Why You Couldn't Cry at the Funeral But Sobbed Over an IKEA Table — The Truth About ADHD and Grief

About this episode

The episode explores the unique emotional responses of individuals with ADHD, particularly in relation to grief and everyday frustrations.

If you have ADHD, you might already know this particular kind of shame. You held it together at a super sad event (let's say a funeral). Dry-eyed, composed, functioning. And then weeks later you completely lost it over something small like a scratch in a piece of furniture, a voicemail you couldn't get a read on, or a realizing you missed claiming a hold on the book at the library you'd been waiting months for. Then you thought there was something wrong with you for not feeling grief or frustration when you were supposed to. Or for feeling it so hard in all the wrong places. Here's the thing: there's nothing wrong with you! And this episode is going to tell you why. This conversation with David and Isabelle started with the last ten percent of a move that never gets finished, with Christmas lights still up in January, with holiday cards that feel impossible to take down because taking them down means saying goodbye. You probably have your version of all of this. Isabelle shares her story of an IKEA table, a scrap truck, and how when her husband Bobby gave the table a voice in the alley while she watched from the window, she burst into tears. If any of this strikes a cord, David…

People in this episode

Hosts: David Kessler, Isabelle Richards

Topics covered

• ADHD
• grief
• emotional response
• mental health
• self-acceptance

Keywords

• ADHD
• grief
• emotional response
• IKEA table
• self-acceptance
• mental health
• dopamine

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: library

Products: IKEA table

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