Hannah Desmond ADHD Coach

If you experience PMDD, you’ll know it’s so much more than “just PMS.” It can feel like a complete shift in your brain and body - low mood, irritability, anxiety, overwhelm, exhaustion. Especially things like decision-making, focus, and emotional regulation can suddenly feel so much harder. So when you have ADHD on top it’s a great double whammy..

And then one day, seemingly overnight, it’s like the fog lifts.

Your thoughts feel clearer.
You feel calmer, more optimistic.
Things that seemed impossible a few days ago feel fine again.

PMDD is linked to how the brain responds to hormonal changes across the cycle (not just the hormone levels themselves).

If you’re in it right now - I know how heavy and doom-y it can feel. But the happier, calmer version of you is still there, even if she feels out of reach for a couple more days 🧡

Ps: don’t make any drastic decisions right now. Trust me lol

The pavement giveth and the pavement taketh away.

A couple of weeks ago it gave me a broken ankle.

On New Year’s Eve it gave me a completely unattended unopened bottle of red wine from 1999. Just there, alone on the pavement. Not a soul in sight.

I opened it tonight to continue my 40th celebrations (which last all year FYI) and it’s actually very pleasant. Thank you pavement!

Life with ADHD can feel like traversing pavements filled with potholes and occasional bottles of wine. Things go wrong in big, inconvenient ways. And sometimes things go unexpectedly right.

I don’t think my ADHD is a gift. A broken ankle definitely isn’t (ADHD has led to the chaos that is my right ankle - long story).

Anyway. What I do value about having ADHD is this: I’ve had to learn how to build workarounds. I’ve had to learn to get creative. I’ve had to get to know myself properly to stop feeling like I’m just s**t because I don’t do things like other people. And I would never trade all the amazing neurodivergent people I know for never breaking my ankle.

Sometimes you get the broken ankle.
Sometimes you get the floor wine.

Life will hand me both.
My job is to get creative to manage the first and properly enjoy the second.

Make of that what you will 😝

I turned 40 the other day then immediately broke my ankle. On a date. I ended up in a hospital in Crete in a cast. With a zimmer frame.

Definitely not the worst date I’ve ever been on. That’s another story.

This is the third break in 4 years after 12 years of ankle instability over some wedge shoes that I will regret forever.

Could these breaks be avoided? I hope so. What I haven’t done is rehab my ankles properly after every injury.

Because it’s Important and Boring.

ADHD brains need interest to spark all that juicy dopamine (simplified explanation of the sake of brevity).

So. My current task is to find some ways of making ankle rehab interesting. Or at least having some accountability.

Any ideas for me, drop them in the comments!

It’s been probably the hardest year of my life for reasons. Family issues, homelessness, starting afresh in a new country. All while managing a bunch of neurodivergences. But onwards and upwards. Having coaching has been a godsend. Greece is going a long way towards helping me. I’ve learnt more this yeah about myself and other people than all other years put together. Thank you to everyone who’s been consistently there for me. Especially those who haven’t just binned me off when I’ve started having boundaries and self respect. Big up yourselves. Starting to finally feel a bit more myself. All the love! 🇬🇷💛🇬🇷💛🇬🇷💛🇬🇷💛 and now I’m ready and in the right headspace to recommence coaching for remote clients worldwide. Please reach out if you’re looking for ADHD/AuDHD coaching

Every January, so many of us, me included, feel the familiar pressure to “sort my life out”.
New year, new me, better habits, more discipline.

But ADHD doesn’t really work like that.

Willpower and discipline are unreliable for an ADHD brain. Life places too many demands on us already without us slathering some more on top. What’s helped me far more is actually understanding how my ADHD shows up for me, and then building things around that, instead of constantly fighting myself.

No brute force.
No pretending everything’s fine.
Just figuring out what genuinely helps, one adjustment at a time. I still get tripped up, but the more I live my life this way, the easier things get.