About this episode

Kristen Carder discusses the connection between ADHD and complex PTSD through the lens of the nervous system and the impact of medication.

The thing you've been medicating is the same thing your parents shamed you for. Kristen Carder is the host of the I Have ADHD podcast and a dually certified coach who's back on the pod today to take the ADHD and complex PTSD connection deeper — through the lens of your nervous system and what it actually needs to function. She talks openly about how medication wasn't fixing her, it was translating what her body had been trying to tell her all along, and how the shame she inherited about her own wiring became the hardest part to undo. This conversation is about what happens when you stop fighting how you're built and start designing a life that actually works with your nervous system instead of against it. ✨ What this episode explores: ▪️ What Medication Actually Does (And What It Doesn't) — Why medication isn't fixing you; it's translating what your nervous system's been trying to tell you all along, and why that distinction changes everything. ▪️ Why You Regulate Differently Than They Do — How ADHD nervous systems need completely different things to reach calm than what every productivity expert and well-meaning friend has told you to try. ▪️ The Performance Cost of Living in a…

People in this episode

Host: Andrea Ashley

Guest: Kristen Carder

Topics covered

• ADHD
• nervous system
• complex PTSD
• medication
• self-regulation
• mental health

Keywords

• ADHD
• nervous system
• complex PTSD
• medication
• self-regulation
• mental health
• intimacy
• trust
• connection

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: I Have ADHD

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