The Dr. Brighten Show

ADHD rejection sensitivity can make one comment, one text, or one change in someone’s tone feel like proof that everything is falling apart. In this episode of The Dr. Brighten Show, Alex Partridge joins me to unpack rejection sensitivity, masking, identity, self-trust, and the hidden emotional cost of ADHD; view the full show notes at
https://drbrighten.com/podcasts/adhd-rejection-sensitivity/

📚 My new book, ADHD and Women, explores the relationship between ADHD, hormones, the nervous system, nutrition, and the experiences women are so often never taught to connect.

🎁 Preorder the book and see the current limited-time bonuses here:https://drbrighten.com/adhdandwomen

In This Episode

Why ADHD can make rejection and criticism feel disproportionately intense

How childhood comments like “you’re too much,” “stop being so emotional,” or “why are you so weird?” can shape the way you see yourself as an adult

How masking can slowly shift the question from “Who am I?” to “Who do I need to be so people will accept me?”

Why Alex believes rejection sensitivity can become one of the most debilitating and overlooked parts of ADHD

How an unanswered text, unusual tone of voice, meeting request, or single negative comment can trigger catastrophic thinking

How people-pleasing and fear of disappointing others can undermine your ability to trust your own instincts

Why an emotional trigger can lead to quitting, relationship conflict, impulsive decisions, or behaviors you regret once you’re regulated again

What it can feel like to receive an ADHD diagnosis and suddenly realize you don’t know who you are underneath years of masking

Why your brain may seek out criticism—even when you’re already feeling terrible—and how to interrupt that pattern

How creating a bank of real evidence can help challenge the story rejection sensitivity is telling you

How to repair after an intense emotional reaction without using ADHD as an excuse for harmful behavior

Why someone who appears “high functioning” at work may actually be high masking and completely depleted by the time they get home

Why “you just need to try harder” may be one of the most damaging messages people with ADHD hear

How curiosity, pattern recognition, creativity, entrepreneurship, and intense interests can become powerful ADHD strengths

About Alex Partridge

🎙️ Alex Partridge is the founder of UNILAD and LADbible, host of the award-winning ADHD Chatter podcast, a Sunday Times bestselling author, and a leading voice in conversations about ADHD and neurodiversity.

In this conversation, Alex shares not only what he has learned through interviewing hundreds of experts, but his own experiences with masking, alcoholism, entrepreneurship, rejection sensitivity, identity, and rebuilding self-trust.

This Episode Is Brought to You By

Dr. Brighten Essentials Radiant Mind

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Follow Alex Partridge

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alex_partridge_100/?hl=en

🌐 Website: https://www.alex-partridge.com/

🎙️ ADHD Chatter:https://www.instagram.com/adhd_chatter_podcast

▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ADHD_Chatter_Podcast

Follow Dr. Jolene Brighten

🌐 Website: https://drbrighten.com

🎙️ The Dr. Brighten Show: https://drbrighten.com/podcast

📚 Books: https://drbrighten.com/books

📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/drjolenebrighten

🎵 TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@drjolenebrighten

📘 Facebook: https://facebook.com/drjolenebrighten

Join the Conversation

💬 Have you ever interpreted a tiny change in someone’s tone, a delayed text, or a request to “talk later” as proof you had done something wrong?

👇 Tell me in the comments what rejection sensitivity or masking has looked like for you.

👍 Like this episode if it helped you put words to something you’ve experienced.

📤 Share it with someone who has spent years believing they were “too sensitive” or “too much.”

🔔 Subscribe to The Dr. Brighten Show for more evidence-informed conversations about ADHD, hormones, women’s health, relationships, and the brain.
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Cellular aging may be happening faster than your chronological age suggests—and in this episode, Dr. Will Cole explains what can accelerate it, what mitochondrial dysfunction can actually feel like, and what may help protect your healthspan; view the full show notes at https://drbrighten.com/podcasts/cellular-aging/. We break down the science of biological age, organ aging, inflammation, metabolic health, circadian rhythms, nutrition, movement, and practical longevity strategies you can actually use.

IN THIS EPISODE

Why people in their 20s, 30s, and 40s may be experiencing accelerated cellular aging

How your heart, brain, kidneys, and other organs can age at different rates

Why brain fog, fatigue, feeling wired-but-tired, and anxiety with exhaustion may be clues worth paying attention to

How inflammation and “cellular confusion” may affect mitochondrial function and aging

Which metabolic, cardiovascular, and inflammatory markers Dr. Cole considers clinically meaningful

How environmental toxins, microplastics, PFAS, stress, trauma, food, and artificial light may influence cellular health

The surprising conversation around nature, bird song, spirituality, community, and longevity

Why light exposure can disrupt more than sleep—your organs have their own cellular clocks

Why fatigue in women, including women with endometriosis, deserves to be taken seriously

How fasting, green tea, polyphenols, and meal timing fit into the longevity conversation

How to build a longevity-supportive plate without following a rigid wellness diet

Why a 10–15 minute walk after dinner may be one of the simplest metabolic tools available

Zone 2, REHIT, strength training, sauna, cold exposure, and mobility—what may actually be worth your time

And how to support healthier aging without turning wellness into a full-time job

ABOUT DR. WILL COLE

Dr. Will Cole is a functional medicine expert, New York Times bestselling author, and an early pioneer in functional medicine telehealth. In this conversation, he shares concepts from his newest book, Heal Your Cells, and explains the clinical lens he uses to think about inflammation, mitochondrial health, metabolic health, and longevity.

🌐 Dr. Will Cole: https://drwillcole.com

📘 Heal Your Cells: https://healyourcells.com

📸 Instagram: https://instagram.com/drwillcole

CONNECT WITH DR. JOLENE BRIGHTEN💛

🌐 Dr. Brighten: https://drbrighten.com

🎙️ The Dr. Brighten Show: https://drbrighten.com/podcasts

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drjolenebrighten

🎵 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@drjolenebrighten

▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DrBrighten

📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drjolenebrighten

📌 Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/drjolenebrighten

THIS EPISODE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY

✨ Dr. Brighten Essentials: https://drbrighten.com

🏷️ Use code POD15 where applicable.

📚 MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

📘 Heal Your Cells by Dr. Will Cole: https://healyourcells.com

🌐 Dr. Will Cole’s website + resources: https://drwillcole.com

🎙️ More episodes of The Dr. Brighten Show: https://drbrighten.com/podcasts

❤️ SUPPORT THE SHOW

👍 LIKE this episode if it gave you a new way to think about aging and cellular health.

💬 COMMENT below: What is one longevity habit you’re actually willing to start this week?

📤 SHARE this episode with someone who is constantly tired, dealing with brain fog, or wants to protect their health for the long term.

🔔 SUBSCRIBE to The Dr. Brighten Show for evidence-informed conversations about women’s health, hormones, brain health, metabolism, longevity, and the science that helps you better understand your body.

⚕️ This content is for educational purposes and is not a substitute for individualized medical care. Always discuss changes to your medications, supplements, fasting practices, or treatment plan with your healthcare professional.
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Perimenopause hormones can make you feel like your body changed overnight—even when your labs look “normal,” and in this AMA Dr. Jolene Brighten answers your biggest questions about estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, HRT, birth control, Mirena, ovulation, POI, and postmenopause.

View the complete show notes, references, and resources at
https://drbrighten.com/podcasts/perimenopause-hormones/

📖 PREORDER ADHD AND WOMEN: https://drbrighten.com/adhdandwomen

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

🧪 Why “normal” hormone labs don’t necessarily explain how you feel during perimenopause

😤 What symptoms like rage, anxiety, poor sleep, and irritability may tell you about progesterone

🥚 How to tell whether you’re still ovulating in perimenopause using cycle patterns, cervical mucus, temperature, LH, and progesterone

🩸 Why a shortening luteal phase may be an early clue that progesterone production is changing

🔬 Which hormone tests Dr. Brighten finds useful—and why testosterone, thyroid, insulin, and other markers deserve attention too

🧠 What we know—and still don’t know—about progestins, progesterone, GABA, BDNF, and women’s brain health

🌀 Where the Mirena IUD may fit during perimenopause, heavy bleeding, adenomyosis, and hormone therapy

🌙 When cyclic versus continuous progesterone may make sense

🧴 Dr. Brighten’s approach to estradiol, estriol, Biest, testosterone, and compounded hormone therapy

🏋️ How declining estrogen can affect muscle, connective tissue, mitochondria, exercise tolerance, and recovery

❤️ Why menopause doesn’t have to be a story of decline—including the part nobody talks about enough: sex can get better

🩺 When symptoms like varicose veins deserve further evaluation rather than being dismissed as “just hormones”

Resources

📖 ADHD and Women — Preorder + Bonuses: https://drbrighten.com/adhdandwomen

🌐 Dr. Brighten Website: https://drbrighten.com

🎙️ The Dr. Brighten Show: https://drbrighten.com/podcasts/

🌟 Free Hormone-Friendly Recipes: https://drbrighten.com/hormonekit/

Sponsorship & Resources

🧠 Dr. Brighten Essentials — Radiant Mind: https://drbrightenessentials.com/products/radiant-mind
Podcast listeners can use POD15 for 15% off.

👩🏻‍⚕️ About Dr. Jolene Brighten

Dr. Jolene Brighten is a board-certified naturopathic endocrinologist, nutrition scientist, women’s health educator, and author of ADHD and Women. Her work focuses on translating complex hormone science into practical information women can use to better understand their bodies and have more informed conversations with their healthcare providers.

👩🏻‍⚕️ Follow Dr. Jolene Brighten

💻 Website: https://drbrighten.com

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drjolenebrighten

🎥 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@drjolenebrighten

🧵 Threads: https://www.threads.net/@drjolenebrighten

▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DrJoleneBrighten

📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drjolenebrighten

👍 If this episode helped you, like the video, subscribe to The Dr. Brighten Show, and share it with a woman who has been told her labs are “normal” even though she knows something has changed. And tell me in the comments: what perimenopause or hormone question should we answer in the next AMA?

⚠️ Medical Disclaimer: This content is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or replace individualized medical care. Always discuss symptoms, medications, supplements, testing, and hormone therapy with an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
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Endometriosis pain can rewire the brain and nervous system, yet women are still told to tolerate severe pelvic pain, traumatic IUD insertions, and years of medical dismissal; explore the research and resources in the show notes at
http://drbrighten.com/adhdandwomen. In this AMA, Dr. Jolene Brighten explains central sensitization, vagus nerve dysfunction, cycle-related inflammation, copper IUD pain, omega-3s, food sensitivities, and what it can take to recover after chronic pain.

🧠 In this episode, you’ll learn:

How unmanaged endometriosis and adenomyosis pain can change pain processing in the brainWhy pain may persist after excision surgery or a hysterectomy

What central sensitization means and why recovery can take time

How endometriosis may disrupt vagal tone and autonomic nervous-system function

Why a hysterectomy can treat adenomyosis but does not treat endometriosis outside the uterus

How copper IUDs create localized inflammation

Why severe IUD pain, bleeding, fainting, or loss of function deserves investigation

How estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, cortisol, oxytocin, and melatonin interact with inflammation

Why histamine symptoms may intensify around ovulation

How prostaglandins influence menstrual cramps, inflammation, and “period poops”

What to look for when choosing an omega-3 supplement

How Dr. Brighten’s approach to elimination diets and nutritional restriction has evolved

Why food variety and oral tolerance matter for women with chronic inflammatory conditions

How patients and clinicians can help change the standard of care for women

💬 Have you experienced severe IUD pain, medical gaslighting, or persistent pain after endometriosis treatment? Share your experience in the comments, including where you live and whether you were offered meaningful pain relief.

👍 If this episode helped you, please like the video, subscribe to The Dr. Brighten Show, and share it with someone who has been told her pain is normal.

⚕️ This content is for educational purposes and does not replace individualized medical care. Speak with a qualified healthcare professional about persistent or severe pain, heavy bleeding, fainting, anemia, or symptoms that interfere with daily life.
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Late diagnosed ADHD & autism can change the story you’ve been telling yourself (and your relationship) for decades. In this episode, Dr. Brighten joins Rich and Rox Pink of ADHD Love and the Late Bloomers podcast to talk diagnosis, masking, relationships, perimenopause, HRT, and what finally made their lives make sense; view the full show notes and resources at https://drbrighten.com/podcasts/late-diagnosed-adhd-and-autism/ .

Rich and Rox Pink have built a community of more than 5 million followers by showing the messy, funny, painful, and deeply human reality of neurodivergent life. In this candid conversation, Rox opens up about receiving her ADHD diagnosis after years of believing she was lazy, broken, and incapable of maintaining relationships, while Rich shares what it has been like to realize in his 40s that the “neurotypical husband” was actually autistic.

IN THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL LEARN

Why late diagnosed ADHD and autism can completely rewrite decades of shame and self-blame

Why traits like lateness, forgetfulness, social awkwardness, sensory sensitivity, and executive dysfunction are so easily interpreted as personal failures

How masking can become so automatic that you may even mask in therapy

Why trauma and neurodivergence can overlap—and why treating every neurodivergent trait as “just trauma” can miss the bigger picture

Why women with ADHD are so often diagnosed later in life

How puberty and hormonal changes may alter the way ADHD presents in women

Why needing accommodations can bring up unexpected guilt and shame

What Dr. Brighten discovered when she finally began using disability accommodations while traveling

Why accessing an ADHD or autism diagnosis can still be incredibly difficult

How undiagnosed ADHD can contribute to attempts to self-medicate

How perimenopause can intensify ADHD symptoms, brain fog, anxiety, sleep disruption, and executive dysfunction

Why Rox reached the point where she thought she might have to walk away from her music career

What changed for Rox after starting estrogen and progesterone hormone therapy

Why testosterone matters in women—and its relationship with energy, motivation, muscle, and follow-through

How ADHD can influence novelty, intense relationships, impulsivity, and the experience of falling in love

Why Rich and Rox credit learning how to actually communicate as one of the biggest shifts in their relationship

Why traditional therapy doesn't always feel accessible or effective for neurodivergent people

Why socializing, public speaking, travel, touch, noise, and other seemingly ordinary experiences can require enormous amounts of energy

Why someone can love being around people while still desperately needing silence afterward

How Rich and Rox stopped interpreting neurodivergent behaviors as rejection or bad intentions

The relationship philosophy they now use: “us versus the ADHD” and “us versus the autism”

Why curiosity and giving your partner the benefit of the doubt can change a neurodivergent relationship

ABOUT RICH & ROX PINK

Rich and Rox Pink are the couple behind ADHD Love, known for their candid and often hilarious conversations about ADHD, autism, shame, relationships, addiction, recovery, and learning to work with a neurodivergent brain instead of constantly fighting it.

Together, they are bestselling authors and hosts of the Late Bloomers podcast, where they share the lessons they learned after years of believing they had simply failed at being adults.

🌐 ADHD Love: https://www.adhd-love.co.uk/

📸 Rich & Rox / ADHD Love Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adhd_love_/

📚 Rich & Rox books + resources: https://linktr.ee/ADHD_Love

🎧 Late Bloomers Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/late-bloomers/id1788035047

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

📖 Dirty Laundry by Richard Pink & Roxanne Emery: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/743719/dirty-laundry-by-richard-pink-and-roxanne-emery/

💗 ADHD Love: https://www.adhd-love.co.uk/

🎧 Late Bloomers: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/late-bloomers/id1788035047

🌻 Hidden Disabilities Sunflower: https://hdsunflower.com/

🧠 More episodes from The Dr. Brighten Show: https://drbrighten.com/podcast/

📚 ADHD and Women by Dr. Brighten: http://drbrighten.com/adhdandwomen

THIS EPISODE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY

Dr. Brighten Essentials Radiant Mind

Want a science-backed formula created to support women’s brain health through every stage of life. If you’ve ever felt the brain fog of perimenopause or noticed how ADHD can amplify challenges with focus, memory, mood, or sleep, you’re not alone. Radiant Mind combines clinically studied saffron extract, Bacognize® Bacopa, Cognizin® Citicoline, and zinc to help nourish your brain chemistry and support clarity, calm, and resilience.

Exclusive for podcast listeners: use the code POD15 for 15% off your order

Shop now: https://drbrightenessentials.com/products/radiant-mind

FOLLOW DR. BRIGHTEN

💻 Website: https://drbrighten.com

🎙️ The Dr. Brighten Show: https://drbrighten.com/podcast/

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drjolenebrighten

🎥 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@drjolenebrighten

▶️ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DrJoleneBrighten

📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drjolenebrighten

Dr. Brighten is a naturopathic physician, Certified Menopause Specialist through The Menopause Society, Fellow of the American Board of Naturopathic Endocrinology (FABNE), author, researcher, and women’s health expert focused on translating complex hormone and health science into information women can actually use.

❤️ LIKE this episode if something in Rich and Rox’s story made your own experience make more sense.

📤 SHARE it with someone who may have spent years believing their ADHD, autism, or neurodivergent traits were character flaws.

🔔 SUBSCRIBE to The Dr. Brighten Show for evidence-based conversations about ADHD, hormones, women’s health, menopause, relationships, and the topics women deserve better answers about.

💬 COMMENT BELOW: What is something you understand differently about yourself since learning more about neurodivergence?

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