Meet the reporter who threw herself into the ADHD universe | Hyperfocus
Podcast:MissUnderstood: The ADHD in Women Channel Published On: Thu Apr 17 2025 Description: If you follow ADHD news, you might’ve heard that diagnosis rates in women nearly doubled during the pandemic. Danielle Elliot was one of them, receiving her diagnosis just before she turned 37.Danielle is also a science and health journalist. So, she did the thing that many reporters are inclined to do — she began investigating this big, new thing in her life and how it fit into the world around her.As she dug in deeper, she landed on two big questions relating to the pandemic diagnosis boom: Why women? And why now? Her answers culminated in a new podcast from Understood.org called Climbing the Walls. It’s a six-episode series, and the first installment is out now.This week on Hyperfocus, Danielle visits the show to talk about her ADHD experience and what it’s like reporting a story where you’re one of the characters.Related resourcesListen to Climbing the WallsI’m a journalist with ADHD. Here’s how I get it done.ADHD and womenTimestamps(1:25) The origins of Danielle’s story (7:50) Surprises during the reporting process(12:05) What it felt like to get a diagnosis (22:14) Danielle’s big takeaways from making the showFor a transcript and more resources, visit the Hyperfocus page on Understood.We’d love to hear from you. Email us at hyperfocus@understood.org. Listen to Everyone Gets a Juice Box, a new podcast from Understood.org where host Jessica Shaw has honest talks with parents raising kids who learn and think differently.Understood.org is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering people with learning and thinking differences, like ADHD and dyslexia. If you want to help us continue this work, donate at understood.org/give Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.