Dr. Kathleen Nadeau, founder of the Chesapeake Center and author of 'Still Distracted After All These Years', dives into the often-overlooked topic of ADHD in older adults. She discusses the impact of aging on ADHD, including loss of structure and increasing isolation. Kathleen highlights the importance of community support, the connection between sleep disturbances and cognitive health, and advocates for better resources and awareness for this demographic. Her insights mix nuance with humor, emphasizing resilience and the potential for reinvention.
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insights INSIGHT
ADHD Changes With Circumstances
ADHD remains the same throughout life, but changing circumstances impact its expression.
Older adults with ADHD struggle more due to loss of structure and increased isolation.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Job Loss Group Reframes Hope
Kathleen started a pro bono job loss support group renamed 'The Problem Solvers' to focus on positivity.
Group members improved moods by reframing their experience and supporting each other.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Find Community in Active Living
Join active, affordable communities with built-in social activities to prevent isolation in older adulthood.
The Villages in Florida exemplifies successful models offering purpose and connection.
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The First Program to Prevent and Reverse Cognitive Decline
Dale Bredesen
In this book, Dr. Dale Bredesen presents a revolutionary program that fundamentally changes how we understand and treat Alzheimer’s disease. He argues that Alzheimer’s is not one condition but three distinct conditions, each impacting the brain differently. The book outlines 36 metabolic factors (including micronutrients, hormone levels, and sleep) that can trigger cognitive decline and provides a detailed protocol, known as ReCODE, to rebalance these factors through lifestyle modifications such as diet, supplementation, exercise, and brain training. The approach emphasizes the importance of addressing multiple 'holes' in brain health to prevent and reverse cognitive decline.
What happens to ADHD when the scaffolds of career and parenting fade, and we’re left navigating a world that’s quieter, slower… and far less structured?
This week on Taking Control: The ADHD Podcast, Pete and Nikki are joined by one of the most influential voices in ADHD research and advocacy: Dr. Kathleen Nadeau. An internationally recognized expert and the author of 14 books on ADHD, Kathleen is the founder and director of the Chesapeake Center—one of the largest private ADHD specialty clinics in the U.S. Her career has been defined by breaking new ground for underserved ADHD populations, and today she turns our attention to one of the most overlooked groups of all: older adults.
Drawing on extensive research—including interviews with more than 150 individuals for her groundbreaking book Still Distracted After All These Years: Help and Support for Older Adults with ADHD—Kathleen guides us through the realities of aging with ADHD. She brings nuance, humor, and urgency to topics like isolation, structure loss, hormonal shifts, executive dysfunction, and the ADHD tax that shows up in the fine print of Social Security forms and medical claims. We discuss how declining circadian rhythms and deep sleep disruption may connect ADHD to increased dementia risk, and why the U.S. is still lagging behind global standards in using hormone replacement therapy to support cognitive health in aging women with ADHD.
But this conversation isn’t about despair—it’s about reinvention, resilience, and the power of community. Kathleen shares powerful stories of support groups that thrive beyond professional guidance and offers practical strategies for maintaining purpose and mental clarity well into our later years.
If you or someone you love is navigating ADHD after 50, this is the episode that finally speaks to that experience—with candor, compassion, and hard-won insight.
Taking Control: The ADHD Podcast 