Shrinking It Down: Mental Health Made Simple · Gene Beresin, MD, MA and Khadijah Booth Watkins, MD, MPH

ADHD: The Transition to Adulthood

·54 min·3 clips

Dr. Bandura's "self-efficacy" idea helps explain why ADHD can damage confidence even when a child knows the material.

Gene Varesan and Khadijah Booth-Watkins, both child and adolescent psychiatrists at the Clay Center for Young Healthy Minds at Massachusetts General Hospital, open with a direct question about whether ADHD simply goes away with age. They push back fast on the idea that the answer is simple. The episode makes room for the fact that some restlessness and motor activity may settle over time, while other challenges, especially focus, time management, and executive functioning, often remain and may get harder. Dr. Tony Rothstein joins the conversation as a longtime friend and expert in lifespan neurodevelopmental diversity in psychiatry. The discussion treats the move from childhood ADHD to adult ADHD as a transition that takes more than good intentions. It also looks closely at the way high school can hide problems through scaffolding. Parents and teachers often remind young people what to do and when to do it, but college removes much of that structure at once. That shift can make organization, follow-through, and self-management feel a lot harder. The episode frames executive functioning as a central target of ADHD care for college students. It also gives weight to the emotional cost of repeated correction and criticism. Gene and Khadijah stress that the risk of not treating ADHD deserves the same seriousness as the risk of treatment. They point to self-esteem as a major part of that equation. The conversation then turns to practical supports that can help, including body doubling and self-control strategies. It also returns to basics like sleep, nutrition, and exercise as part of the three-legged stool of healthy behavior. Rather than offering a quick fix, the episode favors small structures that help a young person stay with a task that is not especially rewarding. Near the close, the conversation widens again to belonging, community, and the need to feel important, heard, and seen. The result is a careful, useful discussion for families trying to understand how ADHD can change as children move into adulthood.

As heard by us

A straightforward look at how ADHD can become harder to manage when childhood support gives way to adult expectations.

ADHD: The Transition to Adulthood looks at how ADHD can shift once childhood scaffolding falls away and adult life asks for more self-management. Gene Varesan, Khadijah Booth-Watkins, and Dr.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

When ADHD meets adulthood, the missing scaffolding really matters.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Shrinking It Down: Mental Health Made Simple