ADHD, Anxiety, and the Challenge of Doing What You Know You Need to Do with J Russell Ramsay

The Anxious Achiever

Morra Aarons-Mele

Business, Careers, Management, Health & Fitness, Mental Health

4.7 • 599 Ratings

🗓️ 14 October 2025

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

ADHD isn’t just about distraction, it’s about emotion, motivation, and the gap between knowing what to do and actually doing it. In this episode, I sit down with Dr. J. Russell Ramsay, co-founder of the University of Pennsylvania’s Adult ADHD Treatment and Research Program, to break down how anxiety and ADHD often overlap. We talk about how ADHD is an uncertainty generator that triggers anxiety, what “self-mistrust” really looks like, and why so many high achievers feel brilliant but inconsistent. Dr. Ramsay shares cognitive behavioral tools to boost focus, follow-through, and confidence, and the S.A.P. Action Plan to rebuild motivation when procrastination or self-doubt take over. Get ready to turn self-mistrust into self-mastery and use your anxious energy as fuel for focus and growth. In this Episode, You Will Learn 00:00 Why are ADHD and anxiety so commonly co-occurring? 05:45 How a lifetime of ADHD moments leads to self-mistrust. 12:30 Why losing external structure during the pandemic made ADHD worse. 18:00 The three-part time management system that helps ADHD brains stay focused and calm. 25:15 How to channel last minute anxiety into productive momentum. 28:00 Why does ADHD exist on a spectrum of executive function? 32:00 How ADHD insights translate into workplace efficiency and emotional management. 35:00 S.A.P. Action Plan that bridges the gap between knowing and doing. 43:00 How cognitive behavioral tools can help you manage both anxiety and ADHD. 50:45 How to manage meetings, rebuild trust, and avoid burning social capital. Resources + Links Grab your copy of Dr. J. Russell Ramsay's The Adult ADHD Tool Kit HERE! Get a copy of my book - The Anxious Achiever Watch the podcast on YouTube Find more resources on our website morraam.com Follow Follow me: on LinkedIn @morraaronsmele + Instagram @morraam Follow J Russel on LinkedIn: @russellramsay

Transcript

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0:00.0	ADHD isn't just about distraction. It's about emotions. I'm Maura Aaron's Mealy, and this is the
0:11.4	anxious achiever, the show that looks at the intersection of mental health and leadership and
0:16.6	work and asks, how can we do it all better? My guest today, Dr. J. Russell Ramsey, co-founded and
0:25.7	co-directed the University of Pennsylvania's Adult ADHD Treatment and Research Program,
0:31.2	and is a professor of clinical psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at the Perilman School
0:36.1	of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
0:39.3	And he says that ADHD is not a thinking problem.
0:45.3	It's a doing problem.
0:47.3	And along the way, it can breed what he calls self-mistrust,
0:52.3	the quiet belief that no matter how hard you try, you'll slip up again.
0:58.7	Ramsey opens his book, the adult ADHD toolkit with a quote that I think sums a lot of it up from Ari Tuckman.
1:05.8	It says ADHD is fundamentally a neurological condition, but there is a ton of psychology that develops from a lifetime of ADHD moments.
1:14.6	In this episode, we dig into how ADHD shapes our emotional lives, how anxiety, shame, and motivation intersect.
1:21.6	Why ADHD is an uncertainty generator, and that makes us anxious.
1:26.6	And why people with ADHD often know exactly what to do,
1:31.0	but struggle to do it.
1:32.8	If you've ever felt brilliant but inconsistent
1:35.6	or watched your emotions hijack your best intentions,
1:39.6	this conversation is for you.
1:45.0	Dr. Ramsey, it's great to have you.
1:47.0	I'm such a fan.
1:48.0	I really recommend all your books.
	...

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