Polyvagal theory, introduced in 1994 by psychologist Stephen Porges, highlights the role of the autonomic nervous system in regulating our health and behavior. Our lived experience of engaging with the world is impacted by external environmental cues, internal physical sensations, and relational experiences (e.g., an impression of connection, safety, and trust between individuals). Neuroception is our body's unconscious surveillance system that shifts us into one of three autonomic states needed to respond to a situation: rest-and-digest (social and safe), fight-or-flight (mobilization), or shutdown/collapse (immobilization).
Blumenthal wondered if we are on the verge of a new diagnostic category of chatbot overdependence syndrome' as we head into an age in which we become increasingly reliant on AI. When used judiciously, AI aids us, but it could have disastrous consequences if we become dependent on it and lose the capacity for ordinary functioning. AI can take you down a rabbit hole, but it can also support you and help you structure your thoughts, schedule stuff and get things done
In 2013, when Meredith O'Connor was 16, the music video for her debut single "Celebrity" went viral. Afterward, she channeled her own stardom into championing childhood mental health: As a hyperactive kid, O'Connor says she was often the subject of bullying, and when her music career gave her a platform, she was eager to use it to advocate on behalf of other victims. "I knew my fan base was younger, but I didn't know how many people would resonate with mental health challenges," she says. "I realized there were millions of gifted people that are being marginalized, and that's when I really wanted to start the mental health study."
I have ADHD and have found Home Assistant to be a valuable tool for managing executive dysfunction. I use it for audible calendar reminders, laundry reminders, timers, and monitoring my doorbell camera and my nanny cam for my dog. Its also a great source of pure nerdy joy for me. And I recently took the most joyously nerdy step yet in my home automation fixation.
In the middle of December 2025, I decided to switch my digital smartwatch for a classic analog watch, as part of my effort to make my life just a bit less digital in 2026. The added bonus is that I really liked the look of a classic watch. I went to my local jewellery store and picked out a mid-range watch. I didn't want to get an expensive one just in case my resolution didn't work out.
Although awareness and recognition of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder ( ADHD) have increased over the past few decades, particularly through the pandemic years, its effects are still trivialized in the public discourse. The core symptoms are brushed off as stereotyped nuisances of flitting attention, bouncing legs, and misjudged spontaneity, and more exotic but similarly misleading characterizations and "look squirrel" memes that provide clickbait on social media. These misrepresentations create an image of an ADHD diagnosis as divorced from "real-life problems."
Attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) includes a mix of ongoing challenges, such as having difficulty paying attention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. In the U.S., ADHD afflicts an estimated 7 million children, ages 3 to 17. According to one study, among American children, the prevalence of this diagnosis rose from 6.1 percent in 1997-1998 to 10.2 percent in 2015-2016.[1] Children with ADHD often struggle with low self-esteem, have troubled relationships, and demonstrate poor school performance. Symptom severity and frequency may lessen with age, and while some people never completely "outgrow" their ADHD symptoms, they can develop ways to live with them successfully.
I started building Simple in 2019 with a vision that one day, a digital product could help people fix their health as effectively as a human. Five years later, we turned this vision into a company with 160M in ARR, and a team of more than 150 people across multiple countries. If you only look at the highlights, my story can look like a straight line of an entrepreneur's journey.
An increased need for stimulation among ADHDers has led to a medical view that ADHD is a disorder. This medical view is that ADHD involves a deficit in attention, distractibility, daydreaming, procrastination, forgetfulness, disorganisation, restlessness, boredom, impulsivity, and emotional dysregulation. However, the problem with this view is that neurotypicals can also experience these symptoms when they're under-stimulated, just like ADHDers.
How many times have you heard yourself say, "I'll do this later"? Or "I'll do this tomorrow"? The statement itself is harmless and promising all at the same time. That's what we call procrastination. It isn't relaxation but rather the pushing off of the discomfort of a decision, a conversation, a task, or a call into the future and hoping that "later" or "tomorrow" will somehow come with greater focus, energy, motivation, or time.
At the start of this year, I went back to contracting, and then I learned I had prostate cancer. It was stage one, and I was on active monitoring for six months. I did some more contracting up until July, when I was told I needed to have treatment. So, I had treatment, and all the signs were good. In August, I thought, 'OK, I can start looking to go back to work.'
Jennings's article focused on people using TikTok gain a more in-depth knowledge of ADHD. "Arguably no part of mental health TikTok is as omnipresent or as fraught as ADHD TikTok," Jennings wrote - and addressed one of the biggest challenges that arose from its prominence, namely: at what point does getting advice from an app overtake getting actual medical advice?
The increase in reported mental health problems and neurodevelopmental diagnoses, and services not keeping pace, reflect what many clinicians see every day people are in more distress and unable to access support. The suffering is not fake, nor is it a case of gen Z malingering. Patients are struggling with what were once ordinary demands of life: school, work, relationships and family, complicated by the aftermath of Covid, with blurred boundaries between home and work, and life lived increasingly on screens.
People with ADHD often face deficits in executive functions. Planning, organizing, or simply remembering to act upon certain responsibilities are some very common issues that make the day-to-day of individuals with ADHD more difficult. One notable environment in which this impacts life is the workplace. Deficits in executive functions tend to predict not only job performance but also burnout and stress levels.
December is here, which means as the year comes to a close, companies carefully curate a nostalgic rewind of the past year with experiences such as Spotify Wrapped or, in Apple's case, the release of the 2025 App Store Awards honorees. The awards are designed to showcase the best apps and games available on the Apple App Store during the past year, with Apple's App Store editors carefully selecting 17 apps from the nearly 2 million apps across various devices.
But now, top US health officials argue that diagnoses have spiralled out of control. In May, the Make America Healthy Again Commission - led by US health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr - said ADHD was part of a "crisis of overdiagnosis and overtreatment" and suggested that ADHD medications did not help children in the long term. So what, exactly, is going on?
As outlined in the recently published, NHS-England commissioned, Independent ADHD Taskforce Report, there is robust evidence that unsupported ADHD can lead to multiple adverse outcomes. 2 I was Chair of this Taskforce, but this work is now completed, so these blog posts are independent of that position. Despite the risk of adverse outcomes, we know that people with ADHD can and do thrive if they are offered early support and intervention.
