Beyond ADHD: A Physician’s Perspective

Navigating ADHD and Metabolic Health: Insights from Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh and Dr. Matthea Rentea

Welcome back to a special dual episode of "Beyond ADHD: A Physician’s Perspective" hosted by Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh. She is joined today by Dr. Matthea Rentea, an internal medicine and obesity medicine physician, to explore the intricate connections between ADHD, the brain, and metabolic health. This conversation aims to shed light on a topic that is rarely discussed—the intersection of ADHD with eating behaviors and metabolic conditions.
Introduction:
Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh is a family medicine physician and an ADHD life coach, particularly for healthcare professionals. Her journey with ADHD was one of initial concealment, fearing professional judgment, but ultimately it became a crucial part of embracing her identity and capabilities. This newfound acceptance has been transformative not only for herself but also for those she coaches.
Dr. Matthea Rentea elaborates on her journey, highlighting parallels with Dr. Mercado-Marmarosh. As an internal and obesity medicine physician, Dr. Rentea has faced struggles with obesity, which fueled her passion for holistic weight management approaches that go beyond calorie counting and medication.
The common professional and personal challenges they share have driven both physicians to advocate for greater discussions around ADHD, executive function, and their implications on lifestyle habits, particularly eating behaviors.
Understanding ADHD and Its Overlapping Symptoms
A significant portion of Dr. Rentea's patients have ADHD, leading her to recognize patterns like emotional eating and impulse control challenges. ADHD, often misunderstood and mislabeled in females, is especially prone to being overlooked due to subtler symptoms like inattentiveness and internalized stress responses.
Dr. Mercado-Marmarosh enumerates key symptoms often associated with ADHD beyond the more commonly known impulsivity and hyperactivity. These include difficulties with executive functioning like emotional dysregulation and time blindness. Understanding these dysfunctions offers a window into ADHD's impacts on daily life, and suggests the importance of creating supportive systems rather than perceiving oneself as flawed.
Strategies for Managing ADHD and Enhancing Well-being
Dr. Mercado-Marmarosh emphasizes three core strategies which can benefit individuals with or without ADHD:
Planning and Time Management: Proper planning can significantly boost productivity and reduce stress. Incorporating simple tools like calendering future appointments or using timers can mitigate issues with time blindness and scattered focus. She advises setting intentional time for tasks and establishing buffer times to accommodate the unpredictability that often accompanies ADHD.
Task Initiation and Completion: She advocates for initiating tasks with the aid of timers or favorite playlists. The concept is to break down daunting tasks into manageable time slots, removing the dread and perceived enormity that prevents task initiation.
Emotional Regulation: Developing emotional awareness and regulation is crucial. This involves acknowledging and interpreting emotions constructively rather than succumbing to reactive behaviors. Techniques such as mindfulness, deep breathing, and seeking external support through accountability partners or therapists can foster resilience and composure in day-to-day challenges.
Interrelation with Metabolic Health and Medication
The discussion transitions to how ADHD symptoms and their management, including medication, overlap significantly with metabolic health behaviors. Dr. Rentea notes how certain ADHD medications and GLP-1 receptor agonists can influence eating patterns and impulse control, often reducing cravings for ultra-processed foods. This inadvertently aids in managing obesity—a common comorbidity with ADHD.
Dr. Mercado-Marmarosh and Dr. Rentea reflect on their personal experiences, such as fluctuating weight and eating to sustain energy and focus, discussing how recognizing ADHD's role can lead to better health strategies.
Top Tips for Patients
Dr. Rentea leaves readers with practical advice:
Conduct a Nutrition Audit: Understand your eating patterns without judgment to identify areas for improvement.
Implement Small, Manageable Plans: Utilize timers and structure to prevent overwhelming hunger or impulsive eating.
Stay Curious and Adaptable: Be willing to experiment with solutions, keeping changes simple and incremental.
Conclusion
Dr. Mercado-Marmarosh's closing thoughts encourage readers to observe their patterns, suggesting that community and self-awareness are powerful tools in managing ADHD. Both doctors emphasize the need for continued dialogue and self-advocacy, providing resources and strategies that go beyond conventional healthcare settings.
For further insights and support, Dr. Mercado-Marmarosh invites listeners to engage with her through various platforms and programs dedicated to ADHD coaching and physician wellness. Dr. Rentea, offering expertise in metabolic health, welcomes those interested in exploring their health journeys to reach out via her clinic and online resources [Rentea Metabolic Clinic].
This episode of collaboration is an invitation to join a broader conversation about health, self-discovery, and embracing one’s unique neurological makeup.

Parenting ADHD Now: Insights from Elaine Taylor-Klaus on Empowering Families

Parenting a child with ADHD can be both challenging and rewarding. In our recent episode of the Beyond ADHD Podcast, we had the pleasure of hosting Elaine Taylor-Klaus, a renowned author, educator, and co-founder of ImpactParents. Her new book, "Parenting ADHD Now," is a comprehensive guide aimed at helping parents navigate the complexities of raising children with ADHD.
Elaine's journey into this field began with her own experiences as a parent of children with ADHD. She understands the daily struggles parents face, from managing behavior to advocating for their children's needs in educational settings. Her approach emphasizes the importance of building a supportive community and seeking out resources that empower both parents and children.
One of the key themes Elaine discusses is the necessity of understanding ADHD not just as a disorder, but as a different way of experiencing the world. This perspective can transform the way parents interact with their children, fostering an environment of empathy and support. Elaine encourages parents to focus on their child's strengths and unique talents rather than solely on the challenges associated with ADHD.
In our conversation, Elaine shared practical strategies for effective parenting. These include establishing consistent routines, creating a structured environment, and employing positive reinforcement to encourage desired behaviors. She also highlights the significance of self-care for parents, as managing the demands of parenting with ADHD can be emotionally taxing.
Elaine’s book serves as a valuable resource, offering insights, practical tips, and encouragement for parents at every stage of their journey. It is designed to help families feel less isolated and more equipped to handle the challenges of ADHD.
For those looking to connect with Elaine Taylor-Klaus, you can find her on her website at [ImpactParents.com](https://www.impactparents.com) and follow her on social media for ongoing support and resources.
As we wrap up this enlightening episode, we encourage all parents of children with ADHD to explore the resources available through Elaine’s work. Remember, you are not alone in this journey, and with the right tools and support, you can empower your child to thrive.

Understanding ADHD: A Conversation with Farah Jamil

In this enlightening conversation, Farah Jamil, an executive ADHD coach, shares her personal journey of being diagnosed with ADHD as an adult. She goes in-depth on how she has learned to harness the realities of ADHD as a strength and advocates for more representation of diverse experiences within the discussion of ADHD. As an entrepreneur, she also discusses the intersectionality of ADHD, faith, and executive leadership. Farah offers valuable insights on self-awareness, self-empowerment, self-advocacy, and the importance of seeking appropriate support to thrive.
Guest Speaker: Farah JamilMeet Farah Jamil, Founder of Muslim ADHDers and a seasoned Health Executive. As a Certified Executive Coach, she empowers early- to mid-careerists to unleash their inner 'Super Leader' and 'ADHD Superpowers.' Farah hosted the 1st global Muslim ADHDers Virtual Summit, uniting 1,500+ registrants. With 15+ years of leadership experience, an Ivy League graduate, and a global presenter on 'Neurodiversity – Navigating ADHD in the Workplace,' Farah is making a significant impact as one of the 2020 INC 5000 Vision Conference's global Executive Coaches.
 
Remember to like, share, and subscribe for more insightful conversations and valuable content. Stay tuned for more episodes and join us in the quest for a more productive and balanced life!

”Unraveling ADHD Myths with Dr. Randie Schacter ”

Welcome to another insightful episode of the Exploring Minds Podcast! In today's conversation, we delve deep into the world of ADHD myths with the brilliant Dr. Randie Schacter. Join us as we debunk common misconceptions surrounding ADHD, anxiety, and depression, and gain a clearer understanding of these often misunderstood conditions.
Our esteemed guest, Dr. Randie Schacter, a seasoned psychiatrist and advocate for mental health awareness, shares her expertise on ADHD and sheds light on its multifaceted nature. With a focus on fostering community and creativity, Dr. Schacter discusses the challenges and strengths associated with ADHD, offering a fresh perspective that can inspire positive change.
In this thought-provoking interview, we explore the impact of COVID-19 on individuals dealing with ADHD, the importance of recognizing symptoms in both children and adults, and the power of creative outlets like pottery to enhance mental well-being. Dr. Schacter's passion for understanding the human mind shines through as she uncovers the dynamic connections between ADHD, anxiety, depression, and the role of self-care.
Join us in this captivating conversation as we challenge preconceived notions, provide actionable insights, and ignite a greater understanding of ADHD and its intricacies. If you're ready to gain a fresh perspective on mental health, ADHD, and the myths that surround them, hit that play button and let's dive in together!
 
🎙️ Guest Speaker: Dr. Randie Schacter
Dr. Randie Schacter is a board-certified psychiatrist specializing in holistic and individualized care. With expertise in General Psychiatry and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, she treats individuals from childhood to adulthood. Dr. Schacter's approach is rooted in osteopathic philosophy, focusing on the whole person and empowering them to actively participate in their healing journey. She integrates education, therapy, and medication to create personalized treatment plans. Based in Matthews, she collaborates with patients, families, schools, and other contributors to develop comprehensive wellness strategies.
🌐 Website: silverspaces.org and silverpsychiatric.com

”Unlocking Productivity & Balance: Technology Hacks and Insights with Dr. Ann Tsung”

Welcome to another exciting episode!! In this episode, we delve into the world of productivity, technology hacks, and achieving a balanced lifestyle. Our special guest, Dr. Ann Tsung, MD MPH, is not only an emergency medicine and critical care physician, a full-time flight surgeon at NASA, a real estate investor, and a mom, but also a productivity guru who has mastered the art of optimizing time and energy.
Join us as we uncover Dr. Tsung's journey of managing her multi-faceted life and her mission to help others regain control of their time and focus. She shares her insights on the power of delegation, the magic of technology tools, and the importance of setting clear priorities. You'll learn valuable strategies to declutter your digital life, supercharge your focus, and achieve more while working less.
Dr. Tsung's unique perspective blends medical expertise, productivity wisdom, and real-life experiences, making this episode a must-watch for anyone seeking to enhance their productivity and reclaim their time. Whether you're a busy professional, an entrepreneur, a parent, or simply someone striving for a more balanced life, this episode has something special in store for you.
Tune in to discover practical tips, inspiring stories, and actionable advice that will empower you to take control of your schedule and reach new heights of productivity and fulfillment. Don't miss out – hit that play button now and embark on a journey towards unlocking your full potential!
Connect with Dr. Ann Tsung: Website: It'sNotRocketScienceShow.com Instagram: @AnnTsungMD Facebook: @AnnTsungMD
Ready to supercharge your productivity? Book a complimentary productivity call with Dr. Tsung to uncover customized strategies to save you time and boost your results: Book a Call
 
About Dr. Ann Tsung:Ann Tsung, MD, MPH is a dynamic figure blending roles as a NASA flight surgeon and part-time ER and ICU physician. She's also a real estate investor and host of the "It's Not Rocket Science Show" podcast. Driven by a transformative journey of self-discovery, she's achieved remarkable milestones like summiting Kilimanjaro, world travels, and real estate ventures. Her productivity philosophy emphasizes human optimization, mind-body connection, and skillful tools, inspiring others to take charge of their lives. Dr. Tsung's mission is to empower individuals to achieve more with less effort, enabling them to prioritize passions and meaningful connections.

”Beyond ADHD: Embracing the Unique Gift within Us | Interview with Craig Clawson”

Welcome to "Beyond ADHD, A Physician's Perspective" with Dr. Diana Mercado Marmarosh, a dedicated family medicine physician based in rural Texas. In this insightful podcast, we explore the transformative journey of understanding and embracing conditions like ADHD, anxiety, and depression. Today's guest, Craig Clawson, a seasoned journalist and podcast production expert, shares his personal experience with ADHD, revealing the challenges he faced before receiving a diagnosis at the age of 49.
Join us as we delve into the link between ADHD and its impact on daily life, family dynamics, and career trajectories. Discover how unlearning certain beliefs and habits, along with seeking professional guidance, can lead to a fulfilled life beyond these conditions. With candid conversations and actionable strategies, this podcast aims to shed light on the potential hidden within every individual living with ADHD.
If you're ready to unlock your true potential, gain insights from the perspective of a physician and a professional storyteller, then this episode is a must-watch. Don't miss this empowering conversation as we debunk myths, share personal stories, and inspire positive change in the way we view and cope with ADHD, anxiety, and depression. Join us on this incredible journey of self-discovery and growth.
Subscribe now to "Beyond ADHD, A Physician's Perspective" and never miss an episode that will transform your outlook on mental health and wellbeing. Let's navigate the challenges together and embrace the unique gift that lies within each of us.

Costa Rica (It’s OK)

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: Hello. Hello. Welcome to Beyond A D H D A Physician's Perspective. I am Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh. I'm a family medicine physician practicing in rural Texas. I used to be hindered by my A D H D, but I now see it as a gift that helps me show up as the person I was always meant to be. Both in my work and in my personal life.
In the past two years, I've come to realize, That unlearning some of my beliefs and some of my habits were just as important as learning the new set of skills.
Hey, did you hear that? That was the attention? So I just got back from Costa Rica like literally yesterday and. We spend an incredible week there and my tour guide, his name is Carlos and he's from the Mela tribe, and he gifted my husband a wonderful drum that he had. For himself for over 15 years and that's the sign for attention it.
Anyways, I wanted to grab your attention as I'm starting this and, uh, let you know that I will be, uh, Putting a hold on my group coaching for a month. I've decided I won't start again until June 19th. So, um, that gives you some time to start going through some of the modules that I already have there, and then when we come together, we can reconvene.
I am in Cloud 45 right now after such an amazing transformational ex. Experience that I was able to facilitate in Costa Rica and I wanna share all about it with you. Um, so June 19th, if you are considering the coaching group, you need to sign up now because of course spots are limited. And, uh, I really, really like my.
Groups to be small, private, and intimate. And of course there's already some physicians who are going to continue the level of membership and I'm glad to have them. And some of them have been with us for, for a while. But anyways, June 19th, put that in your calendar. Uh, you can come to the 11:00 AM class that I'll be having, or you could come to the 7:00 PM class that I will be having.
And so with that in mind, let me tell you about my most amazing week that I just had last week, and some takeaway points and some things that maybe will inspire you to consider it for the next time. What do I start? Uh, I was asked why Costa Rica? So first of all, in September when I went to experience Costa Rica myself, I booked that on a whim.
I, my husband and I had gone to Costa Rica for our honeymoon, and that was almost the 11 years ago prior to, uh, September. And in September we were gonna have our 11 year anniversary. So I decided to, um, Book a hotel and the flights and everything without telling my husband. Yeah, very A D H G impulsive.
Like I found this amazing hotel and I just could not wait. I didn't want it to be sold out. So I booked everything and then I went, I told my husband, Hey, um, in a month from now, we will be going to, uh, Costa Rica. To celebrate our, our 11 year anniversary. I hope you're coming cause I am going with or without you.
Cause this place is divine. And of course he came with and the rest is history. So when we went to uh, Costa Rica, I just. I fell in love with the hotel, with the atmosphere. It just felt like paradise. I love having my own private villa bungalow. It was so cool to hear all the birds, the frogs, uh, to see this logs, uh, in the hotel grounds.
And I felt like I needed to bring people to that place to experience it for themselves. And so the purpose of the retreat ended up being. A place where people could dis live behind all their troubles. They could like disconnect and just reevaluate and having fun along the way in doing such, and in a place where it would be non-judgmental and the place.
by the R N l um, volcano and the hot springs and the hanging bridges and the Safari River float. So I decided to. Also tap into the indigenous tribe that was around the area, which is called Maku. And I wanted to really learn more about them. Um, they are located near a town called San Rafael aso, which is about.
One hour from Launa where we were staying. There's about, uh, 600 people that live on that reserve and is one of the smaller tribe in Costa Rica. And so as luck would have it, when I attended in September, I. The tour guide that I met, his name was Carlos, and he and I met him on one of the tour guides where he was showing us the Safari River float.
And I just, in talking with him, I asked him if he knew. Any indigenous people that I was interested in, in maybe having like a coco, a blessing ceremony. And he got super excited because he told me that he was of that tribe and that he could help arrange that. And that was in September. And of course, uh, he probably thought that, you know, I was just this crazy girl having crazy thoughts, but I kept, um, Emailing him and sending him Zoom messages and zoom links and Instagram messages and letting him know that I would be coming May 1st through the sixth, so that I would be able to, to have this, uh, ceremony and, and, and have him as our tour guide to do the different things.
So everything came together and he became our tour guide and. You know, through the whole week it was a learning process for all of us. Um, I did not know all the details. I did not know the how, but I knew the why, why I was doing this. I was doing this to provide physicians and healthcare professionals with the way of reevaluating I.
Their current lifestyle situation and allowing them to walk away empowered with, uh, executive function tools, emotional regulation tools with ways to integrate their desires and their goals and creating them into a reality. And I really, really set the intention to have only people who were. Soul aligned, who were really ready for a transformation, who were really ready to put in the work that it required to help themselves succeed.
And so with that intention, we embarked in this beautiful journey, 12 people, 12 beautiful physicians in a total of 20 people, uh, attended my retreat. Uh, out of those 20 people, five were my support group, meaning my husband, my, uh, sister, my brother-in-law, um, my niece. And then of course myself, so that's five of us.
And then the other 12 positions, speakers were, you know, there for the, for the event. And I had some guest coaches and luck. And as luck would have it, I, the guest coaches ended up being amazing. And I even had a therapist who came and we complimented each other so well, uh, because we were doing coaching and having real talk.
And also she was, uh, helping us to talk about. Different things and from the therapy perspective, and she even offered to help process some of the things that came up. So yeah, it was really wonderful. So I'm saying all this to let you know that again, I'm in Cloud 45 right now. I, my cup is so beyond full.
Uh, we had such an amazing, amazing, amazing experience. It. Came out 10 times beyond what I expected. I'm sure you're gonna start to see all the pictures online. I didn't really post on social media, um, but I will start to, we were able to, Yeah, to see wonderful things like slots and monkeys and, uh, frogs and we were just able to be present with each other.
I even wrote the last day, I wrote together, uh, I wrote a poem that I gave them that I wanna read to you guys that I think really, really, um, Helped or really helped us to put all, every, all the themes that we were talking about. And so let me read it to you. I wrote, it's okay. It's okay if things don't turn out how you expected them to.
It's okay to adjust course and choose another path. It's okay if you don't have all the answers right now. It's okay to be a beginner and be clumsy when trying something you've never done before. It's okay if it takes some time. It's okay to feel your feelings, whatever they might be. It's okay if you don't always feel okay.
It's okay to ask for help. It's okay to rest even when there is a lot to do. It's okay to take a break from growing and just be, it's okay to let others share your burden. It's okay to say fuck this shit and it's okay to sign up for the next experience with team Deanna. So I'm laughing because a lot of these things came up and I'm laughing because some of these were inner jokes.
Um, I gave them a. A little swag bag. And in one of the, the key chains, it said, I had one that was, you know, not cursing, but I had another one that was, and the one that was cursing said, a wise woman said, fuck this shit, and lived happily ever after. Uh, and I'm laughing because, Sometimes we all have expectations of how something needs to go, and then we get mad that it didn't go that way.
But what if it also means that that's our flexibility or ability to read the room and modify. I allowed myself to see that we were kind of tired one day after enjoying a beautiful day at the hot springs and getting a massage that I, instead of going out to eat at a restaurant, I decided to change course and just to bring the food to us and to then decide to dance and just have an impromptu, uh, get together.
And so it's okay. If you don't have all the answers and it just kind of works out, like trusting the process that, you know, some of the areas that I had gone to. Uh, like the volcano, I had gone through another site where I had climbed it and it was like an hour of rocky, uh, lava. But our tour guide suggested that we go through this other site where they had a lake and you could actually go kayaking, and that was optional.
And some of us took advantage of the kayaking and took advantage of the paddle boating, and others could just chill. And you know, it was okay for people to decide to sit out in some, in some of the activities because of whatever they decided. Maybe they didn't wanna wake up or maybe their knee was hurting, or they just decided they wanted to skip out.
And it was okay for us to realize that we're not gonna have everything in that moment in time, that we sometimes want it, that it's okay to not. Feel like it's okay and it's okay to ask for help from those around us and to let us share your burden. So it was such a beautiful, beautiful retreat. Uh, we had amazing food.
I think like I was shared with you guys before, this is one of the places where, um, I ate everything I wanted and I still lost weight. And I think it was because we were so, so active. But today, What I wanted you to think about is that what is, what is okay for you? I want you to fill in your thing. It's okay for you to, what I want you to send me, um, a message through, uh, Instagram or a d h d dash life coach.com.
Comment box or send me an email@overachievewithadhd.com and let me know. Overachieve with ADHD gmail.com and let me know what is okay for you. And another poem that I've read to them is something that I always read to my, uh, coaching clients. And I think you should also hear this one. It's called Breaking Service by Mark Nepo, breaking Surface by Mark Nepo.
Let no one keep you from your journey. No rabbi or priest. No matter no mother who wants you to dig for treasure, she misplaced. No father who won't let one life be enough. No lover who measures their worth, but what? You might give up, no voice that tells you in the night that it can't be done. Let nothing dissuade you from seeing what you see or feeling the winds that make you want to dance alone.
Or go where no one has yet to go. You are the only explorer, your heart, the unreadable compass. You're so the sure of a promise too great to be ignored. So I wanna ask you that too. What is something that you might have been ignoring, what is something that you are maybe looking forward to doing? I think it's important that you really, really tap into that because the universe is here to support you.
You just have to make sure that you tap into that, and if you feel like it can't be done, come hang out with us. We are here to support you. My community is amazing and we are definitely here to support you. All right. Well, I just wanted to share my experience about Costa Rica. It was divined. Every single person there was amazing.
They helped us all grow. They helped us all be present in the moment. We definitely had a blast, and I will definitely be repeating this again and, um, I will let you know. I am thinking I'm gonna be doing two Costa Rica retreats, probably one with similar, what we did this time around. And then the second one might be the private one just for, uh, the people who have already gone at a different place.
But anyways, I just wanted to touch base. And let you know that I didn't forget about you while I was in Costa Rica. I was just fully present in the moment, and, and I hope that, you know, this week you guys had an amazing week and I can't wait to hear what you tell me that you know that it's okay to do so.
Let me read it again one last time. It's okay. It's okay if things don't turn out the way you expected them to. It's okay to adjust course and choose another path.
It's okay if you don't have all the answers right now. It's okay to be a beginner and be clumsy when trying something you've never done before. It's okay if it takes some time. It's okay to feel your feelings, whatever they might be.
It's okay if you don't always feel okay.
It's okay to ask for help. It's okay to rest even when there's a lot to do. It's okay to take a break from growing and just be,
it's okay to let others share your burden. It's okay to say, fuck this shit. And it's okay to sign up for the next experience with team Deanna. That last one was actually hold that I should add by Carlos, my tour guide. I was riding this. It's okay poem on the last day, which was Friday morning at breakfast and he saw me writing it and he told me, don't forget that part, because I signed up and I am all in in team Deanna.
So it's okay to listen to others and to welcome. All the positive things that they say about True. It's so easy for us to always be like, oh, we're messing this up, but it's okay to welcome compliments. Maybe that'll be my 14. It's okay to welcome all the compliments. But again, I am curious to learn what your It's okay statement will be.
We'll be in touch till next week. Thank you for spending your time with me. I really believe that time is your most valuable asset. Please subscribe to the podcast, share with your colleagues, and don't forget to check out my website@hdlivecoach.com where you can find out about my upcoming coaching group classes, as well as free master classes and other exciting events that are happen.

The Benefits of Accommodations with Dr. Carolyn Lentzsch-Parcells

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: Come join me May 1st through the sixth, so that you can rest rediscover your strengths, reconnect with yourself and those physicians like you who are ready to leave, work at work, and re-energize. This is the invitation for you to make 2023 your year. Join me in Costa Rica in this really amazing, non-judgmental, intimate decision community.
I am gonna show you how to rest and how to recharge. Let's transform your brain so that you can start to dream the life that you always wanted this year in 2023. I can't wait to learn all. What kind of view you're gonna have after this conference? Take care. Hello. Welcome to Beyond ADHD, a Physician's Perspective.
I am Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh, I'm a family medicine physician practicing in rural Texas. I used to be hindered by my adhd, but I now. See it as a gift that helps me show up as a person. I was always meant to be both in my work and in my personal life. In the past two years, I've come to realize that unlearning some of my beliefs and some of my habits were just as important as learning the new set of.
Hello. Hello. I am so excited to have a dear friend of mine here and an amazing person, Dr. Carolyn Lentzsch-Parcells, and we've been knowing each other for some years now. I'm gonna say two or three years. I don't know how long, but it feels like a pandemic sometime. Yeah, it feels like a lifetime, and it's been amazing because.
She is here in Texas and she is doing the work of encouraging young adults and teenagers and all the works to have better life. And it's an amazing, right? Yes. And it's an amazing journey that she's been on. And not only that, but she's a really solid advocate for A D H D using as a superpower.
Thank you. And she, At all the platforms and not just here and there, but like at the national level. She is been an amazing speaker at the a D conference and she's been there years and years. So anyways, I just wanna bring her today for her to share her story and for her to share a little bit about herself and so that we all can see that we can do wonderful things like.
Dr. Carolyn Lentzch-Parcells: Thank you, Diana. Like Diana said my, my full blown full doctorate name is Dr. Carolyn Lentzsch-Parcells. I'm a board certified pediatrician practicing adolescent medicine in Fort Worth, Texas. And as Diana said, I do, I take care of basically kids and teenagers and young adults, many of whom have a D H D learning disabilities.
Or other challenges. And of course myself am also A D H D, human and mom and business owner and all the things. Yeah, and I'm happy to be here. I got to meet Diana through our A D H D nurse and it's been really fun getting to know her. Awesome. So
Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: I know that your story is a little bit different from some of our stories in the sense that, yeah, some of us females tend to be diagnosed a little bit later in age.
Yeah. And I remember you telling I knew a little bit earlier. So would you mind sharing a little bit about
Dr. Carolyn Lentzch-Parcells: that? Yeah, I would love to I consider myself very lucky especially for a woman and especially for a woman of our generation because, like you said, so many of us slipped through the cracks until really recently.
And essentially what happened for me was my, my I had a family member who was a younger male and he was getting diagnosed cuz he had more kind of classic symptoms. And my parents looked at that and went, hold on a. That looks familiar and they had already advocated for me throughout my life.
My dad would read my summer reading to me because I also have a learning disability in reading, which we didn't know, but he still did that. They got me tutoring and they really supported me all the way through. And then this occurred when I was a junior in high school, so I had a full assessment done and was diagnosed with a D H D combined type and a learning disability and reading and written expression as a junior.
At a very rigorous, private all girl school. So that was interesting. But it explained a lot for me and for my folks. And what was interesting too, though at the time is, being 17 and therefore knowing everything I refused a lot of the help that was offered to me. I refused medication.
My parents were actually very supportive of medication. One of my mom's favorite phrases has always been, You know that this is like diabetes it's another condition. And if you were diabetic, would you not take your insulin? I don't think so. So that's again, something that's pretty unique from what I came from.
But I still refused medication at the time. For the same reasons. I had a lot of the same kind of, Concerns, misconceptions, what have you that a lot of folks have. I was worried about the side effects. I'd seen some family members have some negative side effects and that concerned me. I was worried about using my diagnosis or medication as a quote unquote crutch.
I had all those same kind of concerns that a lot of people have. I did very, I'm very glad in hindsight, except accom. And that was critical. That was absolutely critical. And then of course, over the years, just understanding more about H ADHD and about my brain was in and of. Really helpful.
Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: Would you mind sharing what kind of accommodations and was it like during college or was it already in medical school that you decided to type in Sure.
To dive into that? Sure. No, so it
Dr. Carolyn Lentzch-Parcells: started in high school when I was diagnosed. And actually one of the things that made me realize, oh, I guess the is a thing and I guess I really am different, was I had actually taken. The SATs and the SAT T two subject tests before my diagnosis, and then I retook them with accommodations after my diagnosis.
And on a 16 point scale, I went up over 200 points and, oh, I can do what was that? And I didn't think that I was stupid. I didn't think that I was lazy, it wasn't any of. I thought I had a very realistic view of what my capability was, and it turned out that my capability was actually quite above what I thought it was.
That testing. Of course, for better or for worse, that testing is critical, right? So that was one of the first times where I really went, oh wow, okay, this is the thing. And then I had accommodations. It was primarily testing accommodations, but also some note taking and things like that.
And I had those accommodations all the way through college on the mcm. All the way through medical school. Medical school for my medical school exams. But unfortunately, and this has actually changed a little bit since then cuz some of us fought. But at the time especially the U S M L E, the United States Licensing Medical Licensing exam is governed by the a d A laws.
Whereas the exams I had taken previously were governed by I D E A laws, so the educational laws versus the professional laws. And I fought and fought and fought and fought and was not able to get accommodations for the US m l e in time to take it. Clearly I passed because I am a licensed physician.
But what was really interesting about that one actually was when I came to the, there was also the first test that I ever took that was on a computer. Because I'm old. So yes, children, there were tests originally on paper and Scantron sheet, which as soon as I say Scantron gives anybody 35 or older, P T S D.
But anyway what was really fascinating though is because it was on the computer, there was actually a lot of accommodations. Built in, because I only saw one question at a time. The script was very large. I didn't have to transfer from a answer booklet to a Scantron. I just clicked a dot. I had headphones on.
I had, I was in one of those cubicles with the, I call 'em human blinders, right? Yeah. So there was a lot of things that actually turned out to be very accommodating for me. And so I did okay. I did fine. It was scary and it wasn't, But I did it. So that was interesting. But those were the accommodations.
Primarily had. Yeah.
Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: So it's, again, it's so good to become curious with how you learn and to make sure that, like you said, you don't miss maybe a learning disability on top of that or dyslexia or a number thing or something else, right? Input or output understanding, because, Yes, it can be a d h, adhd and that can be its spectrum in itself, but it can also be end something else.
And right when you're aware of that, then you can, like you said, you can advocate to have correct accommodations for that. And some people, when they think accommodations, all they think about is oh, maybe they just get a little bit extra time. And while that might be helpful, a little bit extra time can make a world of a difference for some of us.
What if there could be something else that could be done as you're learning how you learn or how you test or how you give information back
Dr. Carolyn Lentzch-Parcells: to people. No, yeah, that's exactly right. And I think for me anyway, and obviously everybody's different, but for me, the accommodations were really key for me to be able to show what I could really do.
And I think one of the things that people get hung up with on accommodations is but what about real life? What will that mean for somebody in real life? These are all things, I'm not taking a multiple choice test in real life. I don't take care of my patients. My patients don't walk in and hand me a multiple choice, question, answer for me to go, oh, it's this diagnosis and you don't have one minute to figure it out.
No, exactly. Exactly. I don't. And in fact, the fact that I take my. The fact that I listen, the fact that I notice details that other people may not notice, all of which can be part and parcel with my A D H D, right? Are all the reasons why I'm good at what I do. So the key to AC accommodations is not overly accommodating people or enabling, folks to not build skills.
It's to. It's to take away unnecessary barriers. It's not to, the analogy I like to use sometimes is if you've got a fence and someone's too short to hop over the fence, accommodations are not to catapult you over the fence. Accommodations are a step stool, so then you can grab the top and pull yourself up and get you up over it.
It's that kind of thing. There's the other thing too is there's accommodations these days. Like when I was a kid, I wish, there's times I'm glad we didn't have cell phones. There's also times I wish we had, because now the accommodations we had to fight for audiobooks, for dictation.
Software for those of us who have writing difficulties. All these things are now in our hands 24 7. I use dictation software on to do my charts because I still, writing is still not the easiest thing for me. These are all things that, that we do get to have moving into real life. So there's no reason to not allow our students to learn what resources they have and what assistive technologies are out there that they can use, that they'll be able to use their whole life.
Yeah.
Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: And it's so interesting, like you said that about the, that like in my mind, I used to have the thought, oh, I'm not a great writer because it takes me forever. But when I had, I got coached on they asked me, so which, did you get a F? And I was like no, they're like in English. I was like, no, they're like in Spanish.
I'm like, no. They're like, then where did you get this thought? You're not a good writer. And so many times because we have
Dr. Carolyn Lentzch-Parcells: a certain thought, it gets us stuck, right? But
Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: maybe that's not. The right thought, but maybe you do realize that takes you a little bit longer than other things. Maybe speaking is easier.
So like you said, you can click on your phone. There's a tab where it lets you record a voice to text message, and you could do that, or you could click on the tab and it literally just records your voice message and you send that, right? So it takes you two or three minutes to write that whole thing where it would've taken you like 20 minutes to.
Think about what the hell you're trying to type and I'm you saying it right. Are you thinking it? And so then we never even send it because we were thinking about it too long and then we got distracted somewhere.
Dr. Carolyn Lentzch-Parcells: And I see that happen with, a lot of my kiddos who have dysgraphia, or have dyslexia. I still use books on. Books on tape. Wow. I just aged myself again. Audible books on tape. Oh my gracious. I still use audio books. Thank you very much. And in fact, actually one of the, one of the coolest, I gotta give a shout out to my residency friends because when I was in residency, we, they decided to start a book.
And they were readers, several of them. And of course it was like every other book club, right? There was a book, but we didn't really discuss the book. It was just an excuse to get together, drink, wine, and vent. But there was a book chosen and every book they chose, they made sure was available on Audible so that I could listen to it if I wanted to.
Yeah. That was huge. Yeah.
Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: And that's huge. That's so important, right? Because that just doesn't talk about. Hey, let's get together. But that talks about inclusion. Yes. It talks about equality and having that possibility to actually accomplish whatever you say you're doing well and
Dr. Carolyn Lentzch-Parcells: this is where, so that's in Exactly.
That's where I wanted. So when we talk about, cuz there's so much conversation now, not just in the A D H D and LD world, but the all over on inclusion and accommodations and what does that mean and what should it mean? And that instance right there, I think is the, at least for me, illustrates the ideal.
It wasn't a big deal. It wasn't made a big deal. It's not like there was some big fanfare, Hey, look at us, we're doing this for you. And it also wasn't something that was a huge effort for them. It wasn't, it didn't take anything away from them. It was just, and again, nobody made a big deal out of it. It wasn't, it was a nonis.
Yeah. And I don't know that they even realized until I told them what that meant to me. Again, it just, it would just was, it just was, and that little thing to them was a huge thing to me. And that's, we, again, we get caught up in, the extremes of these things. And really it can be just the small day-to-day things.
And it doesn't have to be a big deal. It doesn't have to be a big fanfare. Yeah. My dad reading my summer reading books to me he didn't make a big deal of that one way or the other.
Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: And he used it as a way to bond with you. He used it as a way to spend time with you. So instead of, sometimes we all have 10,000 things as parents that we're doing, and then he could have chosen to think, oh my God, one more thing I have to do.
Or he could have chosen to think this is something we do together.
Dr. Carolyn Lentzch-Parcells: And actually the funny thing about that one is apparently I might have gotten diagnosed even younger. Because of what teachers had said, except my parents, my dad in particular, cuz he. Similar challenges was like, what?
It's just, I don't see just life. It's isn't this just what our family does? Our joke is that if you open up the DSM five criteria under A D H D, you're pretty much just gonna see my family tree. Yeah. It's just how we roll.
Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: We don't make a mean a thing.
Yeah. So tell me what are some of the things that you're up to nowadays? And I know we were talking about social media right before we started recording. Oh my goodness. But you're
Dr. Carolyn Lentzch-Parcells: welcome to share anything that you're up to. Oh, I appreciate that. I think, dude, it's hard these days.
Because the good news is we have all these opportunities. The bad news is we have all these opportunities. Oh my Lord. And I don't know how much of it is I was born with a horrible case of FOMO and or is it the A D H D or what? I don't know. I don't know. But I feel like I'm constantly, I know you and I have talked about this constantly trying to find the balance, whatever the heck that means between all the things I wanna do and all the things I need to do, right?
Yeah. And all the things other people. And want me to do. Yes. And and I do think some of that is the A D H D, because we are constantly chasing the dopamine man. Yeah. And I tell people all the time, I overcommit and say yes to too many things. Not because I'm a people pleaser, not because I feel like I have to say yes.
It's because I want to say yes to everything, because it all sounds. Yeah. And I think that's an issue whether you have ADHD or not, whether you're a mom, not a man mom, a woman, a man, whatever, whoever. I think we're all facing that these days. And again, it's it's cool because we've got opportunities to do other things, but then trying to not compare ourselves and trying to.
Weighed through what the options are. So Diana and I were talking before I popped on, I was asking her about how she started her podcast because I'm like, should I do a podcast? Should I just be a guest on podcasts? What do I wanna do with that? And right now I'm not doing that, but I am. I do have a practice, girls, women in Young Men's Health and Wellness, Fort Worth in Fort Worth, Texas, which like I said, we take care of.
Young adults and teenagers and kiddos in general. We do primary care, but we also do some mental behavioral health, obviously, things like a D H D. So I'm running that practice and we are building and growing, which is exciting, but whew. Stressful. Stressful at times. And then I kindly sorta finally, Spit the bullet at the behest of many and our of several of our friends and colleagues in the A D H D community and started doing the social media thing.
I I refer to myself as a reluctant social media poster. So you can follow me if you want. God, I still feel weird doing that though, and saying that the self-promotion thing just does. Come naturally. But anyway, Instagram, I'm the hd.md. Same on TikTok, Carolyn Lynch, Parcells on Facebook.
I think technically I'm the underscore h d underscore MD on Twitter, but I don't tweet a whole lot.
Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: I just, yeah,
Dr. Carolyn Lentzch-Parcells: I don't, I tell you what, I am such a visual person. I cannot stand the visual format of Twitter. Yeah, it confuses me and drives me crazy because I'm an old person. Just don't get it. Yeah. I'm mostly active on Instagram, but I am on the others too.
Yeah. So
Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: that's right. Doing, and we were just talking about like the overthinking and the good enough thinking whenever we're doing some of the social media. Yes.
Dr. Carolyn Lentzch-Parcells: And. Yeah, it's actually been, what is that about? Yeah, so it's been actually an interesting little growth experience for me because I love speaking, I love teaching.
I was a theater major. I was a pre-med theater major, also known as a sparkly unicorn, and so I thought it might be a nice little outlet for me to. Use some of my creative juices, but also to get some good information out there and some good education out there. And hopefully, brighten some people's days.
And what's interesting though is the whole short form thing. So first of all, I'm a theater kid, so for those of you who aren't theater kids, it is very different from film because theater, you go out there, you cannot see yourself. It is you and the audience. You get to feed off your audience and get that immediate feedback.
And oh, by the way, the show must go. So there is, it is once and you are done, right? You might have another show, but that one is done. It's in the can. You can't change anything. And this video thing, man, you can see yourself. You can do it multiple times. You can oh, not good for a perfectionist with adhd not good at all.
And the whole like 90 seconds or less. I can't have a conversation. I can't, oh, that's, no. Anybody who knows me knows. But that's like impossible. But I've had to figure it out. So like the first few videos I did. I almost completely gave up cuz it took me like, what, 24 something, whatever bazillion takes.
And I still wasn't totally happy with it and I don't know how to edit. So that was a whole thing. And then as I've gotten doing it more and more, I've gotten so much more comfortable with the fact that and I think it's really cool that what people want is not this highly curated, highly edited thing, even from a professional like myself.
Cause I do think sometimes as physicians we feel like we have. We almost have to mask a little bit more. And so it's cool that I've figured out, okay, what's the information that people really need? And take out all the extra junk, right? Or what's the point I really wanna make?
And let's just get to that. And then being a lot less perfectionistic about it, which is actually really cool. And just you know what? Yeah, that's good enough. We're posting it, eh, we'll see what happens. Yeah. So that part's been really cool. The not cool part. About the whole social media thing is like my whole life, Diana and I were talking about this, like when you're a physician, your entire life has been largely prescribed, and yes, pun intended, right?
It's four years of college, maybe three, maybe five, but it is college done. If you do that and you do it well enough and you get these scores, then you get to this next level, then you go to medical school. Four years, and as long as you don't screw up and you do well enough and you pass your exams, then you're a doctor, and then you do residency and then this and then that.
So the whole thing is very prescribed and the outcome is known as long as you do X, Y, and z for the most part. Obviously there's some variations, right? And this social media thing is you never know. You never know what videos are gonna hit. You don't know what's not gonna hit. You don't know when it does.
You don't necessarily know why. When it doesn't, you don't necessarily. And the other thing that I think is a little hard for me, again, when I'm doing something in front of a live audience, first of all, I often get immediate feedback by people talking to me or giving me either positive or negative feedback.
Usually positive. But even if they don't come up to me, I can see their face. So I have some idea as to the impact that I may or may not have made if people leave comments. Sure. And likes maybe, but I don't really know. Yeah. I don't get to really know how or if stuff is impacting people. Which, I keep to, I tell myself if it helps one person and it didn't take, and it was just a little bit of my time. Yeah. Then why not? Then it's worth it. Yeah. But it is time and it is. And you wanna make sure when your time is limited and your effort is limited, you wanna know that what you're doing and what you're putting out there is having the positive impact Yeah.
That you want it to have. Cause that's really the only reason for me to be doing it.
Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: Yeah. I know what you mean because when I am supposed to give lectures or do something, I'd rather do it to a live audience, like you said, because then I can see how it's landing or I can see how I'm pivoting.
And while I might not have everything, of course, on the slides, because then that's like word vomit, like it's all in my brain. And I'm like feeding off of what. Seen in the audience or where they need to go based on the audience. And so yeah, when I'm supposed to, Hit record to
Dr. Carolyn Lentzch-Parcells: A
Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: blind thing and just use my slides.
Oh my gosh.
Dr. Carolyn Lentzch-Parcells: I try it, but
Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: oh my God, I feel like I'm not in my zone because again, I'm like you just said, I'm not getting that feedback. So it's, yeah. So talking to you like this is amazing because like I can understand what we're doing. We're just having a conversation. It's not scripted or anything, so it totally goes
Dr. Carolyn Lentzch-Parcells: where it goes, that's why I love, honestly, like that's why I. Favorite absolute favorite things to do other than live talks is podcasts, right? Because it really is just I love to talk and I love to talk with my friends, and I love to have that like connection. And so whenever I do 'em in this format, which is part of why I've thought about doing my own, but I just, I love, like you said, I love the format.
I love that it's just a conversation and even if I don't get to see the reaction of the audience, I get to at least interact with one other human. Yeah. There's at least that may, maybe nobody else likes it or listens to it, but we're gonna have a good time doing it, and at least that was worth, the hour, whatever that we put into doing the recording.
Of course you're doing all kinds of work on the back end. My brother-in-law, I'm sorry, your brother-in-law, bless him. See, that's what I would need if I did something like this. I would need, I'd need another. Yeah, I would need a human who knows techie things cuz I do not know techie things. Yeah,
Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: And like sometimes, it is, like you just said, realizing that in life there's certain things, obviously
Dr. Carolyn Lentzch-Parcells: we've been taught.
Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: And drilled. Really, if you're talking medicine, we need to make sure we have some type of precision, but at the same time, it is called the practice of medicine. You need to have some wiggle room to be creative, wiggle room to explore wiggle room, to not just stay within the box that they're wanting us to stay in.
But at the same time, like you said, there's certain guidelines. There's certain guidelines, yeah. Where you know that if you went way south, okay. Everybody in recently would know you're really way south. But with social media, with an entrepreneurship, with anything that like. You don't have the prescription, like you said, and so you can easily go down some rabbit hole and be like, what?
What happened? And again, but at the same time, it lets you. Be creative enough and be willing, I wanna say the word fail faster, because again, you didn't know, but then that also makes you grow faster because now you have new data to change and modify and whatnot. But yeah, I still wanna rule book.
Yeah. But yes, we should. Honey, guys, we should have some guidelines though. I think that's why it's so good to surround yourself. Network of somebody who's a little bit ahead of you and maybe a little bit behind you. So that's, we can, we all can help each other. Keep going. That's exactly
Dr. Carolyn Lentzch-Parcells: right. To that point so some of the folks listening may have seen, and if you haven't, you really need to go take a look at Jessica Mc McCabes, how to A D H D YouTube videos.
She's one of the, one of the first of us, if you will, to really To really push out excellent content on A D H D. And I got to meet her through the conferences and we're now friends and she was one of the ones that kind of really encouraged me to do this. She's also one of the ones that helped me, that really taught me, because I did a video with her for her YouTube channel on medications.
What was that? October, 2020, I think. And, This was the first time I had ever recorded something on video and I had to do it, on my own, in my office. Next time I was like, I gotta have somebody else helping me with this because I just would get lost in the weeds. And I sent that poor woman, I think, and her team like, what, 34 clips.
I think that they miraculously managed to condense into five minutes of excellent material. That sounds like it was one take. I don't know how the hell they do it. They're good. But I told her afterwards, I was like, look, I already respected. Big time what you do, but holy crap, like I had no idea just how much time and effort and energy and editing and da.
Now it helps if you have somebody who isn't completely paranoid and takes 34 takes and sends you every single clip cuz they don't know what's good and what's not. I'm, it helps me get over that a little bit.
Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: But hey, that was the first time you did it right? And like you said, exactly. You wanted to make sure, and I think that's where it's exciting, but it can also be paralyzing because what you're trying to give out into the world is bigger than yourself.
Like it's bigger than your ego. It's you wanna make an impact because this is education that can really be like a trailblazer for people who. Otherwise might not have considered the possibility of medicine. And you and I know that like medicine is one of the tools when it works amazing.
When it doesn't, then it can be a little bit harder, but it doesn't mean impossible. And it should be medicine and plus everything else.
Dr. Carolyn Lentzch-Parcells: And I feel I. You and I both, we have unique perspectives, right? Because we have a D H D, but we're also physicians ourselves. So even though like our stories are unique from each other's, we also have this unique perspective of seeing both sides of it.
And for me, I also, again, I feel very lucky that I. Had the situation that I had. Not to say that it wasn't with, its without its challenges. It absolutely was. I still had to, deal with teachers and professors and other people who, and still do, who don't understand or don't, didn't understand the accommodations and all of that.
But I had so much support and so much. We're talking, I don't even wanna say how long ago it was, cuz, this was a long time ago that I had all, like 20 plus years ago. Long time. I, even my learning special, the learning specialist at my college who I had to meet with cause I was getting accommodations.
I will never forget this. This comes back to, it goes back to something you said earlier. She said I had to meet with her and she said, Carrie, tell me how you study and how you do your work. And I said I do it all wrong. And she goes, okay, tell me. And I told her, for example, I said, I highlight everything except for and the, and, but, and she goes, okay, why is that wrong?
And I go cuz I was told it was wrong because you're only supposed to highlight like the main points. And she goes, Carrie, you graduated from Haka Day, you are at Davidson College. Tell me again how that is wrong. And I was like, oh. And she goes, let me tell you what you're doing and why it's right for.
And she went on to explain to me how I was using the highlighter to track and to process and all of this. And she's like, when you do it that way, do you remember everything? I'm like yeah, sorta. And she's okay then if it ain't broke, don't fix it. And that was such, and this was over 20 years ago.
Okay. That was just such a game changer for me and in my own thought process, and I was so lucky to have all of, to have that and to have that support growing up, especially back then that I feel like, our family has always our leading ethos, if you will, what we've always been Taught and what's always led us is to who much is given, much is expected.
So for me, I feel like that's taking the experience I've had taking, but also combining that with the knowledge that I have, being able to put that into the world in a way that hopefully makes a difference, right? And hopefully pays forward some of what I was given and part of what I, some of what I had the privilege to.
Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: Thank you for sharing that. And I think it's also so important to realize, like you said, that you had opportunities. But you were brave enough to take those opportunities. Like some people, and Yes. You said as a teenager, maybe not all of them, but it is human. It is human nature, but at the same time, like that's okay,
Dr. Carolyn Lentzch-Parcells: we all wanna go have a conversation with our 17 year old self.
Exactly. Exactly.
Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: We shoulda could or would've done, but the point is that you were okay. You were comfortable enough and being curious to let me figure this out. Let me ask somebody else advice, but also let me. Resonates for me so that at the end of the day, you're not just. Okay, this is it.
But also curious enough to be like what if there could be more or not? But at least you go into that right sphere and like you were telling me like, you've been able to talk to your uncle who's like amazing at, that's his jam, right? Like in social media stuff and have friends who open up doors for you or explain different things and.
Most of us feel like they're gonna know I suck in this area. I don't wanna show them that I suck at this area. But it's in, again, it's not like it's, we all expect to start walking all of a sudden when we were just born. No. Like you have to learn different things. Exactly.
Dr. Carolyn Lentzch-Parcells: Yeah.
Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: And so it was such a blessing to have you when you were in my group, and then to turn around to come and give us the talk, to be the guest coach about medicine like that was. Again, like you don't realize how we all have our own gifts and our own Yeah. Way to enhance the group or the environment or the community
Dr. Carolyn Lentzch-Parcells: that we're in.
To that point, I'll be honest, when I did, your coaching group, I wasn't totally sure what all I would get out of it, right? Because I know so much about ADHD already, right? And. I've done coaching in the past for myself and I've done kind of all the things, but I'd never done the group coaching, the thing.
And I'd also never done coaching with other physicians. I knew other physicians, but there wasn't a ton of us. There are a ton of us, but there weren't a ton of us that knew each other. And that was one the things that I think was really cool. Yeah, I had the opportunity even as a member of the group to answer questions or to share my knowledge, but there were definitely.
Several times where other members of the group would just say something or something about something they experienced or some epiphany they had that made me go
Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: oh,
Dr. Carolyn Lentzch-Parcells: fabulous. Like brain capo like just brain blown. And I think that was really, I think that was really cool.
And just the camaraderie. Too, of just, and just being able to be like, Hey, we're not alone here. We're all having similar struggles we're having, we have some different stuff too. But we have some really similar stuff. Yeah. It's, we're not the only ones.
Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: And it's, so again, and that's what I mean by it's so important to have a community that kind of just gets you, and they might not get everything, but when you have.
Safe space where you can just come and be. It's so different than from feeling like, oh, I can't say that out loud because my coworker is gonna think that blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, because they have no problem here and therefore blah, blah, blah.
Dr. Carolyn Lentzch-Parcells: So that connection. Yeah. Con, we talk about connection a lot and resilience.
We talk about connection, and that's that connection that you get from having truly shared experiences. That is there's a lot of negatives to all the online stuff and all the social media stuff and all of that for sure. But that's one of the real positives Yeah. Is being able to actually form connections and community and that stuff's critical.
Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: And I think Covid made it such, where again, I didn't even know how to use Zoom like or anything. Really prior to this. Yeah. But Covid made it such that you could wonder, Hey, I can have a conversation with anybody anywhere in the world. Okay. That's cool. And it made it a norm to be able to have that instant connection because I know when I then finally met you in person, oh my God, it was like a
Dr. Carolyn Lentzch-Parcells: world of different, That was so funny because it was like at that conference.
So for those of you who don't know, we're referring to the international conference on A D H D, which happens every November. By the way, please keep your eyes open and your emails open. It is fabulous. Baltimore. It's coming up. Here we go, crabcakes. But it is, it's three days of. Communing and having just the most fun time as well as very informational and educational with 1500 of your bestie, A D H D humans.
But anywho, needless to say, for 2020 and 2021, we were virtual, which was still great. I'm glad we had it, but it just wasn't the same. And I met all these people like Diana and some of our other physician friends and other folks. And then when we finally all came back together, The conference this last November in 22.
It was the funniest thing cuz there were people who was like, oh my God, it's so glad to see you again. And they're like, we've never actually met. And then there were other people who I'd actually met right before the pandemic who I was like, I'm so glad to finally see you in person. They're like, Carrie met before.
And I'm like, alright. Our sense of time was just so messed up. But it was oh, it was so much. Yes. So much fun. And the party was awesome. If I do say so myself, oh yes,
Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: We party again. Oh my God. We party till like midnight or something crazy and yeah, we,
Dr. Carolyn Lentzch-Parcells: there's videos out there.
I, there are videos. They are posted online. Because yes, we are still responsible adults. There was nothing crazy. It was just a lot of fun. Feather boas and Elton John glasses. But there was, I, each night I went to bed later and later, I think the first night it was like 1:00 AM. Second night to I was like, I'm getting too old to stay up this late.
I was in so much pain by then. Yeah. But it was just, we were having so much fun finally being together and getting to see each other and Yeah. Talk about some deep stuff, but also just have fun and talk and chill and Yeah.
Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: Yeah. And again, that's what I mean about community. Come into the place where everybody just gets you.
Yeah. It was so funny to hear people be giving a presentation and then midway they stop and they're like, what was I saying? And everybody's laughing, oh, and yeah. And then they're like, no, I'm serious. I got lost. What
Dr. Carolyn Lentzch-Parcells: was, it's amazing. I love it because I don't, one of the things I've always said about that conference, and part of why I've stayed so involved is because the first year I went in 2018, it was honestly, The first time that I felt like I could be 100% completely and totally authentically myself, both as a professional and as carry the D h D human.
Because so many times at these conference, when these professional conference, I feel like I have to mask Yes. And compensate to be taken seriously. Yes. Because if I'm my full, if I'm on full volume, I will not be taken seriously and people will look at me like I'm being annoyed. And at this one, like the very first time I went, people were like coming up to me.
I wasn't presenting right. I was just, And would raise my hand or, make comments or answer questions and people would come up to me and go oh my God, I love your energy. I'm like, I'm sorry, you said what? And they're like, and they looked at me like I was the, some sparkly unicorn because I was a physician with a d h adhd.
And I was like, y'all do know there's a lot of us, right? This is a lot of us. Like probably half the doctors out there, but I'm just saying. But no, but it was. It was so cool and it was not being myself didn't take away from who I was as a professional. It gave me more credibility. Yeah.
And it was incredible. It was incredible. Yes. And and it's continued that way. And working with those folks again, it's great because it's like, deadlines are a funny thing when you're working with a whole bunch of ADHD people. People are very forgiving which is nice, but also you also have to hold to 'em really tight or nothing ever gets done, exactly. So yeah.
Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: Is that you? You should see me planning my Costa Rica retreat. You know when the deadline was? Oh my
Dr. Carolyn Lentzch-Parcells: gosh. Was it first,
Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: right? Oh yeah. Like it firsts was the deadline and I'm like still getting Oh, I just booked my flight yesterday and my mom's coming too, and I'm like, give it the details.
I'm trying to organize. Getting you to and fro, right? Yeah.
Dr. Carolyn Lentzch-Parcells: But again,
Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: To your point. I think we need to remember that our energy is important and that we need to protect it. But we also need to realize what enhances it so that we refill and recharge ourselves. Yeah. And like you said, we don't give it all away with the.
Things that you know, can distract us and if they were not really what was IMP would be important five years from now, then maybe that you could gauge it that way. But Okay. I'm gonna wrap this up cuz I know our time is valuable and I know you and I can talk for hours cuz we've done that before.
Dr. Carolyn Lentzch-Parcells: Yes ma'am. But in the interest of time
Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: You already told us where people couldn't find you, but just tell us one more time and then I'm gonna ask you one more question and
Dr. Carolyn Lentzch-Parcells: we'll wrap it up. Our website is www.gtwhealth.com. My clinic is in Fort Worth, but we also two other clinics in the Dallas Fort Worth area.
The social medias are instagram@thehd.md which is the same at TikTok, Carolyn Lynch, l e n t z s c h, Parcells at for Facebook and then Twitter, but. Whatever. Awesome. Not Twitter.
Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: If people just started tuning in, because we have wondering attention, what is the one takeaway point that you would want them to walk away with?
I
Dr. Carolyn Lentzch-Parcells: get asked that, of course whenever we do these and my always go-to takeaway is this, which is do not let. Whether you are an adult with D H D or a parent of someone with D H D or you love someone with d h d, don't let what other people say prevent you from advocating for and fighting for what you or the person you love needs.
Everyone will always have an opinion. There will always be opinions and there will be always be opinions that disagree with whatever you choose to do. It is not shame. It is not failure to ask for help and to fight for what you and the people you love.
Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: Preach. Awesome. Okay, the last question, I know I said it was only one.
What do you hope to do for fun in the next three to five years? I know you already have a lot of fun, but tell me, oh, tell me what are you
Dr. Carolyn Lentzch-Parcells: dreaming about in the next three to five years? Yeah, travel. Lots of travel where to Lots and lots of travel. Internationally, already checked off Italy. Wanna go back to Italy, London.
I do love me some tropic. I got a whole list of bucket list countries. Like I'm one of those people that wants to make it to just about every, continent or whatever. Yeah me too. I'm not a cold weather person, so some of those but yeah, a lot of travel. Awesome. I'm hoping to suggestion.
Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: Yeah. We were just looking into maybe doing a cruise cuz that would be amazing. Like a 10 or 12 day cruise. Yeah. Like Mediterranean, because then you just have to literally get yourself on the ship and then you get on and get off, get on, get off. And you have hotel taken care of for you.
Exactly. Yeah. And then it's actually a lot more affordable than you think, how you do all your connections and. Stuff. So yeah, I think cruises are amazing for our A D H D brain dude. And we need an A D H D
Dr. Carolyn Lentzch-Parcells: physician's cruise. Oh, that'd be so much fun.
Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: Yes. We gotta plan something.
Dr. Carolyn Lentzch-Parcells: Go team. Woohoo.
Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: Stay tuned guys. Stay tuned. This is coming up. Awesome. Thank you so much for spending your time here with me today and with everybody who's listening because like I always say, Time is our most valuable asset because unfortunately we don't know how much or how long we have a it.
So let's try to do our best to be present in the moment because we know that we like to dwell on whatever already happened, and we like to plan so far ahead that we forget, like right here, right now, don't know
Dr. Carolyn Lentzch-Parcells: what you're talking about. I have no idea. I have no idea what you're talking about. I don't do that over.
Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: So yes, thank you again for coming. It's been, I'd delight to have you.
Dr. Carolyn Lentzch-Parcells: Appreciate
Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: it, Diana. Thank you for spending your time with me. I really believe that time is your most valuable asset. Please subscribe to the podcast, share with your colleagues, and don't forget to check out my website@hdlivecoach.com where you can find out about my upcoming coaching group classes, as well as free master classes and other exciting events that are happening.

The Metabolic Syndrome and ADHD Link

Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh: Come join me May 1st through the sixth, so that you can rest, rediscover your strengths, reconnect yourself and those physicians like you who are ready to leave, work at work and re-energize. This is the invitation for you. 2023 your year. Join me in Costa Rica in this really amazing, non-judgmental, intimate decision community.
I am gonna show you how to rest and how to recharge. Let's transform your brain up so that you can start to dream the life that you always wanted this year in 2020. I can't wait to learn all about what kind of year you're gonna have after this conference. Take care. Hello. Welcome to Beyond ADHD, a Physician's Perspective.
I am Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh . I'm a family medicine physician practicing in rural Texas. I used to be hindered by my adhd, but I now. See it as a gift that helps me show up as a person. I was always meant to be both in my work and in my personal life. In the past two years, I've come to realize that unlearning some of my beliefs.
And some of my habits were just as important as learning the new set of skills. I am so excited about today's topic, which is the relationship between metabolic syndrome and A D H D. I see this in my practice every single day. People look at me like, oh my God, she's a genius. It's not that I'm a genius, it's that I have firsthand real life experience with it myself.
It, when you have that real life experience, you're able to pull it out and make connections that somebody else might not have. So again, let's go through what is D H D A? D H D is a neurological neurodevelopmental. Disorder that affects our executive function and our executive function is this mental task ability to complete tasks, right?
So most of us, when we think about D H D, we think about the usual things like attention. It affects attention, okay? We think about impulse control, we think about the hyperactivity. Many of us might not be aware that there's more than those three. There is 12 executive functions and all of them, or some of them could be affected and sometimes one day more than the other.
And so when we talk about that, it's. Important for you to know, because if you don't realize that task response response inhibition. Task switching. Task initiation task. Completion management of time planning, prioritizing emotional control, time awareness, all those metacognition. There's so many of them.
There's 12 of them that can get affected, and if you're not aware of that, you might be blaming yourself and thinking you have this character. Defect is part of your condition, and you'd be surprised how many times my clients have this aha moments and even my patients when I asked them, okay, gimme all the things that you love about yourself and gimme all the things that you dislike about yourself, and many times all the things they dislike about themselves.
Are part of those executive function, and there they are sitting thinking that they are broken and they have a character flaw because they can't seem to do X, Y, and Z, when in reality it's part of their condition. And why am I talking about this? I'm talking about this because metabolic syndrome a set of symptoms or a.
Things that come together. For example, if you have high blood pressure, if you have high blood sugar levels, if you have excess abdominal adipose tissue or fat around your waist, or you have any. Cholesterol levels that are elevated. All those four things put you at risk for developing metabolic syndrome.
And what people don't realize is that A D H D is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is, Affected how much dopamine levels are around. So usually your A D H D tends to be unfavorable when your dopamine levels are low, and you tend to do well with your A D H D when your dopamine levels are high.
And so certain things like food can really increase your dopamine levels. And so that makes sense why, three o'clock, two o'clock, you might be looking for candy or for something for you to use to help you enhance your dopamine levels, because they're probably a little bit low. So with that premise, I am explaining to you that many times your eating habits can be a response to your unmanaged.
And there is a link. Okay. You see what I mean? When a individuals with A D H D have a higher risk of developing this syndrome, because people with A D H D have higher rates of obesity, insulin resistance, and. That is concerning because if you're not aware that you're using food as a means to regulate your A D H D, you're not aware that the underlying cause is not that you're eating so much, but that you're using food as a way to increase your dopamine so that you can try to complete the task at hand.
If we were to treat and diagnose you with A D H D, then it would. Easier for you to not have to be overeating. You be surprised how many times I have diagnosed people with A D H D when they had been told that they were just depressed or they were just anxious or they just could not lose weight. And I would, we would sit down and go through the diagnostic criteria and then when, then we would do all the labs and everything, and then we would realize.
There was ADHD there and once they started, Getting treatment for D H D, they've lost 20, 40, 50, a hundred pounds because now they are now no longer using A D H D. They're not, they're no longer using the food to treat their D H D and, okay, so fine, whatever. We're a little, all a little bit overweight. What does that have?
Anything to do with anything. The reason I am talking about it today is because it has everything to do with everything. Why do I say that? Again, our current lifestyle. Sets us up for metabolic syndrome like most of us are living quick, busy lives. And that is ha that causes us to go through the drive-through to eat sugars to have diets that are high in sugars and probably cokes and caffeine is probably another way, or energy drinks is another way for us to increase dopamine, and most of us tend to be.
Like not exercising as much as we want, and most of us tend to actually even drink and smoke. And some of that is gonna increase our health concerns. And when you have all that things going on, It actually decreases or estimated life expectancy due to you using all those sources as a way to in, to help you with your A D H D.
It actually can diminish how much time we haven't deserved, like it can decrease our life expectancy by 10 to 15 years. So it is important to talk about it because you might not realize treating A D H D. Either with medication or with behavioral therapy, or with coaching or all of them together can help improve your impulse control and can encourage healthy habits.
So that might, now that you understand that you don't have that two second delay between the stimulus and response, That might help you enhance your response inhibition. You might set up a strategy to help you just take a deep breath before you answer or before you go grab the cookie and ask yourself, what do I really need in this moment?
So the important thing is to realize that if you're somebody who might have metabolic syndrome, it might be important for you to. Get curious enough to realize if you might have a D H D and whether you can treat A D H D, and that can help actually decrease your risks for being overweight, for developing heart disease for, having a stroke or diabetes.
Thank you for spending your time with me. I really believe that time is your most valuable. Please subscribe to the podcast, share with your colleagues, and don't forget to check out my website@hdlivecoach.com where you can find out about my upcoming coaching group classes, as well as free master classes and other exciting events that are happen.

Unleashing the Power of ADHD Heroes in Healthcare

Dr. DIana Mercado-Marmarosh: Come join me May 1st through the sixth, so that you can rest, rediscover your strengths, reconnect yourself and those physicians like you who are ready to leave, work at work and re-energize. This is the invitation for you. 2023 your year. Join me in Costa Rica in this really amazing, non-judgmental, intimate decision community.
I am gonna show you how to rest and how to recharge. Let's transform your brain up so that you can start to dream the life that you always wanted this year in 2020. I can't wait to learn all about what kind of year you're gonna have after this conference. Take care. Hello. Welcome to Beyond ADHD, a Physician's Perspective.
I am Dr. Diana Mercado-Marmarosh. I'm a family medicine physician practicing in rural Texas. I used to be hindered by my adhd, but I now. See it as a gift that helps me show up as a person. I was always meant to be both in my work and in my personal life. In the past two years, I've come to realize that unlearning some of my beliefs.
And some of my habits were just as important as learning the new set of skills. Hello. Hello. I am so excited about today's topic. It is called Unleashing the Power of A D H D, heroes and Healthcare. It is a topic that is obviously very dear to my heart because. I am one of those A D H D health providers and also I work with a D H D clients who are physicians who are healthcare providers.
I actually use that type of information to apply for a conference in Rome that I got selected to, to go speak about in July. So I'm super excited about that. But anyways, today, We wanna talk about why. I really think when we lean into those healthcare providers or physicians who have adhd, it is so important to do and again, we all know that when we step into a room where the community just gets us, it makes a world of a difference. It's having that real life experience that can really make a difference. Between how you handle whatever you're going through and how the other person handles whatever they're going through.
The A D H D hero has been in the trenches battling their own symptoms coming out on the top, and when they share their real life experience, it just, Becomes obvious that they have superpowers and strategies and they can use this to show others. They too are on a journey. A D H D is a lifelong condition and it can get easier if you know how to deal with it because you understand it firsthand.
I always tell my own patients just because I'm talking to them about it, it doesn't mean like I have all the answers and it doesn't mean I'm a hundred percent. Got it under control because it is a journey. One day you show up fully, a hundred percent charge. Another day you show up. 20% charge based on the task that you're having at hand is how you are going to deal with whatever comes your way.
But having real life experience makes a big difference because you can just almost tell them exactly what they're thinking because it's your brain that is so similar with theirs. But again I also wanna point out that there is a spectrum. So it's not like a hundred percent of everything that I tell you that I'm doing is you're gonna do.
I'm always very careful with that because it. It almost becomes like gaslighting, right? Instead, it's important to ask yourselves what usually works, what doesn't work, so you can start to create some insight with that. I don't know if you're aware or not, but the AMA released a survey in 2016. It actually stated that 30% of US medical students.
Had disclosed that they had H adhd. It is very likely in your healthcare team you have somebody with H adhd. So it's important to point them out if they want to, right? So that they too can relate to each other and come up with a community to support each other. Brain power, like they get to tap into their brain power with their ADHD brain.
These heroes are unique it that they have this unique perspective. And they have obviously a wealth of knowledge about the condition. They can see things from a di different angle and come up with creative solutions. It's so important to not only. Use the brain powers to help educate your patients, but it could also be used to help educate your colleagues and it can also be useful to help modify the current system that might not be supporting them or not supporting the whole flow.
So what do I mean by this? For example, in my practice we, we were the ones responsible for starting our own notes and I suggested what if the nurse or the ma preloads a template and they may be type in one word or one sentence explaining why the patient is there. Now the note is open. You have an easier way to start.
It seems obvious to do something like that, but it was not until one of us suggested it and the rest of the team was like, oh yeah, we should try it. And all of a sudden we weren't missing, not even having started a note on a patient. We could track it easier. So it's just coming up with more solutions and being creative.
And another thing why it's important to have this A D H D superheroes in your team is because. They can help to destigmatize this condition. They can show others how A D H D could be a superpower instead of a weakness. They can help not only the patients, but also the families come to understand.
There's nothing wrong with them, you know that. Just thinking differently and there's, it's like thinking right or left-handed. And so if you're naturally left-handed and you're trying to use your right hand, it's just a little harder to do that task. But when you understand that you are left-handed, then it's easier for you to.
Do something with it. Taking the stigma away from a condition that is genetic that you didn't choose, it makes a world of a difference. For me, this was the realization that finally got me to open up to others. When I was coached in October of 2020 by Sunny Smith and I was told, A D H D is a circumstance.
You get to decide how you want to. What do you wanna make of it? You can decide that it's the best thing in the world, or you can decide it's the worst thing in the world. You can decide it will benefit you or not. Like it's up to you. And she asked me like, how is the diagnosis of A D H D any different from high blood pressure or from cancer or from diabetes?
And in my mind it was, I was trying to make all kinds of justifications. I was, but then I came to realize that A D H D. Like you're born with it and it's probably been there all along, but you were not even aware of it because that was just your norm and. Once you get the diagnosis or once you come to understand that you, this is it, then you can start to work towards understanding it and using it as a superpower and.
Another reason why it's important to have an A D H D superhero in your team is that it can lead to more collaboration. It could lead to better teamwork, not just for you, but also for your patients. Like you can, because you understand it, you're able to. Find more resources for this individual. You're able to get them to the right people, like either a therapist or a coach or explaining to them that, they might.
Have iron deficiency that can make their D H D worse. Or you could look into vitamin D deficiency and that could supplementing, could enhance their A D H D. Or you have awareness that Sometimes P T S D can almost appear like a D H D. So it's important to be aware of these things because then it could help you enhance, be a patient's advocate, but it can also enhance their diagnosis management once you have identified it.
So I really think having an A D H D hero in your team could, can unleash the beauty of this relationship between management, understanding, and treatment that can really change a person's life. Thank you for spending your time with me. I really believe that time is your most valuable. Please subscribe to the podcast, share with your colleagues, and don't forget to check out my website@hdlivecoach.com where you can find out about my upcoming coaching group classes, as well as free master classes and other exciting events that are happening.