https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/78dgdx/adhdfinal2_-_1_24_23_1009_AM7y1w6.mp3
EPISODE SUMMARY:
Dr. Martinez is a board-certified healthcare professional with over 20 years of experience, including offering diagnoses and treatment to patients with ADHD. In today’s episode, we sat down with Dr. Martinez to discuss ADHD, how it connects to midlife, the struggles of getting a diagnosis as an adult, and the Done mental health clinic.
First, we asked Dr. Martinez to explain what ADHD is and what the primary symptoms are. She told us that ADHD stands for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. For individuals who have it, the three major components they may experience are inattentiveness, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. These symptoms can manifest in a multitude of ways, including difficulty focusing, being easily distractable, and having a hard time sitting still. While everyone’s experience with ADHD differs, many people who have it struggle with academics, their career, or personal relationships as a result of not receiving the proper diagnosis or treatment plan. For perimenopausal and menopausal women, ADHD can be exacerbated through the changes in hormones. As menopause causes our neurotransmitter levels to decrease, women can start to experience memory and concentration problems, even if they have never had ADHD symptoms previously. Disruptions in women’s’ sleep cycles as a result of menopause can also cause women to experience ADHD symptoms. When dealing with symptoms, Dr. Martinez emphasized that it’s important for women not to judge themselves. Rather than judge or berate yourself for struggling, you should acknowledge the symptoms and talk about them with a trusted clinician.
Many midlife women who have ADHD will not receive a diagnosis due to social stigmas surrounding mental health. When asked why, Dr. Martinez explained that menopausal women in this generation grew up in a society that deemed any mental health issues taboo. There was so much judgment surrounding expressing feelings that people would simply have no desire to be evaluated or receive a diagnosis. Without a diagnosis, they would also learn their own ways of coping, so they wouldn’t view a diagnosis as necessary. Even now, mental health stigmas remain a prominent issue in our culture. For undiagnosed ADHD, a person is deemed “lazy” or “stupid” and blamed for their behavior rather than being taken seriously. There are also judgements surrounding the use of ADHD medications, with many perpetuating the false narrative that taking a stimulant automatically leads to drug addiction and other issues. These harmful stigmas are further pushed by pharmaceutical companies. We’re currently experiencing an ADHD medication shortage, and part of this issue comes from pharmacies believing they will be seen as pushing dangerous drugs if they sell too many stimulants. With some ADHD medications being less expensive than others, there’s also a lack of pressure to manufacture more.
Dr. Martinez is a clinician at Done, a mental health clinic that offers services including ADHD diagnoses and treatment. For the process of diagnosing new patients, Dr. Martinez said that before a client sees a clinician in person, they take a self-rated scale test and record their personal history. This allows the appointment to be more personal and efficient, for the clinician has already read the client’s test results and history and can have a more in-depth conversation about their daily routine, personal questions, and potential diagnosis. Done also screens potential ADHD patients for depression and anxiety since they can often overlap or coincide with ADHD. Done does offer medication as a treatment option for ADHD clients. However, not everyone wants to take medication. Dr. Martinez said that alternative methods for helping treat ADHD symptoms are keeping a calendar, using phone reminders and sticky notes, taking walks or other forms of exercise, and ensuring that your daily schedule is as regulated as possible. There are online resources available for people with ADHD, including The National Alliance on Mental Illness’ website, which offers ADHD resources and support. It’s also important to speak to a few friends or family members about any accommodations you might need at gatherings and other social events so that they can properly accommodate you. In a work environment, the Americans with Disabilities Act covers employees and can be discussed with an employer or HR.
For many adults who have ADHD but are undiagnosed, they often find themselves seeking a diagnosis and treatment after having children. If their children show symptoms of ADHD and are diagnosed, it motivates the parent to then seek out help themselves. However, despite there being families with both parents and children that have ADHD, there is no known definitive cause for ADHD. Finally, we asked Dr. Martinez to tell us about Done. She spoke about how Done was created to be a place to help people receive more readily available access to mental health care. Some of their services include therapy referrals, prescribing medication, and ADHD diagnosis and treatment.
Dr. Zoe Martinez
As a healthcare professional, Dr. Martinez has over 20 years of experience working with a wide range of patients. She’s also board certified in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry as well as Adult Psychiatry, which gives her unique insights when it comes to diagnosing and treating ADHD.
Dr. Martinez began her career with a bachelor’s degree in psychobiology from Pomona College and a master’s degree in psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). As her interest in ADHD and other neurodevelopmental disorders grew, she returned to UCLA to earn a Ph.D. in behavioral neuroscience and earned her M.D. at the University of California, San Diego.
Throughout her career, Dr. Martinez has worked for a number of highly regarded healthcare organizations. She has served as the Psychiatric Medical Director for Napa County Mental Health, The Chief of Psychiatry at MedStar Southern Maryland Hospital Center, and a child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrist for a number of mental health services. Dr. Martinez has also earned a number of distinguished honors, including a NIMH Outstanding Resident Award and AACAP Outstanding General Psychiatry Resident Award. Currently, she is the Regional Medical Director for Done.com.
Dr. Martinez’s training and experience have instilled a passion for helping both youth and adult patients manage their ADHD through appropriate and conscientious treatment. As she wrote in an article titled Ongoing Adult ADHD Treatment with Done, co-authored with another physician on our team, Dr. David Brody: “Continuity of care is a key component of Done’s ‘patient-first’ philosophy. Barring unusual circumstances, ongoing treatment is provided by the same clinician who performed the initial assessment. Not only does this ensure the best care in terms of medication management, but it provides the beneficial component of individual supportive psychotherapy.”
Like all clinicians at Done, Dr. Martinez provides ongoing care for her patients through monthly meetings. This offers patients the opportunity to provide updates on their ADHD symptoms, talk about treatment effectiveness and, if necessary, receive medication or dosage adjustments in order to achieve the best results for each individual.
Building a rapport with the patient is a top priority for Dr. Martinez. From the very first ADHD assessment and continuing through ongoing care appointments, she works to ensure each patient is getting the personalized care they need and deserve.
Through virtual meetings, she taps into not only what patients are saying verbally, but what they’re communicating through tone of voice, facial expressions, and body language. Her goal is to get to know her patients well so she can help them to live more rewarding and successful lives through effective ADHD management.
As she wrote in the article with Dr. Brody, “Speaking as a clinician who treats ADHD, perhaps the most enjoyable aspect of that endeavor is to see that, as symptoms decrease, patients pursue goals that were beyond their capacity before effective treatment was instituted.”
In this episode, we discuss…
- [0:01] ThePerfect3
- [0:57] Guest Introduction
- [4:20] Start of Interview
- [4:58] What is ADHD?
- [7:53] Midlife and ADHD
- [11:02] The Struggle of Getting an ADHD Diagnosis
- [16:30] Stimulant Shortage
- [19:28] Done and Getting Diagnosed with ADHD in Adulthood
- [25:22] Alternative ADHD Treatments
- [30:03] Having Children with ADHD
- [34:18] Done
- [35:44] Closing Thoughts
- [36:24] Outro
Useful Resources:
Done’s Website I [https://www.donefirst.com/]
Done’s LinkedIn I [https://www.linkedin.com/company/donefirst/]
Done’s Instagram I [https://www.instagram.com/doneadhd/]
Done’s Twitter I [https://twitter.com/doneadhd]
TRY THEPEREFCT3’S PURE COLLAGEN AND GET 10% OFF YOUR FIRST ORDER AT https://theperfect3.com/ !
Can’t Get Enough? Find Us Here!
Website I [http://hotflashescooltopics.com/]
Mail I [[email protected]]
Instagram I [https://www.instagram.com/hotflashesandcooltopics/]
Facebook I [
]
Twitter I [https://twitter.com/CoolFlashes]
YouTube I [https://www.youtube.com/@HotFlashesCoolTopics]
Pinterest I [https://www.pinterest.com/hcooltopics/]
Want to Leave a Review for Hot Flashes and Cool Topics? Here’s How:
For Apple Podcasts on an iPhone or iOS device:
- Open the Apple Podcast App on your device.
- Click on the “search” icon
- Type into the search bar “Hot Flashes and Cool Topics” and click on the show
- Towards the bottom, look for “Ratings and Reviews”
- Click on “Write a Review” and leave us your thoughts and comments!
For Apple Podcasts on a computer:
- On the Apple Podcasts website, go to the search bar and type “Hot Flashes and Cool Topics”
- After clicking on the show, find the “Listen on Apple Podcasts” button and click on it
- The “Hot Flashes and Cool Topics” podcast should open on the Apple Podcasts application
- Keep scrolling on the page until you see “Ratings and Reviews”
- Click on “See All”
- If you want to give us a five-star rating, hover over the empty stars!
- If you want to leave your thoughts and comments, click on “Write a Review”!