Grieving the Version of Yourself That Could “Push Through” with Dr. Kathleen Nadeau

About this episode

Dr. Kathleen Nadeau discusses the grief associated with losing coping strategies for ADHD as one ages.

Grab the Guide ... FREE! If you've spent years thinking the problem with planning is you — too scattered, too inconsistent, not disciplined enough — this guide is FOR YOU! Visit https://takecontroladhd.com/planwithadhd and get started today! --- What happens to your sense of self when the coping strategies you've relied on your whole life start to give out? For a lot of us, "pushing through" wasn't just a strategy, it was the story we told ourselves about why we kept making it. And when that story stops being true, what we're left with can look a lot like grief. Dr. Kathleen Nadeau has spent decades sitting with people in that moment. She's interviewed 150 older adults with ADHD about what the losses actually feel like — the unmet retirement fantasies, the disorientation of late diagnosis, the particular sting of watching younger generations get the support that was never offered to them. She knows what keeps people stuck. And she has a lot to say about what's possible on the other side. This is the second episode of our ADHD and Aging series, and it goes somewhere we didn't fully anticipate. Kathleen pushes back on the idea that aging with ADHD is mostly a story of subtraction…

People in this episode

Guest: Dr. Kathleen Nadeau

Topics covered

• ADHD
• grief
• aging
• self-identity
• coping strategies
• mental health

Keywords

• ADHD
• grief
• aging
• self-identity
• coping strategies
• mental health
• support

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Taking Control: The ADHD Podcast, TruStory FM

More episodes of Taking Control: The ADHD Podcast

• What It Means to Be “Good Enough” With ADHD · June 11, 2026 · 26 min
• Permission Slips You Keep Waiting For · June 4, 2026 · 32 min
• Why Advice Stops Working When You’re Tired · May 28, 2026 · 26 min
• Why “I’ll Deal With It Later” Is an Energy Leak with Ari Tuckman · May 21, 2026 · 39 min
• The Schedule That Bends Without Breaking · May 14, 2026 · 27 min
• What to Look For in a Planning Tool · May 7, 2026 · 37 min