What is ADHD? 

Ohh this will be very helpful to explain to my teachers tysmm 💕💕

Jessica: *explains what ADHD is in 3 minutes* Me, didn't listen to what she said instead gazing upon the video: *whoooooo moving things*

I love how fast she speaks 😭 Normally I click outta videos because I can’t stand to sit there while people talk like the sloths outta zootopia

You saved my life I’m a 64 year old man who been watching your channel for years I finally got treatment for my adhd and my life is night and day much better ,thank you thank you thank you !

Does anyone else just sometimes forget that they have ADHD? Not because the symptoms have disappeared, but just because their memory is that terrible? Like Me: "why am I doing this thing?" Bf/housemate/psychiatrist/future me: "because you have adhd" Me: *surprised Pikachu face*

Spot on Jessica. I feel my type (inattentive) catches people out and they don't realise until way later in life.

Succinct and accurate. ADHD is SOOOO much more than "not being able to sit still". That's not even the main issue. Thanks for the great video, as always!

@ 2:15 realised that 1987 is just a jumbled version of 1798 and promptly got distracted from the rest of the video🤦🏻‍♀️

Defining "executive functions" is probably already on your list, but that would be a great one to do!

Just when I was about to go to sleep, here we go again

I don’t know if it’s my ADHD but your ears are lovely

I would like to see a video about people who are introverted or shy with ADHD and how it affects that person's life

"Twice exceptional!" *Shows Albert Einstein* Scot literally starts crying. This is how many people described me younger and Einstein was often referred to me because his immense struggles when he was a child. No one remembers that path, every just knows the end result. The "How" to explain everything... is literally what ADHD struggles with...

It is to constantly struggle with your life and being misunderstood (😅😂)

This is a good way to tell someone some basics or at least something about ADHD. I think you did a good job Jessica!

hiiiii! i have ADHD too! people don’t understand what it is..people bully me because i’m “different” than them. i love your videos :) much love to your family and friends! stay safe :)

You are so cute, and speak fast enough that it is pleasure to listen.

I have an appointment to get diagnosed on Monday. I’ve been binging these videos for the last month.

Jessica: Explains what is ADHD Me: Doesn't listen and dances to the background music the whole time.

though adhd in itself can be cumbersome a lot of times, one of the worst part is the addiction part. fighting to quit smoking rn, and had abused substances earlier in life. then come depression, and guilt. while i have the support of my family, some may not be so fortunate. This videos of yours bring a smile to me, and i am sure to many more ! bonus for making me understand a bit more of myself ! keep up the good work !

Can you do a definition video on “neurodiversity”?

I can’t wait for you to release more videos defining the more intricate aspects of ADHD, because like you said, it’s so much more than not being able to sit still and people need to realise that

I would love to hear more about emotional dysregulation and about how ADHD can interact with anxiety!

Finding ur channel has gotten me over my present spiral. Thank you for creating it and showing me I’m not alone.

It's a difficult question to answer as it's almost impossible to describe. One might ask the same about birds. What are birds? We just don't know.

I wanted to tell you how much I appreciate your videos, you gave me the courage to finally get myself tested and I've come back positive with ADHD anxiety and depression. Your content has unequivocally changed my life for the better and I just want you to know how valuable your videos have been for this 30 year old human from Canada, thank you so much and keep it up you are excellent

Thank you so much for doing this. I just watched your TED talk, and it really hit close to home. I finally got diagnosed two days ago, and started medication-what a difference! I’m thirty six years old, and for the first time in my life, I feel like a functional human being. I’ve been really digging into trauma and ADD for the past couple years, and I’ve been doing everything from therapy, to mindfulness meditation, to closely monitoring and managing my nutrition, sleep, and exercise. I wish I had found out when I was a kid and started treatment and strategizing earlier. What an incredible difference! Thank you!

I recently discovered I had ADHD and I’m reading the drummer and the great mountain but I LOVE your videos you have a great way of delivering information and are just f**king awesome! Thank you and keep up the amazing work.

I feel like my friends are getting sick of me sending them your videos, but I like having them know the signs of ADHD so they can notice how much of an impact it has on who I am as a person.

Thank you, Jessica! This is a great, quick descriptive video that people can link to, for those who may not understand the basics.

Thank you so much for making these videos. I am 35 years old and have just been diagnosed with ADHD. It's a crazy mix of excitement for the future with meds and sadness thinking about how hard life has been up until now. Your videos are perfect at explaining everything and making me feel not alone. The pace is perfect. The information is great. Please keep making these. They have changed my life and I'm hoping that medication can help me not be so forgetful. Thank you again.

I’m watching these videos because several people in my life have ADHD. Some are managing better than others and one has been recently diagnosed. So I’m trying to adjust my interactions with them to hopefully be more supportive and to help them execute life better. Love your tone of voice and how fast paced your videos are. Thanks for educating people with videos that are easy to understand and thank you for sticking to the point. Keep it up!

Oh my. I needed this video a few days ago to combat some misinformation. Such a good, brief, and well-defined video definition!

I love your videos! By the way, found out that I have ADHD through them, last year. RU-vid's random algorithms can be helpful sometimes... anyway, I'd like to thank you for all your hard work, dedication and support 💜 You're such a wonderful person, and I really appreciate your channel a lot!

It always surprises me when i come to this channel and actually can watch a whole video without getting distracted!! Your editing and video style is so brain friendly!!! Thank you!!!

I just want to say thank you, I found your channel a few months ago while procrastinating my work by trying to find tools to help with focus attention and motivation. I was already being treated for depression and anxiety so I spoke with my psych and recently got my diagnosis for adhd at 35 years old and am now getting treatment. Again thank you idk if I ever would have recognized my symptoms without your channel.

I would love this new series and a definition about "hyperfocus" would be great!

Mmmmm, as a fan of science and clear communication, I really enjoyed this video. A great video to begin this series. Well made and well presented. As far as additional videos, I'd love to see one about hyperfocus. I still don't understand it well, and it is one of the symptoms that I find the most difficult to manage.

I'm glad this channel exists, I was just diagnosed today and I will be binging these vids to understand myself better, thanks :)

Im talking my mom into taking me to take the adhd test. Thank you so much for posting this video, it helps alot with exsplaining it. Both my parents have very severe symptoms of adhd and because of that dont find my behaviour strange. Thank you thank you thank you! Your videos have saved my life and helped me more than you can imagine. You are a lifesaver!!!

I love your videos, they help me understand my condition so much more! ♥️

Had just started rewatching your ted talk for the 2nd time Bc I was so bored. This vid came at a perfect time haha

It's incredibly encouraging to see knowledge and awareness about ADHD spread. Thank you for your work!

I was diagnosed in 2012 to get accommodations at school but was always brought up thinking that I just needed to try harder so I thought it was just my laziness. I found your channel and it was like I found the first group of people I could actually relate to. I have found your videos very insightful and helpful in managing my attention. The coping strategies you talk about have already helped me so much. Thank you.

So excited Hank mentioned you. You two should collab!!

omg!!! this is such a good idea! i am trying so hard to break the stigmas of this diagnosis ever since i was diagnosed with adhd!!! so many people who don’t have it believe so many untrue things (for example: everyone with adhd is hyperactive.) THIS IS NOT TRUE!! many people with adhd aren’t, and that’s ok because everyone with it experiences it in a different way! hope this was helpful!!!

Thank you for this! This is another help in explaining to my parents and partner what ADHD is. All your videos are super helpful for me since I got diagnosed in March. Thanks for continuing to make such awesome videos! Look forward to more in this series!!!

This is an excellent new series. Often in a conversation people are not on the same page a definition gives us a platform from which to work.

I’ve also heard it has an affect on sleep cycles, hence why ppl may sometimes sleep late or feel sleepy in classes (and some meds are for narcolepsy too)

Can you do one on RSD (regection sensitivity disorder) it usually goes along with adhd

This is a good way to explain ADHD. Important facts, and easy to understand because of illustrations and the way you talk. More of this, please!

your ted talk made me cry. I love you so much jessica

Thank you so much for all you contribute not just to individuals with ADHD, but in how you've helped build community. I don't feel weird and alone!

Early! I love these videos since I also have ADHD!

Jessica, this is absolutely brilliant! As a psychologist, coach and 'experienced ADHDer' I think this is the best summary I have ever seen. Great job!

I just wanna say I just found your channel and I really cannot even put into words how helpful and meaningful this has been for me. I've struggled with adhd since I was a little kid and as a result dropped out of high school. Even still I question if I really have it or if I'm faking it but your channel made me cry I felt so seen and like I found a community. I'm going to try cbt and seeing a psychiatrist again now. Thank you.

Fantastic! Definitely one on emotional dysregulation. This aspect seems to be downplayed or unrecognized.

Hi! Does anyone else with ADHD struggle to FALL asleep? How do you fall asleep? Please tell me

I was diagnosed almost 11 years ago when I was 7 years old. Now that I'm studying to become an elementary school teacher, resources like this are very helpful for me. Not only to describe my ADHD to others, but to use as a reference when I'm frustrated with myself. Your videos help me feel understood and validated when my family struggles to grasp the full impact of ADHD on my life. Thank you for being so supportive and helpful! Love from Hawai'i!

I’ve been watching your videos for about a year, and identified with so many symptoms of ADHD, but was a little in denial... I was diagnosed a couple of months ago. I’m 28 and this feels long overdue, but it’s truly changing my life to know and to have medication. Thank you so much for making these videos, you’ve really helped !

Jessica: *“Watch these other videos!"* Me: *Totally will, I'm gonna do it right now!* Jessica: *"Unless you need to eat or study...”* Me: *Well, you got me there. School, here I come*

I literally do my hw sometimes without even caring just get it done and do like 5 problems at time and getting up a lot to do random stuff

I kept looking to see if this was a refresh of a previous video. Love the info, love the series.

This is my first video of yours and I’m so glad that you talk at a quicker speed and the animations and stuff really help me to stay attentive!!

When I was a kid I was diagnosticated with ADHD, but my mom never tell me. I went to terapy and do diversed excersises. I tought I was just dumb. After some months I left terapy and never come back since then. I star to noticed that I have weird troubles with easy thing and lower capacity to remmember things. When I found about this disorder (ADHD) I questioned my mother if I haved it and she confirmed. I don't know if I keep having it, I really don't know what to do. I alredy 18, and I worry this can give me troubles in the future. I'm happy to watch this video ❤

I told my mom about my suspicions, and now she's agreeing to make me an appointment

I found this after my partner sent me a link. I cried. this is me and this gives me an understanding of the difficulties I have endured just living my life and wondering why other people did not feel the same way. Thankyou. Thankyou thankyou thankyou.

I love this! Simple definition videos are something I always love because it helps improve the actual understanding of those things by the general public so well. I would love to see definition videos for executive functioning, emotional dysregulation, rejection sensitive dysphoria, meltdowns and shutdowns, fidgeting, and maybe some subvideos of this one breaking down more specifically what each subtype of ADHD is in more detail.

*Anyone else feels like the medication helps a lot, but do you feel like a you are just a prefrontal cortex with a body attached to it just for decoration?*

Ok, but what *is* it? What's actually going on in my brain?

what you are doing is so important and needed! there is so much misinformation about adhd, especially in the education system. i did very well in school. i got good grades, and I had a very high reading score at a young age. I wasn't diagnosed with adhd until my sophomore year of high school and many of my teachers were shocked when I asked them to fill out a Vanderbilt assessment form so that I could be prescribed medication. they thought that adhd was mostly hyperactivity and never noticed my inattentiveness in class. I wish I had a video like this to show my teachers at the time. You guys are doing amazing things!

You've taught and helped me more recently than everyone else combined in my life. I am forever grateful. It really pushes me to now try to "control my enthusiasm" better! Thank you.

1.5 x speed = catering to my ADHD 👍

Early birds! 00:15 AM here

Started watching this channel because I wanted to see what to look out for in my daughter, and recognized myself. I finally got diagnosed 2 weeks ago. Thanks for all you do!

I really appreciate that you have a lot of movement and different illustrations in the video, it makes it so much easier to focus without my meds :)

I'm so early

currently rewatching a ton of your videos for a school assignment about ADHD, and theyre helping so much, thank you for everything you do :D

Haven't seen your videos in forever. I hope you're well. You look look really happy and healthy. You're awesome Jessica. I'm so glad I found your channel so many years ago and that you're still producing content.

I love this idea! I just got diagnosed at 34 and I know this will be super helpful to give to loved ones! Btw just wanted to thank you for your videos, my therapist (who also has ADHD and helped me to get a diagnosis!) referred me to your channel and it has been SUCH a saving grace! Thank you!!! 💜

My ADHD assessment is on the 4th of August, after years of waiting! Thank you so much for making these videos, I can't tell you how much they've helped

Thank you for this. I’ve struggled for a long time with ADHD, not realizing it and not having an ability to express it. Your Snaps have helped a great deal. Just discovered the RU-vid channel

I was waiting for your weekly videos!! I miss you sweet and beautiful Rebeca!!! What I like most of your videos is that they are so concise!!! Thank you

Jessica, you saved my life. I saw your ted talk last year and that's when I realized that I might actually have ADHD. I got diagnosed a few months later (at age 26) and started medication a few months ago. It changed everything. Though I'm still struggling and learning a lot, I can already tell the difference. Thank you so much!

Very excited to see more of this, thank you for making this series!

Thanks Jessica for all the videos you make on ADHD. Both me & my oldest son have ADHD and I send these videos to people that don’t understand why we do some of the things we do.

Thank you so much! My friend has ADHD and now can see the affects that he has to deal with and face it his life. This video also made me think about others and what they have to deal with!

Excellent, both clear and concise. Like all your videos, so much packed into it but never felling overwhelming with it's information.

I love your channel, been able to understand my ADHD better. and I been showing my grandpa your videos to help him understand my struggles. I am Combined

I can’t Thank You enough for your channel. My kids have been able to understand some of their struggle through school, work and life in general. As young adults I feel it is so beneficial that they found this out now and not struggle through life into their 50’s like me and not know that is part of the struggle.

Stoked you’re doing this new series. I’ve been struggling to explain my ADHD a lot (especially when in an escalated state). BTW: I sent a couple of your videos to my therapist and she already watches and recommends your channel! So, even more kudos there!

I only just got diagnosed by a therapist about two weeks ago (I'm a 29 year old woman and predominantly inattentive) after having gone back to grad school and proceeding to really struggle with certain aspects of it (things I thought I had outgrown when I just squeaked by on getting my bachelor's 8 years ago...). Your videos have put a lot of things in perspective for me - things that I thought were hard for everyone but I was just "worse at" them for some reason now make sense as being symptomatic of something bigger rather than a personality flaw, and it's made me feel a lot better about myself and what I'm capable of. Not just because I now know I'm not alone in what I find hard about being a person, but also that there is potential for things to get better, or at the very least, coped with. Your channel is especially valuable for me because many other resources I have seen involve helping "your child" with their struggles (which tends to just make me feel terrible about myself all over again) or in general functioning in a workplace or school environment (while that's nice...ADHD affects my whole life, not just my ability to be a productive member of a capitalist society) - and your videos, while also addressing those things, don't assume any of it. It talks about all aspects of life, for any age. There's no judgment but no coddling, and no assumption that you have all the answers or that one thing is going to work for everybody. I thought I had depression and anxiety for a long time (in some ways I still do), but no resources I saw really jived with how I felt my brain was working. Yours was the first series of advice that actually made some damn sense. TL;DR - thank you thank you thank you Jessica (and your team) for helping me feel like a person and not a failure OK full disclosure I am absolutely binging on these videos to procrastinate a research project that's 2 semesters late. I'm gonna get on that. Thank you

Excited for this series! Looking forward to it Jess!

I love your channel. It’s helped me out so much and I’m so thankful for it. I was just recently diagnosed and I’m 28. I always knew there was something off with me, but just didn’t know what. I feel better now that I have a name to why I am the way I am.

Your channel has been helping me for years and today I finally got diagnosed at age 30! Thanks Jessica - I'm gonna watch a bunch of your videos again tonight as a confirmed brain! 🥰

I love how you get to the point. Thank you. I tried to look at videos from other ppl but they took too long to get to the point. So thanks 😬

I think this is a good intro video! Either for someone who was very recently diagnosed, or for someone in the life of someone ADHD who needs help understanding more about the condition.

Jessica your video editing is spot on! I appreciate how you keep transitions and animations lively to keep our brains going. 🙏

Your videos are inspiring. Since being diagnosed at 7 years of age and being 26 now I feel like your videos are inspiring. Thank you❤😎!!

Thank you so much for your channel! Your videos have made my 9 year-old daughter who has ADHD-combined type besides other needs feel validated and not so alone. You are doing wonderful work.