René Brooks

René Brooks, the creator of Black Girl, Lost Keys, shares her journey with ADHD and the shame that shaped her inner critic. Serena Chen, chair of UC Berkeley's Psychology department, discusses how self-compassion can foster authenticity and reduce negative self-talk. The duo dives into a transformative writing practice that encourages individuals to confront and reframe their inner dialogues with kindness. They reveal that practicing self-compassion not only alleviates shame but also boosts one's sense of true self.

René Brooks was diagnosed with ADHD three separate times — at ages 7, 11, and 25 — so she’s had plenty of “aha” moments.  When René was a child, mental health and medication stigma kept her family from receiving vital education about ADHD. But when she was diagnosed at age 25, she was ready to tell everyone about her ADHD diagnosis.  René started Black Girl Lost Keys to empower Black women with ADHD. She’s an advocate, a content creator, and the host of the Life With Lost Keys podcast.  In this week’s episode of ADHD Aha!, René unpacks her childhood ADHD diagnoses. She shares how she’d mask her ADHD symptoms, and how that led to anxiety and depression in adulthood. Also in this episode: Is ADHD really a superpower? To find a transcript for this episode and more resources, visit the episode page at Understood. We love hearing from our listeners. Email us at ADHDAha@understood.org.  Related resourcesRené Brooks’ podcast: Life With Lost KeysAll about ADHD medicationFrom The Opportunity Gap podcast: ADHD and race: What Black families need to know 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.