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Episode: Leaving the ADHD Label Behind (with Joseph Pack)

In this conversation, I sit down with my coach, Joseph Pack, to talk about something that might ruffle a few feathers:
What happens when you loosen your grip on the ADHD label?

We both have ADHD. We both coach ADHD’ers. And yet, we’re both speaking about it less and less. Not because we’re denying struggle – but because we’re more interested in the human underneath the diagnosis: values, environment, habits, food, sleep, connection… and what’s actually possible when you stop treating four letters as a life sentence.

We talk about:

• How an ADHD diagnosis can both validate your experience and quietly limit you
• The difference between understanding your brain and living inside a label
• When diagnosis helps – and when it becomes an excuse not to try
• Medication, side-effects, and why Joe had to go looking for alternatives
• Ultra-processed food, inflammation, sleep, and why your “busy brain” might be screaming for a reset
• The power of coaching, challenge, and having someone who refuses to buy your limiting story

This is not an anti-diagnosis episode. It’s an honest, messy, hopeful chat about identity, agency, and what changes when you start asking:

“Who am I beyond ADHD – and what kind of life do I actually want to build?”

People, books & ideas Joseph references

If you want to go deeper into some of the thinkers Joe mentions:

• Dr Sami Timimi – Searching for Normal: A New Approach to Understanding Mental Health, Distress and Neurodiversity
  Book link: Searching for Normal
   
• Prof. Tim Spector – ultra-processed food & gut health
  Channel 4 series What Not To Eat: Show info
   
• Dr Chris van Tulleken – Ultra-Processed People: Why Do We All Eat Stuff That Isn’t Food… and Why Can’t We Stop?
  Book link: Ultra-Processed People
   
• Dr Gabor Maté – ADHD and trauma
  ADHD page & his book Scattered Minds: drgabormate.com/adhd
   
• René Girard – Mimetic desire
  The idea that we often desire what others around us desire, which shapes behaviour and identity in deep, often unconscious ways.
• Opal – screen-time & focus app Joe mentions for cutting down distractions
  Website: https://www.opal.so
   

Connect with us

• Host – Ben Cook
  Busy Brain & ADHD Coach
  Podcast: Something for the Busy Brain
  Email: ben@goodtothinkdifferently.com
  
• Guest – Joseph Pack
  ADHD coach, founder, consultant (and my own coach)
  Email: hello@josephpack.com 

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction to ADHD and Busy Brains
02:53 The Impact of ADHD Diagnosis
05:39 Memetic Desire and Identity Crisis
08:44 The Weight of Diagnosis
11:30 Shattering Limiting Beliefs
14:31 The Role of Coaching in Self-Discovery
17:33 Challenging the ADHD Narrative
20:29 The Subjectivity of ADHD Diagnosis
23:21 Conclusion: Beyond the Diagnosis
24:15 The Missing Heritability Link in ADHD
26:18 ADHD Medication: A Controversia