINKS & RESOURCES
Danielle Elliott & Climbing the Walls Podcast
Climbing the Walls podcast — Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, all major podcast platforms (6 episodes, all released)
Understood.org — Expert resources, information, and support for learning and thinking differences
ADHD Experts Mentioned
Ned Hallowell — ADHD expert, author; co-author with John Ratey
John Ratey — ADHD expert, author of Spark (exercise and brain function research)
Sari Solden — Expert in ADHD in women
Russell Barkley — ADHD researcher and clinician
GUEST BIO
Danielle Elliott is a documentarian and writer who focuses on character-driven narratives that explain cultural phenomena. Her films, features, and series have appeared on HBO, ESPN, FX, iHeart, Audible, NBC, and more. After earning an MA from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, she became science editor at CBSNews.com and began writing long-form features for The Atlantic, The New York Times, National Geographic, Nautilus, Popular Mechanics, and many others. She works with documentary filmmakers to develop and structure films and series, and with Fortune 100 brands to direct and produce docu-style campaigns. Danielle is the host of Climbing the Walls from Understood.org, a six-episode podcast series investigating the rise of ADHD diagnosis in women. She was diagnosed with ADHD at age 36 and lives in New York.
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