Amid the pandemic, TikTok turned a fountain of data for, nicely, absolutely anything you may be even a bit of bit inquisitive about. This has caused a necessity for social media customers to vet their sources, in order to not fall sufferer to believing and perpetuating the usually harmful misinformation that may go viral. However, due to credentialed professionals who’ve taken to the app, it’s additionally offered a way of group, consciousness, and entry to details about varied health-related points and circumstances.
In 2020, Sasha Hamdani, MD, a board-certified psychiatrist and a spotlight deficit hyperactivity dysfunction (ADHD) specialist based mostly in Kansas Metropolis, Missouri, joined TikTok after noticing a necessity for extra evidence-based details about the neurodevelopmental persistent situation on the app. As each a supplier and one that has ADHD, Dr. Hamdani is uniquely suited to assist others handle their ADHD and perceive the way in which their mind works; she’s additionally enthusiastic about serving to of us with ADHD greatest look after themselves and forestall burnout.
Posting underneath the deal with @thepsychdoctormd on Instagram and TikTok, Dr. Hamdani’s feed typically recounts what dwelling with and treating ADHD is like for her—the ups, the downs, the humorous, the wrenching, the irritating, and all of the in-betweens. However the concept that she’d in the future share her private experiences to assist so many others handle their ADHD as soon as felt unthinkable.
Dr. Hamdani was recognized with ADHD in fourth grade, however didn’t perceive what precisely that meant for her till she was in faculty as a result of her dad and mom had managed her medicines and routines—in addition they hadn’t really advised her what she had.
“[College was] after I actually began battling the ADHD stuff, as a result of I did not really find out about my prognosis or what it meant, or medicine, or something,” says Dr. Hamdani. “I used to be making an attempt to determine that out whereas additionally making an attempt to determine all these regular developmental phases as nicely, like ‘How do I eat?’ and ‘How do I present as much as class on time?’” The psychological load was quite a bit to broach, and with out the understanding of how her mind works, she wasn’t geared up to note psychological and behavioral patterns that would assist set her up for fulfillment. She was burning out.
Studying extra about ADHD and realizing that she’d need to observe a unique playbook than her neurotypical friends helped. Alongside medicine, and with help from her household and educational staff, Dr. Hamdani realized form her routines to counteract the behaviors that contributed to the burnout she was experiencing. This included creating set routines round particular habits that in sum would maintain her targeted and motivated relatively than depleted, discouraged, or burnt out. “I realized how I must be consuming, ingesting, sleeping, exercising, organizing—all of the fundamentals that I did not assume might turn out to be routines in an ADHD mind,” she says.
“It [FocusGenie] teaches you about your mind, then it additionally offers you the instruments to implement change, construct habits, and proceed this momentum”
-Sasha Hamdani, MD, psychiatrist
Now, she’s made discovering private {and professional} success as somebody with ADHD her life’s work: She’s a psychiatrist specializing in ADHD and anxiousness; the creator of Self-Look after Folks with ADHD: 100+ Methods to Recharge, De-Stress, and Prioritize You; and most just lately launched FocusGenie, a complete ADHD administration app meant to assist neurodivergent of us handle, perceive, and calm their brains. “It teaches you about your mind, then it additionally offers you the instruments to implement change, construct habits, and proceed this momentum,” she says of the app.
I just lately spoke with Dr. Hamdani about how she makes use of varied platforms to share correct, useful methods to thrive with ADHD, entry efficient self care, and forestall burnout.
Dr. Sasha Hamdani: I began utilizing TikTok in late 2020 after I was solely doing telehealth appointments amid the pandemic. I really feel like there was a enormous improve in ADHD diagnoses in the course of the pandemic as a result of folks had been speaking about it extra, and sufferers would maintain their telephones as much as the digital camera and be like, “I feel I’ve ADHD due to this [TikTok] video.” However the video would typically be so silly, and never evidence-based. Certainly one of my sufferers held up a video that stated you’re neurodivergent if you happen to sneeze a number of occasions in a row. I used to be like, “That’s so ridiculous,” however then I noticed I do sneeze a number of occasions in a row, and I’m neurodivergent. Even so, that also doesn’t make the declare true. However that’s the issue proper?
What initially prompted me to affix TikTok is studying it’s a spot the place there’s horrible info and it is being circulated to a really younger and susceptible inhabitants. However after I bought on-line, I discovered there’s really actually good info, too. I initially began posting so as to add extra good info.
SH: From a patient-only perspective, it is onerous to grasp all of the decision-making a physician has to undergo. As a supplier who’s been a affected person, I feel it strongly roots you on this empathy and this standpoint that’s in the beginning about affected person advocacy. You need sufferers to really feel autonomous and comfy sufficient to vocalize their wants, and to grasp that they are the knowledgeable on their inside expertise. You do not need to gaslight them pondering that you realize higher—as a result of they do know greatest what’s happening. They won’t know all the pieces in regards to the nuances of remedy or prognosis, however they know what’s taking place [inside of] them. So I feel it’s cool.
SH: FocusGenie is a behavioral administration app for ADHD and neurodivergent brains on the whole. It’s actually for any mind that wants assist with productiveness and focus, so you do not want a prognosis [to use it].
What I like most about it’s that it has all the pieces I would like in a single place. I beforehand had six or seven apps that had been doing all of the issues I wished [to help me manage my ADHD]—a Pomodoro app to interrupt down duties, the Notes app to maintain observe of duties, and a music participant for focus-boosting audio—however I’d actually lose steam with all of them as a result of it’s too onerous to keep up if the knowledge isn’t in the identical place. I’d obtain all the pieces, it might final three days then I’d transfer on.
[FocusGenie has] very sensible, helpful, academic modules and as you progress by the app, new ones get launched each month. Every lesson takes a few minute, they usually’re enjoyable social media-like swipe-throughs. There’s stuff on the basics of ADHD and the way your mind works. However then it additionally talks about stuff like “How do I handle my funds?” “How do I maintain my home clear?” “How ought to I be consuming?” “How do I take care of a poisonous relationship?”
The app breaks down duties very visually, and you may also use focus-enhancing audio. You may work with a physique double, and you’ll even work with me by cueing up a pre-recorded video of me, and I’ll work alongside you whilst you’re doing a activity. There’s a mindfulness space, too.
My favourite a part of the app, although, is the main target tracker, which talks about your focus, your impulsivity, your fidgetiness, your consuming, your ingesting, and your sleeping. You get to see your habits graphically over time. I have been beta testing [the app] for about eight months, and I seen that my impulsivity is thru the roof for 4 days each month, and that’s proper earlier than my interval. I went again over the previous two years in my bank card statements, and there’s a $600 bump in that 4 day interval. I can’t be trusted with my cellphone on the sofa throughout these 4 days, and I [learned that] from simply trying and monitoring over these eight months.
It was vital for me to create FocusGenie as a result of I’ve seen firsthand how limiting ADHD may be. I need to present an accessible answer so folks can begin studying about their mind and probably keep away from years of self-doubt and judgment. I simply need FocusGenie to be the supply of fine info and instruments folks can use to rework their lives.
SH: Burnout is absolutely an attention-grabbing phenomenon as a result of it is so multifaceted. That intersection of all these issues compounds and it makes me extra seemingly [to be burned out], however that is why self care is so vital, and so is having a sensible viewpoint.
This actuality of intersectionality compounding burnout highlights why discovering self care that’s efficient for you is so essential. It took me about two years into follow to appreciate I am unable to do all of it. In my first yr of follow, I went in and I used to be like, “I’m the primary feminine that has joined in a very very long time—there was one different feminine however she’d been a accomplice without end—and I’m going to indicate them that I actually should be right here.” However I used to be engaged on the weekends, and I wasn’t sleeping for 2 days at a time and, for what? I used to be placing all this inside strain on myself.
After figuring out efficient self care, it’s vital to respect and train the self care practices that you just want, but in addition have a sensible view about what the “outcomes” might appear to be. For me, [avoiding burnout] is now a matter of understanding that I needn’t show myself to anyone else. I simply must discover a strategy to make myself pleased—and studying that has been life-changing.
SH: Self care is useful for stopping burnout and stopping your self from getting right into a stage the place you want that extended recuperation time. However I do not assume working towards self care will pull you out of burnout when you’re in it. Some of the vital issues, even far past self care, is knowing your patterns so that you may be aware of stopping it from taking maintain.
With ADHD and burnout, or when you’ve got melancholy and anxiousness, by the point you are approaching burnout, you’re bodily and emotionally tapped out, so making an attempt to tug your self out of the opening looks like such an enormous ask.
And in case you are within the throes of burnout, wait it out, perceive what your physique wants, and focus in your base items. Eat, drink water, and don’t attempt to stimulate your mind into working higher; what your mind wants is relaxation. Relaxation goes to make you are feeling higher.
SH: It depends upon the state of affairs, as a result of I’ve a unique toolkit based mostly on what is going on on. There are occasions after I really feel sort of disconnected, for instance if work is getting extreme and I’m taking it dwelling with me, or if I’m having unfavorable interactions at work. The reply for that’s to tug away from work for a brief time period. I can’t handle sufferers if I am [not taking care of myself].
This interview has been edited for readability and size.