Q&A with Danielle Elliot, host of Climbing The Walls
April 02, 2025
From Understood.org, Climbing the Walls is an investigative limited-series podcast that explores why women weren’t diagnosed with ADHD for so long — and how the massive uptick in diagnoses since the pandemic is changing the ways we think about ADHD.
Join host Danielle Elliot, a health and science journalist, as she digs into why women weren’t diagnosed with ADHD for so long. And, what led to new ADHD diagnoses among women aged 20-49 nearly doubling between 2020 and 2022 (CDC). Danielle weaves scientific explanations with personal stories, including her own, from the many women who know it all too well. Through their lived experiences and candid conversations with mental health experts, Danielle starts getting answers to some of her big questions around the surge in ADHD diagnoses, like: Why women? And why now?
But as Danielle searches for answers to her original questions, new ones arise. Now that the diagnosis gap between men and women with ADHD is narrowing, more women require medical and emotional support in ways that differ from men. Are our systems equipped to support these women? And how do we ensure that women with ADHD get the support they need?
Read on to see what Elliot says about hosting Climbing the Walls. And, listen anywhere you get your podcasts.
Your podcast explores the surge in ADHD diagnoses among women, particularly during the pandemic. And, as you talk about in the show, you were also diagnosed with ADHD during this time. Can you share how your personal journey shaped both the direction of the show and how you approached the topic?
In developing a structure for the series, I thought through the questions I’d asked when I was first diagnosed and the way my understanding evolved over time. At first, people often told me that we simply didn’t know how ADHD impacts women. This became the subject of episode 1, and as the episodes continue, each focuses on another reason that was offered and the questions it led me to ask. As I learned more, I started to realize that the headlines present a fairly straightforward narrative, which isn’t all that accurate. I started trying to understand the contributing factors to the rise in diagnoses beyond what we see in the headlines.
As a health and science journalist, you’re used to investigating complex topics. How did your journalistic background influence the way you approached the Climbing the Walls podcast, from research and interviewing to structuring the narrative?
I love that longform series create an opportunity to go deeper than we usually would, on a range of topics within a story. I loved having the opportunity to tell several stories that help us understand this larger question about the rise in diagnosis. Hearing how Sari Solden’s findings were largely dismissed helps us better understand science and gatekeeping in general, as well as her personal experience. As far as which scientists I interviewed, I attempted to find subjects whose personal stories contributed to their research, to create a more interesting narrative flow. I also sought out individuals whose personal experiences illustrated different elements of the overall story, so that collectively, we got something closer to a complete story.
You speak with a range of experts and individuals on the podcast. Was there a specific conversation that significantly shifted your understanding of ADHD in women, or one that left a particularly strong impression?
Sari Solden’s book completely changed my understanding of ADHD in women, and our conversation deepened that understanding. I think our conversation, as well as the conversations with the women at the summer camp, was the highlight of the reporting process. Each of the women I spoke with lived in a different place, with different life circumstances, yet they all had similar experiences. Being at the camp reminded me of what Sari described experiencing at her first ADHD conference.
It’s really remarkable how normal I felt when in a room full of women who are similarly aware of their ADHD.
Climbing the Walls explores the idea that now that the diagnosis gap is closing, women need different kinds of support than men with ADHD. Based on what you learned from the women and experts you interviewed, what are some examples of supports that women with ADHD would benefit from?
I think the greatest thing we could do for women with ADHD is to dismantle the patriarchal expectations of women in heterosexual relationships, in families, in workplaces, and in general. Educating and genuinely teaching men how to share the load of those expectations would help a lot. Creating better social support networks, from childcare to health care, would ease the burden on most women in tremendous ways, and this would be especially beneficial to women with ADHD, as stress often compounds symptoms.
Creating environments more conducive to cognitive health would help anyone, including women with ADHD. And creating better treatments, especially treatments that take hormones into consideration, would benefit women with ADHD.
As with any journalistic investigation, once you started getting answers to your original questions, new ones inevitably arose. What unexpected questions emerged during your research? And are there any questions (or answers) that you’re still mulling over?
I was surprised to find how many questions I have about modern lifestyles, how they’re rewiring our brains, and whether that rewiring is leading more “neurotypical” brains to mimic or behave like ADHD brains. I’m especially interested in the impacts of modern life on ADHD brains (and all brains) and how we can adjust our lives, at a personal and societal level, to better suit our brains. I’m also still questioning what would help, and how to make that help available at scale. I have questions about access to ADHD treatments within the prison system and why we continue to fail people who are incarcerated. We are so aware of the benefits of ADHD treatment, yet it is inaccessible to so many who stand to benefit most.
What do you hope listeners will take away from Climbing the Walls? What actions or conversations do you hope the podcast will inspire?
I hope they will recognize that there are many layers to this story; that the headlines often miss the full picture. We need to be thinking about contributing factors at a societal level and aiming to create an environment that is conducive to all types of brains.
Listen to Climbing The Walls wherever you get your podcasts.
