Helping understand adults with ADHD
YouTube channel creator motivates people to seek out more information
Jessica McCabe, creator of the YouTube channel “How to ADHD,” is not a doctor or medical professional. At 38, she’s had a variety of professions including stand-up comedian, actor and restaurant server.
Through all those years, she has been learning about attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, which she was diagnosed herself at the age of 12. Explaining that information is something she has done on her YouTube channel since 2016.
“Our brains are a piece of equipment we work with every day for everything that we do, so it’s critical to understand it,” she said.
She didn’t make the connection between her challenges and her diagnosis, but things changed when she was in her 20s and found herself unable to complete college.
She began researching ADHD but had trouble organizing all the information she learned. So she turned to YouTube, a platform with which she was already familiar, to retain the material. “Notebooks, no, I lose notebooks,” she said. “YouTube. I won’t lose YouTube.”
In the beginning she found information for her videos on Google searches, but realized that there was a lot of misinformation about ADHD on the internet. “After I made it public, I thought, ‘I’m a college dropout. I don’t have a degree in this. I should not be educating people,’ ” she said.
Rachelle LeDuc-Cairns, a registered nurse in Canada, offered to teach her how to analyze research studies for their validity. Then Patrick LaCount, a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development at Seattle Children’s Research Institute, began to meet with her weekly to review and discuss research studies. Today, she calls upon experts to help her on each subject, though her videos are not reviewed by a professional on a weekly basis.
“She has done a fine job popularizing the scientific findings in ADHD and bringing more attention to the condition, destigmatizing it and even motivating others with the condition and their families to obtain further information about it,” said Russell Barkley, a clinical professor of psychiatry at the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center.
The average age of her subscribers is between 18 and 34, she said; many of the videos focus on themes relevant to young adults. One of McCabe’s main intentions is to address the stigma of taking medication for this group and about giving it to children.
“I think there are a lot of moms that are tired of being told that they are drugging their children and that they are doing something wrong by treating their child’s medical condition,” she said.
In her video “What I Want to Say to My Mom, Who ‘Drugged’ Me,” McCabe discusses being prescribed Adderall. (When she began taking medication, her grade-point average went up a full point.) Medicating children has been controversial, though “many of the medications used to treat ADHD have a long track record of safety and are research proven to be effective,” said Dr. Damon Korb, a developmental behavioral pediatrician in Los Gatos, California, and the author of “Raising an Organized Child.”
It’s adults who are often overlooked. There are twice as many research studies for child ADHD compared with adult ADHD on the National Library of Medicine website, according to Ari Tuckman, a psychologist in West Chester, Pennsylvania, and the author of the book “ADHD After Dark: Better Sex Life, Better Relationship.”
“It’s only recently that they started to research ADHD in adults,” McCabe said. “Before that it was thought of as a childhood issue. So who cares how an 8-year-old might be in a domestic relationship since they’re not there yet.”
To that end, in one of her most popular videos, she talks about relationships and how people with ADHD may experience situations like becoming bored with a partner: “Getting involved with the nearest available human of the desired gender because they’re there and you’re bored? I’m pretty sure this is how Tinder works.”
McCabe thinks a lot about communication and word choice. Most of her videos open with the greeting “Hello, Brains.”
“Mr. Rogers had a whole bible of rules for how he used language on his show,” she said. “According to my community, one of the most helpful things I’ve done has been to give people the
language to describe their challenges and the strategies.”
Kerrie McLoughlin, 50, is a subscriber in Kansas City, Missouri, who was diagnosed last year with ADHD. “I had never heard of rejection sensitivity before, but as I watched the video, I instantly knew what it was,” McLoughlin said. “I teared up at the recognition in myself and started taking notes.”
Celeste Perez, 33, an entrepreneur in Los Angeles, was diagnosed at 29. Perez has used the channel
to help explain her “ADHD quirks” to her husband in a way that did not involve boring, text-heavy studies. “I’d spent my life feeling serious anxiety over the smallest things, overthinking words I’d said and feeling enormously upset when things didn’t go perfectly,” she said.
Like many creators, McCabe now uses Patreon, which helps her amass paying subscribers. With nearly 3,000 subscribers, Patreon said her gross revenue there is $14,551 a month.
But her first donation came from Scot Melville, an engineer in San Francisco, who gave at the top tier of $100 per month, along with a note about how the channel changed his life. “I increased my salary by over $100k per year over the course of four years,” said Melville, 36. “I credit much of that increase to the skills Jessica has given me through her videos.”
Now instead of donating money, Melville donates his time as the technology consultant on McCabe’s team.
Here are travel gadgets that up the ante by building in the anti — that is, anti-germ, anti-theft and anti-fumble, in clever design and construction.
Safety and accessibility in a smartphone case
No worries about finding an accessible spot to stow your phone, inadvertently misplacing it or dropping it while snapping a pic.
The Keebos lanyard phone case ($28.95-$34.95) is a savvy blending of pretty and practical that steps up as a phone necklace or crossbody. It allows wearers to go hands-free while keeping your smartphone secure yet easily accessible.
Featuring an adjustable cord in an array of prints and patterns, Keebos models fit a variety of iPhone and Samsung phones. Simply snap your phone into the protective case and be on your way. A micro wallet with a slim silhouette holds credit card and cash so you can leave your purse or bag at home, and an elastic finger strap lets you hold your smartphone in one hand.
The case is perfect for outdoor activities such as biking and hiking, when you don’t want to hold your phone constantly but need it easily accessible to snap a quick photo or check the map. One tree is planted for every Keebos purchased. (www.keebos.com)
Toilet seat protection for women
A handy device that protects panties from all those germs lurking on the toilet seats in public restrooms is like the holy grail of good hygiene for traveling women.
Created by Kenya
Adams, the patent-pending PantyBuddy ($34) conceals a foldable panty protector strap that pulls panties away from the toilet. And it does so discreetly. That’s because PantyBuddy is designed as a wristlet, an adorable little accessory that packs a serious purpose as a carrying case — one with a built-in toilet paper dispenser pocket plus two interior pockets that hold seat covers, feminine hygiene products and other essentials.
“PantyBuddy gives every woman an extra hand just when she needs it most,” notes Adams. “It is perfect for the workplace, restaurants, airports, airplanes, rest areas, camping, hiking and portable toilets.”
Made of textured vegan leather, PantyBuddy comes equipped with a package
of toilet paper and one of seat covers. A color palette of black, gold, red, caramel, pink and green perks up any outfit. (www.panty buddy.com)
Personal, portable safe
Whether working or playing at the beach or pool, golf course or lake, travelers need a place to safely stash their valuables. Enter FlexSafe by AquaVault (from $49.95), a personal anti-theft portable travel safe with a locking flap that secures to fixed objects to keep your valuables out of thieves’ hands.
FlexSafe offers layers of protection from the inside out, including an interior nylon lining, a rubberlike material for rigidity, ultra-slash-resistant material and sturdy anti-abrasive ballistic nylon fabric on the exterior. It measures 10
inches by 6 inches by 2 inches — plenty of room for keys, cash, cards and more.
Lock it to the lounge chair, stroller, golf cart, boat railing — even a closet rod. The bag is slashand water-resistant and is equipped with RFID blocking. Lightweight and packable, it is also reprogrammable with a threedigit combination lock. (www.theaquavault.com)
Instant bag hanger
Never set your bag or purse on the ground or floor again. Clipa 2 ($15.99), a lightweight, circular purse hook, slips over a strap to hang bags or backpacks up to 33 pounds from almost any horizontal or vertical surface with nonslip cushion tips, keeping them from coming into contact with viruses, bacteria, germs, water and dirt.
With a patented, innovative design, Clipa naturally opens into a bag hanger and just as automatically closes back into a ring when not in use. It works on bathroom stall doors, walls, sinks, shopping carts, restaurant tables to keep your bag in place and out of microorganisms and muck. Use it on your car’s seat headrest post to keep grocery bags or
takeout orders upright and in place, even when you hit the brakes.
Available in eight finishes to complement handbag hardware, including gold, rose gold, silver and hematite, Clipa is sturdy and
versatile and won’t tarnish. In addition to slipping it over the strap of a bag, it can be worn as a bracelet, keeping it handy for any time you need to hang your bag. It measures 3 inches in diameter. (www.clipa.us)