Jordan (00:41):
Hi, I’m Jordan.
Lex (00:42):
And I’m Lex.
Jordan (00:43):
And this is Or, Learn Parkour.
Lex (00:45):
A podcast about ADHD done by two people who for sure have ADHD.
Jordan (00:50):
Yep.
Lex:
Welcome Back.
Lex (00:51):
Welcome back, everybody. Happy New Year.
Jordan (00:55):
Happy New Year. New me, new phone, who dis?
Jordan (00:59):
I hope you got lots of sweet flips in over the holidays.
Lex (01:03):
Or some just naps, you know? I hope you got some naps. We’re deep into January now. It is 2023, which, you know, I always struggle with the new year. I’m just like everybody else. I struggled to remember what date to write on the top right hand corner of my math paper in school. But, I don’t know, bro. I feel like we’re both just trying so fucking hard. It is January. It is a new year. Time just keeps moving.
Jordan (01:36):
It’s fake, but it still punches us in the face every single day. If you are like us and are experiencing January, experiencing with a capital E, we do have an episode a while back about ADHD and seasonal affective disorder, which ya boy has.
Lex (01:54):
Ya boys.
Jordan (01:56):
Ya boys.
Lex (01:58):
We both got those fun little lamps.
Jordan (01:59):
Yes, we do.
Lex (02:00):
I take mine to the office.
Jordan (02:02):
Yeah. It’s a good place to have it. I have one in my office here at the house and one at my office office, which is necessary. Yeah.
Lex (02:12):
You gotta. You have to have it. You have to. I have gone two weeks at work without having any sort of help from my little fancy depression lamp.
Jordan (02:24):
Yikes, bud.
Lex (02:25):
Yeah. Like I said, it’s January.
Jordan (02:27):
It sure is. We have had an unseasonable amount of sunny days here in Chicago, though. That’s been weird.
Lex (02:34):
Bummer on the climate change, for sure.
Jordan (02:38):
But from the seasonal depression standpoint, hell yeah, brother.
Lex (02:42):
Yeah. Could be so much worse, but for real, we are both, I feel like just clinging, just holding on by threads and I think it’s-
Jordan (02:56):
[Singing] Holding on. We’ll make it through, make it through. You know that song?
Lex (03:00):
No. I don’t know that song. One of the most popular songs for reality TV shows to use when someone gets sent home.
Jordan (03:10):
I didn’t know. I didn’t know that.
Lex (03:12):
Oh. I mean, a lot of ’em.
Jordan:
I believe you.
Lex:
Another one. Oh, I’m sure if you watched reality TV or grew up watching reality TV, you’ll surely remember when David Crowder, or not David Crowder
Jordan (03:27):
[Singing] You had a bad day. You’re taking one down.
Lex (03:31):
That one I think really epitomized the outro exit of a contestant song.
Jordan (03:38):
I mean that was from American Idol, right?
Lex (03:41):
Yeah. But every reality show has that. And I remember so many reality shows used Bad Day. So many used-
Jordan (03:53):
The other one.
Lex (03:53):
The other one that you were just singing that I don’t actually know the name to.
Jordan:
Me neither.
Lex:
Just Holding On probably.
Jordan (04:00):
Probably. Listeners, audience, if you know, tell us. We’re gonna forget to look this up as soon as we stop recording. So if you listen to this episode and you know, please tell us or don’t, I mean you don’t have to.
Lex (04:14):
Yeah. No pressure, but could be helpful.
Jordan (04:16):
Yeah. You know, the more you know.
Lex (04:19):
And like I said, we’re hanging on by threads, so the capacity to Google, lowered significantly at this time, y’all. We are meant to be in fucking caves and cabins and warm spaces. Telling stories, making shit, hanging out with our friends and family and eating our rations. Okay.
Jordan (04:43):
Just carving up, getting in on those potatoes and those other root vegetables that keep super well after harvest.
Lex (04:51):
Potatoes.
Jordan (04:52):
Potatoes.
Lex:
Like potatoes.
Jordan:
Like potatoes.
Lex (04:54):
I really want potatoes. Do you want potatoes?
Jordan (04:56):
I never don’t want potatoes.
Lex (04:59):
That’s fair. That’s so fair. But here we are. Having to go to our jobs and continue to buy groceries and make sure that the toilet paper is stocked in the bathroom. You mean we still have to do that? It seems really unfair to me.
Jordan (05:17):
I wish we would’ve just gotten the hibernating gene.
Lex (05:21):
Like bears.
Jordan (05:21):
Yeah, like bears.
Lex (05:22):
Yeah. Oh, to be a bear. Just fast asleep and fat as fuck right now.
Jordan (05:27):
Oh to be full of salmon and berries and so incredibly unconscious.
Lex (05:33):
I have a question. So you know how Grizzlies will grab salmon out of the river right there as they’re jumping up river because, you know, salmon and then they just kinda toss it back. And you see in those nature videos, they’re not spending the whole time cooking it up, cutting it up, eating it, bite by bite. They just toss it back. Do you think the salmon ever tries to swim back up river?
Jordan (05:55):
I do believe that they chew it. They’re not just doing salmon shots.
Lex (06:01):
But are they really chewing it? Because they don’t need to. Bears have sharp teeth because they specifically don’t need to grind up their food the way that herbivores do because the way their digestion works for a carnivore is different.
Jordan (06:14):
Yeah I would assume that they rip it, you know, take bites of it. Even if they don’t chew, even if they don’t have molars, otherwise the salmon would swim back up. I think that that’s the answer to the question. You Googling it?
Lex (06:27):
Yeah. Bears are different. They pretty much swallow fish in one piece and the digestive system takes care of the rest. Bones included. There’s literally one of the most common results, do bears eat salmon whole. I just said do bears eat fish whole. I didn’t even specify salmon. I wanted to just be, you know.
Jordan (06:43):
Equal opportunity fish eater.
Lex (06:46):
Oh. As time progresses and the bears are less ravenous, these less hungry bears consume only the eggs, brains, and skin of the salmon, which are the fattiest parts. Near the end of the salmon run, if the bear has not attained enough fat content, it will return to eating the whole salmon.
Jordan (07:02):
Ah. So sometimes they do if they’re not in a hurry. Well, you know, they do say that omega 3s that are found in salmon are good for people with ADHD. So it all comes full circle.
Lex (07:15):
Wait, so the bears have ADHD and the salmon help. Okay.
Jordan (07:19):
If we were bears we would still have ADHD. Or maybe we wouldn’t cause we ate so much salmon. I don’t know.
Lex (07:25):
Maybe the fish oils would really just knock it outta the park. Well, scientists, look out. We’ve got a new study for you. Speaking of studies, 2022 sure was a year.
Jordan (07:38):
That it was.
Lex (07:39):
For a lot of things, but also in terms of ADHD specifically.
Jordan (07:44):
This is true and we’re gonna tell you about it. That’s what we’re gonna do this episode in case you were wondering ten minutes into recording what this one’s gonna be about. New year, new us, new phone, who dis? And we’re gonna tell you about some of the newsworthy ADHD findings of 2022. So we’re gonna tell you about ADHD news from 2022.
Lex (08:08):
Yeah. As you’re saying that, I am coming to the realization that we’re saying new year, new me, new phone, who dis? And that’s great. I love that energy, but in the spirit of that, we probably shouldn’t be talking about the year that just ended, right? But we didn’t do a year review at the end of last year, so we’re just gonna do it a little late, which I feel like is also on brand for people who have ADHD.
Jordan (08:31):
Yeah. Yeah. Also, I feel like it’s an important part of moving on to acknowledge what you’ve gone through. So all that to say, we’re still gonna talk about 2022.
Lex (08:43):
Yeah. I think that’s really just semantics, but, I mean, who wants the last episode of the year to be the year in review and not a fun holiday special, which is what it was, you know? So in our defense, I think we did a better job.
Jordan (08:58):
Yeah. Who wants to do anything official between Christmas and New Year’s? That is the closest thing we have to hibernation. That is the “don’t do shit” week. So we didn’t do shit.
Lex (09:13):
We didn’t do shit, but now we’re back and we’re trying to do shit.
Jordan (09:16):
Yes, we are, we’re here, we’re talking about it. Shall we dive into ADHD news from 2022?
Lex (09:22):
We shall.
Jordan (09:23):
Great.
Lex (09:23):
The biggest thing that comes to mind, we already did a whole episode about it, so we’re not gonna get too in depth, but the Adderall shortage, the great Adderall shortage of 2022.
Jordan (09:34):
Is still going on.
Lex (09:36):
Yes. It is. It is moved beyond 2022 and it is a 2023 problem as well.
Jordan (09:41):
Hopefully not for long, but who’s to say?
Lex (09:44):
Who’s to say. Those supply chains. Those ding dang things are tricky.
Jordan (09:49):
They sure are. That’s a tricky dick.
Lex (09:51):
So that’s, I’d say the biggest piece of news. If I were to, not that this is how I did the research, but if I were to, say, type into the Google search bar “ADHD news 2022”.
Jordan (10:06):
If hypothetically.
Lex (10:08):
Yeah. Hypothetically, that’s definitely the first thing that would come up.
Jordan (10:13):
I believe that I can see that in my mind’s eye and definitely not in real life on my screen.
Lex (10:19):
Yeah, exactly. So just, you know, it’s a gut feeling. But that one’s definitely up there.
Jordan (10:25):
That one does, to be fair, affect a lot of people. I will say a lot of the things that I found when I was looking this up were research studies that came out and findings and things like that.
Lex (10:39):
There’s a lot of studies, just page after page after page after page of studies, which is good. That’s great. I love that scientists and psychologists and psychiatrists are just really digging in on it.
Jordan (10:54):
Sure are.
Lex (10:54):
But I do wish there was some happy medium between, you know, big news headlines like Adderall shortage for the fifth straight month, or literally a study about the neural flexibility of children, which is interesting. And it’s cool, it’s all working towards some useful information down the road.
Jordan (11:17):
Not the most presently applicable information for those of us with active brain worms.
Lex (11:23):
Yes. Yes. What about you?
Jordan (11:26):
So I found a couple articles that were not quite something that’s gonna be day-to-day relevant, but slightly more hands-on than neural flexibility and et cetera about some research grants that have happened, about some findings that have come out about programs that people have actually been involved in and some things like that. So I’ll just bop through these real fast.
Lex (11:51):
Yeah. Please, bop on ahead.
Jordan (11:54):
So, the first article that I found, and we’ll share all of these, this is from August of this year and is about a psychologist from Florida State University who got a $9 million grant to expand treatments for pediatric ADHD. And specifically the reason why this is kind of interesting and important news is that they’re specifically talking about gamified treatment. So this is not like a medication, it’s not like a punishment or something like that. It’s a new treatment model that they’re combining with a preexisting study that they did called behavior management based training, which is actually something that parents go through. And that helps them have the tools and skills to understand how their kid thinks and how to steer their behavior in a better path, which I think is great. I mean, I know that we kind of talk about on the show how many resources there are for parents and how few there are for people with ADHD, but in this case those resources are also necessary. And I think it’s really helpful to give parents a little bit more hands on information versus your child’s misbehaving, here are drugs.
Lex (13:08):
Yeah. Yeah. And not that we’re against medication because we both are very much not against medication. However, I can understand how if you have a little mini version of yourself running around out there, you maybe are hesitant, especially from the way it’s talked about to, you know, give your children drugs. That’s what the neighbor down the street’s supposed to do on Halloween.
Jordan (13:34):
Yeah. If they’re slacking on putting speed in those fun size Snickers, then you gotta step in. But I realize that’s not what everybody’s planning to do and I think it’s also worth saying these kind of alternative treatment methods that are more behavior based are often great tools to use alongside medication. I know for me, medication is really important in getting me started over like that initial hump, but then if I can have other skills to keep working and do what I need to do, that helps me get further than just medication. The medication helps me be able to actually do those things. It is a symbiotic relationship.
Lex (14:19):
That’s why when you need to fix something, you grab a toolkit, you don’t just grab a hammer and hope for the best. You don’t just go in with a single flathead screwdriver and assume that you’re gonna have all the tools you need because you won’t.
Jordan (14:35):
You might, but there’s a slim chance.
Lex (14:38):
A flathead screwdriver. There’s a slim chance that that’s the only thing you’ll need.
Jordan (14:46):
Yeah. But here’s a paragraph from this article to give everyone an idea of what this gamified treatment is.
Lex (14:53):
Yeah. I mean, I’m already interested with the whole gamified thing. You know how my brain is.
Jordan (14:59):
ADHD brains love that shit.
Lex (14:59):
I love to play. And I love to win. So I went to a baby shower today. Congrats to my first college bestie who’s having a child. It’s a very interesting moment for me as an adult, but I’m very excited for them. And I did win one of the prizes.
Jordan (15:21):
Heck yeah, you did.
Lex (15:22):
It was a candle and it smelled delicious.
Jordan (15:24):
It’s a very nice candle.
Lex (15:25):
It’s a very nice candle. Sorry. I’m just thinking. I was like, wow, I won something today. Take that, take that world.
Jordan (15:35):
Do you wanna hear more about gamified?
Lex (15:37):
I do. I do. I really do.
Jordan (15:39):
All right. Current training uses arcade style video games that target different components of the central executive functions associated with working memory. As they practice, researchers can see changes in the working memory deficits associated with ADHD that translate into improvements in learning, impulse control, planning, organizing, and emotion regulation.
Lex (16:05):
Where can I sign up for this study? Can I be a part of something like this or is it just the babies? Is it just the children?
Jordan (16:13):
I was gonna say from this article, it looks like right now they are targeting preschool or kindergarten. But you are pretty short, so maybe you could.
Lex:
Oh fuck off.
Jordan:
So it looks like it’s arcade games and video games that help you practice using parts of your brain that need a little bit of exercise. And that sounds rad as heck. It looks like they’re looking to see how that affects kids if they get into that training super early and how that affects kids in tandem with this parent focused behavioral training. But very exciting news. Would love for the day that that’s available to us grownups. And we’ll keep you posted.
Lex (17:01):
Make it an app. I will be participating in that study all day.
Jordan (17:06):
Yes. That would be so fun.
Lex (17:07):
You know, probably an indicator to all of us.
Jordan (17:13):
You’d be too powerful. I think if you just had that as an app and played all the time, you would be too powerful.
Lex (17:19):
My neural flexibility would be like a Russian ballet dancer. It would be so flexible. It kind of makes your head hurt a little when you look at how they’re moving their bodies, you get a ghost stretch pain. You know?
Jordan (17:35):
It’s like watching a contortionist come out of a small box and you’re like, I literally cannot hold that shape in my brain and understand it.
Lex (17:44):
Yeah. Yeah.
Jordan (17:45):
Yeah. So nevermind. They can’t make an app.
Lex (17:49):
I need to be stopped. Yeah. I need to be subdued.
Jordan (17:52):
Otherwise that’s just not fair to anyone else.
Lex (17:56):
Yeah. No, that’s fair.
Jordan (17:59):
All right. Onto the next article?
Lex (18:01):
Onto the next article.
Jordan (18:02):
Radical.
Lex (18:04):
So this is very fun for me. I just get to comment on things you’re reading. This is nice. I didn’t come very prepared, folks.
Jordan (18:11):
That’s okay. And this is great for me too cause I just get to read stuff and not have to come up with anything to say. So, winning.
Lex (18:19):
You do have to deal with my constant presence and chirps throughout it. But, you know.
Jordan (18:25):
I mean, we have been doing a podcast together for two and a half years. I did know what I signed up for.
Lex (18:31):
Fair.
Jordan (18:33):
And that’s half the fun. No one wants to just listen to me read articles. You’re providing a crucial public service.
Lex (18:38):
You’re so fucking welcome. God.
Jordan (18:42):
Thank you, bestie.
Lex (18:43):
The burden I bear, anything for you, bestie.
Jordan (18:46):
The burden you what?
Lex (18:47):
Hold on. I need to go eat an entire salmon whole. Where’s Florence Pugh with her fish?
Jordan (18:52):
For certainly not the first and certainly not the last time on this podcast, Florence Pugh, call us please.
Lex (19:02):
We would love to talk about your Vogue photo shoot where you hold an actual fish. I would love to know if it was an actual fish because I really would like to know if the executives at Vogue were like, yes, we are okay with Florence Pugh, Hollywood Superstar, holding a live fish with our fancy ass designer clothes.
Jordan (19:25):
Let’s just get some marine juices all over this $5,000 gown.
Lex (19:32):
Let’s brine up this British actress. Let’s just get her all fished up.
Jordan (19:37):
It’s gonna smell so great in here.
Lex (19:40):
It’s gonna be so fun. I really need to know if it’s a real fish. I’m dying.
Jordan (19:45):
Very curious.
Lex (19:46):
Honestly. And, also the fact that she, it’s the most ridiculous picture, objectively, right? I feel like, it’s just ridiculous and silly, but she still looks so cool.
Jordan (19:58):
Yeah.
Lex (19:59):
It’s like, yeah. She’s like, I’m holding a giant fish. What of it?
Jordan (20:03):
Of course I am. I did not know about this photo until today and Lex picked me up to go to the plant store.
Lex (20:11):
We both spent maybe a little too much money at the plant store today, but it was really worth it.
Jordan (20:16):
It was. It’s January.
Lex (20:18):
It’s January.
Jordan (20:19):
We need some green.
Lex (20:20):
We need some green. Sorry. So we were on the way to the plant store.
Jordan (20:26):
Yes.
Lex (20:27):
And you googled it while I was driving.
Jordan (20:30):
Yes, but you started talking about it while we were driving. You were like, so you know the Florence Pugh fish photo and I was like, the what? Huh? I did not. And then I googled it and I saw it and we’ll post that on the soshe meeds for y’all if you haven’t seen it yet.
Lex (20:49):
It’s really incredible. It’s really incredible. I wanna get it framed and hung up at our house.
Jordan (20:56):
Just add to the next wall of stuff. The poster.
Lex (21:01):
The fake Scorsese film poster. Oh, that’s all we have so far, but oh, and our 9/11 poster.
Jordan (21:09):
That one we have. Yeah.
Lex (21:11):
Yeah, but it can go in the collection.
Jordan (21:12):
That’s true. True. That’s true.
Lex (21:14):
With weird things.
Jordan (21:16):
Yeah. Sounds good. So this next article is titled “teens with ADHD do not report worse quality of life”, which is great. This is from October of this year and it was from the Sydney School of Public Health at the University of Sydney. And the team compared quality of life ratings collected from 393 adolescents both with and without an ADHD diagnosis. They found that compared with teens without an ADHD diagnosis, those with ADHD reported similar quality of life on the child health utility on a bunch of diagnostic scales that I’m not gonna read to you.
Lex (21:59):
Wait, okay. And this was 393 Australian kids? Australian teens?
Jordan (22:05):
I don’t know. It doesn’t say where they got the teens.
Lex (22:09):
Where’d you get them teens, Sydney?
Jordan (22:12):
Where’d you find those kiddos?
Lex (22:13):
Where’d you get them kids?
Jordan (22:14):
Where’d you pick them up? Huh?
Lex (22:16):
Neighbor down the street. I tried him once.
Jordan (22:18):
Oh gosh. We’re on so many lists already.
Lex (22:24):
But I ask about the teens because if they’re all from Australia, respectfully, it is so sunny there. I don’t trust those results. It is so nice out there.
Jordan (22:36):
That’s fair. But I think the crucial thing is that it was in comparison with teens without ADHD. So I would think that if the quality of life rating from teens with ADHD was higher than it would be otherwise because of the sun, the rating from teens without ADHD would also be higher. So they would still be the same distance apart.
Lex (23:02):
Okay.
Jordan (23:03):
Maybe?
Lex (23:04):
Sure.
Jordan (23:04):
I don’t know. That’s a great question.
Lex (23:06):
And also, sample size of 393 teens, just ain’t that big.
Jordan (23:12):
It’s not. That’s true. There’s a lot of research to do on this topic still. I will fully acknowledge that.
Lex (23:19):
Not to shit all over a study, but.
Jordan (23:21):
No, that’s, that’s fair. I mean, that’s how science works. That’s how new studies get written, is so that you can reference the old ones and be like, hey, fuckos. You were wrong. And here’s why.
Lex (23:30):
That really is how it goes. You’re like, hey fucko. Hey fucko, here’s your theory.
Jordan (23:37):
That’s gonna be one of my Dopamine Trampolines. One day is just specifically scientific articles that cite other scientific articles or are written directly in response to dunk on them.
Lex (23:51):
Yes. It’s good. It’s really good. It’s a really good, people going out of their way and putting in a lot of effort to be petty. I just eat that shit up.
Jordan (24:02):
It’s so good. It’s so good. One of the other important things that this article notes, and that will probably be a topic of further study, is that these quality of life ratings were in general health, happiness, and peer trust. However, what they call psychological sense of school membership, which I’m assuming is how much you feel like you belong at school.
Lex (24:26):
Do you feel like you fit in.
Jordan (24:27):
Yeah.
Lex (24:29):
Scientists, you can just say things in a normal way. Do you know that? Do you, scientists?
Jordan (24:36):
No, I don’t think so.
Lex (24:39):
It’s so irritating sometimes, I swear. And then people think I’m dumb cause I’m just saying things and I’m like, well, at least I can explain stuff to a five year old.
Jordan (24:48):
Yeah. There’s a time and a place for fancy language like that. But this is a four paragraph summary of an article about kids’ feelings. So yeah. If you feel like you fit in at school. And also, the two other things that they measured, academic self-concept and self-efficacy, were worse for adolescents with an ADHD diagnosis. So it seems like they feel okay about life and their peers, but feel a little bit less good about how they’re doing in school, which is fair.
Lex (25:26):
Par for the course.
Jordan (25:27):
It’s also good information when you are trying to figure out how to target your efforts in helping those kids. So, interesting findings. I think there will be a lot to continue studying there and we’ll see how that one goes. I think that will maybe be something we don’t leave behind in 2022. Maybe we’ll hear about a follow up.
Lex (25:48):
We’ll hear more about these Australian teens.
Jordan (25:51):
We sure might.
Lex (25:54):
Sounds like I’m promoting the next weird season of Junior Love Island.
Jordan (26:01):
I was just imagining, what was that mermaid show that was Australian?
Lex (26:08):
Oh, H2O.
Jordan (26:09):
No. Don’t make me go to school. That’s the only thing I can say in an Australian accent is no, no. So the rest of it’s kind of weak, but get a lot of mileage, get a lot of vowels in that there.
Lex (26:25):
Yeah. No, I mean the reason I haven’t said anything else to dunk on Australians in an Australian accent is because it is one of the few accents that I can’t do. I’m just kidding. It’s one of the many accents that I can’t do.
Jordan (26:40):
I can’t judge you for that. I can do some decent ish British accents.
Lex (26:47):
Oh, it’s just so easy.
Jordan (26:48):
It is, it is. And on a good day I can get into a Georgian Southern.
Lex (26:56):
Yes.
Jordan (26:57):
But I don’t know, we didn’t learn that in school.
Lex (26:59):
It’s not really super useful unless you actively are trying to instigate a fight.
Jordan (27:05):
Or get parts as people from other places in the world.
Lex (27:10):
True. I didn’t really think about the acting aspect. I was like, why do we even talk in other people’s accents? Oh yeah. To make fun of them. Says so much about me. Oh, well.
Jordan (27:23):
Yep. All right. Next article. Two more. This is the second to last one. There were a couple of articles about this. This is the summary from the National Institutes of Health.
Lex (27:36):
Really thought you were gonna say National Institute of Hell. And I was like, okay.
Jordan (27:40):
We have one of those?
Lex (27:41):
I was like, dang.
Jordan (27:44):
Is that just the IRS?
Lex (27:46):
That’s kinda mean to the IRS. They can’t help that Republicans have continually cut their budget year after year after year. They literally take all of the tools away from the IRS, take all of the smooth ability to make taxes even remotely easier. And then they’re like, look how bad this is. They take everything away and they’re like, look how bad they’re doing. So the next time you feel like you need to shit on the IRS, remember who’s responsible. Because it’s Reagan. It’s always goddamn Reagan. Did you know other countries will, there are some other countries that their taxes basically get done for them and then they get a letter in the mail that’s like, here’s how much you owe for taxes.
Jordan (28:27):
I did know that.
Lex (28:28):
I’m sorry.
Jordan (28:30):
No, that’s fair. I think what I’m trying to say is probably working at the IRS is hell at this point.
Lex (28:38):
Absolutely. Yeah.
Jordan (28:38):
Yeah. But no, this is the National Institutes of Health.
Lex (28:43):
Yeah. I mean, I got it.
Jordan (28:44):
Okay. Yeah. Just wanted to make sure that was clear for everybody. This was from the end of November of 2022. The title of this article is Simulated Driving Program Reduces Crash Risk for Teens with ADHD in Small Study. So again, this is another small study. This is not groundbreaking nationwide game changer information, but it’s promising and kind of cool. It’s another kind of gamified way of helping people develop skills. So this study was conducted by the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and was about a program called Focal, which stands for Focused Concentration and Attention Learning. It was a computer based program that teaches neurotypical teen drivers to limit long glances away from the roadway. And for this study in particular, the researchers enhanced this training by adding a driving simulator that provides immediate feedback on long glances they called the combined training Focal Plus, very creative, guys. Well done.
Lex (29:51):
Something tells me in your tone that you don’t think it was well done or creative. It’s just something I’m picking up. You know because we’re so connected, bestie.
Jordan (30:00):
We are so connected, bestie.
Lex (30:04):
Yeah. Get ’em. Get ‘em, bestie.
Jordan (30:05):
I realized that across this study, that was probably not the thing that required the most work, but I couldn’t do a study like this. I don’t have the science skills involved, so I shouldn’t judge anybody for not having the writing skills involved to come up with something a little catchier. You know, maybe when this finally goes to market and there’s some market research done, some copy written up for this bad boy, the name will get workshopped a bit. That’s fine.
Lex (30:33):
All right. Well, it’s very diplomatic of you, completely unsurprising that you are the kinder and more gracious of us. And I will continue to rely on that persona so that I don’t have to pick up as much nice slack.
Jordan (30:49):
Fair enough. Fair enough.
Lex (30:52):
It’s cool though.
Jordan (30:53):
Yeah.
Lex (30:53):
Don’t tell Elon though, don’t tell Elon this is happening.
Jordan (30:57):
No.
Lex (30:57):
Don’t let him in on it.
Jordan (30:59):
No. There’s absolutely no reason for that.
Lex (31:03):
There’s no reason for anything he does though. Don’t let him.
Jordan (31:07):
Did you see the Twitter thread of somebody throwing a bowling ball or a brick at one of the Tesla truck windows and it bouncing back and then being like, these windows are impenetrable. This is so cool.
Lex (31:22):
No. Oh, but oh wait. And then it’s followed up by other people trying the same thing at home?
Jordan (31:26):
No, no, it’s followed up by everyone going, do you ass cracks understand why windows are designed to break? They figured this out in the sixties. You dumb motherfuckers have so much fun hitting that windshield and having all of the energy instead of breaking the windshield, be transferred into your body and turning your brain into a milkshake.
Lex (31:50):
Oh yeah. Like crash dummies. Things that happen to crash dummy. I don’t want anyone to die for the point to be made, but I suspect that will be the case. And bearing that in mind, I will probably still laugh.
Jordan (32:04):
I don’t want anybody to die.
Lex (32:06):
But if someone dies, at least they had a really fucking hilarious death.
Jordan (32:10):
I hope that people realize how unbelievably stupid that is before then, but I am not confident that’s going to happen. So, sorry about your skulls. Sorry about all your bones.
Lex (32:24):
Sorry about your little milkshake brains.
Jordan (32:26):
I can’t, I don’t know what else to say there. It’s just so mind-bogglingly stupid.
Lex (32:31):
Next article.
Jordan (32:32):
Oh, quick wrap up on Focal Plus.
Lex(32:34):
Okay.
Jordan (32:36):
This was a sample size of 152 teens, so pretty small, but it’s a start. And, okay. So after completing this training, the students’ vehicles were fitted with cameras attached to the rear view mirror to track where their eyes were when they were driving in real life cause the main focus of this was to try and reduce the amount of time people spent looking away from the road. That’s gonna happen a little bit, you know, you have to look beside you to merge or whatever, but trying to minimize that time. And they did find during the year of driving, after they were involved in this game study group, the group that did participate had 76% fewer long glances than the control group. And in addition, the rate of crashes and near crashes in the focal plus group was 3.4% compared to 5.6% for the control group. So, pretty neat.
Lex (33:33):
Pretty, pretty neat.
Jordan (33:34):
Another game. We love it.
Lex (33:37):
We do love games. All right. Last one. Let’s go.
Jordan (33:40):
All right. Last one. And this one is, I think, the most relevant to us, aside from the whole Adderall shortage thing, but exciting news from September of 2022, the American Professional Society of ADHD and related disorders finally made plans to develop the nation’s first guidelines for diagnosing and treating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in adults.
Lex (34:08):
Thank fuck.
Jordan (34:09):
I know. Yeah. The current guidelines that exist in the DSM and across the psychological profession were developed for and based on children and adolescence. We all know that there’s a huge kind of perception of ADHD as being a disorder that children have.
Lex (34:28):
Specifically just little boys.
Jordan (34:31):
Little white boys. And there’s many problems to unpack in there, but they’re finally looking at how it affects adults because it does. And that will be very exciting and help more people get the help that they need.
Lex (34:47):
Which we love.
Jordan (34:48):
Yes. Interestingly, this is a whole mess that we can dive into in another episode or don’t, but the article states that the decision to develop the guidance largely stems from specialists’ concerns that telehealth startups like Cerebral and Dunn have over-prescribed stimulants throughout the pandemic. In March, the journal reported that some cerebral clinicians said they felt pressure to prescribe stimulants such as Adderall to patients after a 30 minute evaluation, which they said was not enough time to properly diagnose ADHD. So, you know, we are all for people getting the medication that they need, and hopefully this will help more people get what they need if they really need it and help people who don’t need it.
Lex (35:30):
Yeah. Figure out what you do need. Yeah, that’s very exciting. But then also at the same time, okay, I see how it is. You didn’t really care about this until there was an Adderall shortage and people started complaining online about how many people seem to have ADHD now. I see how it is.
Jordan (35:51):
And I mean, there are many factors that contribute to that, but hopefully this will help people get the help that they actually need.
Lex (35:58):
Yeah. It’ll be interesting to see where that train of study goes.
Jordan (36:02):
They are saying that they expect the guidelines to be released this year. So definitely expect some more information on that at some point. I’m sure.
Lex (36:13):
Eventual new me, new year, new phone, who dis?
Jordan (36:18):
I’m sure we’ll have something to say about it.
Lex (36:20):
Eventually. We always do.
Jordan (36:22):
Yeah. That is the ADHD news from 2022. A couple interesting articles that hopefully we will revisit and hear a little bit more about in this year. That’s what I got.
Lex (36:34):
I feel like it’s probably worth noting, there are so, so many studies, literally. There’s people doing 15 to 20 studies a week that come out about ADHD. These were just some highlights and some things that we thought were interesting enough to talk about on a podcast because, like I said, there were a lot. Pages upon pages. It’s like, yeah, I’ll look into some ADHD 2022 news and then I start sorting through all this shit and I’m like, oh my God, could we have less news? Please. I need less news. Generally I need less news.
Jordan (37:13):
Amen to that.
Lex (37:14):
Speaking of amen, since we talked about our 2022 highlights, I think it means it’s time for us to move onto a very special Dopamine Trampoline.
Jordan (37:26):
Yes. We are doing a very special Dopamine Trampoline celebrating 2022, the year of twos. So we are doing a double Dopamine Trampoline. Lex, do you wanna tell ’em what that means?
Lex (37:40):
A Double Dopamine is when it’s something that both me and Jordan get dopamine from.
Jordan (37:47):
We sure do.
Lex (37:48):
And if you’re wondering, why are you talking in an accent and why did you make an emphasis about the word amen? You’re not normally very religious, Lex, this is a weird twist for you in this podcast. Well, I’ll tell you, it’s because in this episode, we do pray, we pray to our Lord and savior Dolly Parton.
Jordan (38:04):
Yes.
Lex (38:06):
Because our first official Double Dopamine-
Jordan (38:08):
Is Dolly Parton.
Lex (38:09):
Is Dolly fucking Parton.
Jordan (38:11):
Yes. We both love her. We have a picture of her by our door. We both enjoy her music. It makes quite an appearance on many of our road trip playlists. And beyond. And they just think she’s neat. She does a lot of cool stuff.
Lex (38:28):
Yeah.
Jordan (38:29):
She’s her own woman. She’s an incredibly talented artist and has just a heart that inspires me to be a better person.
Lex (38:40):
Yes. Yes. Let’s start with surface stuff. Right? Clearly has always been a smoke show, will always be a smoke show.
Jordan:
Truth.
Lex:
This is not me objectifying Dolly Parton, this is me speaking truth.
Jordan:
Amen.
Lex:
Not just facts, truth. So jot that down.
Jordan (39:01):
Smoke show.
Lex (39:02):
Smoke show. If we could all be so lucky, if we could all be so lucky. Digging a little deeper, you’ll see her appearances in film and TV.
Jordan (39:13):
Multi-talented, beyond triple threat.
Lex (39:16):
Yes. And then moving on from that, you see her influence in pop culture generally. Don’t even get me started on the drag culture surrounding Dolly Parton.
Jordan (39:26):
Don’t even get me started on the movie Dumplin’, specifically.
Lex (39:29):
The movie Dumplin’, specifically. Oh my god.
Jordan (39:31):
Another Double Dopamine for sure. But circling back real fast to her looks. One thing that I just hugely, hugely respect is that-
Lex (39:42):
Hugely, is this about her boobs? Cause they’re huge.
Jordan (39:49):
They are. No, you’re correct. I respect them.
Lex (39:53):
Yes. Yes.
Jordan (39:55):
But what I was actually going to say is how she owns the way that she looks and chooses that for herself and is always one step ahead of anybody who wants to make a comment about it or judge her about it, she just takes it in stride and takes more power from it and is just ahead of the curve and totally herself.
Lex (40:19):
A fucking icon.
Jordan (40:20):
A fucking icon. And this is a fun little history thing I’ll pop into. You’ve probably heard of this podcast if you’ve literally ever listened to podcasts, which we’re assuming you do because this is a podcast. Anyways, Dolly Parton’s America, incredible podcast, mini series, learn a lot more about her life. But one thing that I learned from listening to this was that her look that she created for herself was based on and inspired by somebody that she referred to as the town tramp. The woman in her town growing up who was treated as kind of a floozy by everybody else in town and viewed in that negative light. She went, that’s beautiful. And chose it and made it her own. And I just think that’s so rad.
Lex (41:06):
Yeah. Well, she saw what people wanted, no matter how they referred to it, what people desired. And she took that and she understands. She understands people, oh my gosh. Okay. So going back though to just some layers, right? We have her appearance, fucking knockout. The smarts behind it. Amazing. We’ve got her influence culturally, pop culture, movies, TV, film, et cetera. And then, as Jordan said, incredibly talented musician. I don’t think y’all understand. Well some of you may have the same passion as us and you’re probably like, yes, yes, of course. Yes, which hell yeah. But if you don’t know, Dolly Parton has written more songs than almost any other artist besides probably John Lennon, I think. And Paul McCartney might still top her at this point, but it’s close. And people don’t think about that. Like, you know, I will Always Love You famously performed by Whitney Houston.
Jordan (42:14):
That’s originally by Dolly Parton.
Lex (42:16):
Yeah. She wrote that.
Jordan (42:17):
And she wrote it on the same day as she wrote Light of a Clear Blue Morning. Can you believe that?
Lex (42:22):
Which she wrote while driving. She just wrote it in her head and then made two of her absolute best banger songs in one day.
Jordan (42:34):
In one go.
Lex(42:35):
And it was after she had quit her job, right?
Jordan (42:38):
Yeah. It was after she quit basically her contract relationship with the artist who kind of made her famous and put her on television, which was a very brave thing to do. But yeah, she was driving away from that conversation. She wrote, I Will Always Love You and Light of a Clear Blue Morning.
Lex (42:58):
Like two of the most emotionally-
Jordan (43:02):
Rich.
Lex (43:03):
Yeah. Emotionally rich, musically beautiful.
Jordan (43:07):
Well that’s the thing I think that she doesn’t get as much credit for either is, beyond being a singer, beyond being a songwriter, how many instruments she plays. Like all of ’em.
Lex (43:18):
All of them.
Jordan (43:19):
There’s a video of her playing the beat of a song on her acrylic nails. She can do anything.
Lex (43:25):
Yeah. Going back to Dolly Parton’s America, great podcast, would definitely recommend. It’s just a mini-series so there’s not that many episodes and it’s very cool because it’s about Dolly Parton and I don’t know, I think it touches on a lot of things that aren’t necessarily readily available unless you’re like, I’m gonna do some digging and learn about Dolly Parton today. Because given that she’s someone with so much talent and so, oh yeah, that’s the other thing, we haven’t even touched on her philanthropic endeavors.
Jordan (43:56):
Oh yeah.
Lex (43:56):
Like the things that she does for her home state of Tennessee. If only all rich people were like this. We would have a better place to live
Jordan (44:07):
Yeah. Well and the things that she does for people around the world cause obviously a lot of her time and effort and money goes back into her community, but the program that she has where she sends free books to kids under five across the entire country just because reading is important and reading with your kids is important.
Lex (44:27):
Yes. The other thing that I think we can all appreciate about Dolly Parton, regardless of how you feel or who you voted for, Dolly Parton is something of an apolitical figure, right? Doesn’t really matter who you are, we all love Dolly Parton.
Jordan (44:45):
And I think she does that with an incredible amount of respect. And that’s something that Dolly Parton’s America kind of touches on, the reason that they were really interested in her and her persona in the first place is because of her popularity across so many different groups of people. She just does it with so much grace. I particularly really appreciate how she’s always been very vocal about her faith being a part of her life, but she speaks to that and how much of a motivation for kindness and recognizing the goodness and divinity in everybody. I think that that’s beautiful. And how much she’s been a very, very vocal supporter of the community since way before, you know, the last couple years. Like post AIDS, where that’s become more mainstream.
Lex (45:37):
She’s been a supporter for a long time. Yeah. I think that’s the thing, nobody has ever come away. You can try and Google it. There are very few people who have a problem with Dolly Parton. There are just so few people who have even the slightest negative interaction with her. And I think that it really is a credit to how gracefully she holds herself and how well she understands people to be able to empathize and connect and make so many different people feel seen and heard and cared for and loved just by being herself and being open and kind. And I think it’s just really incredible. So it’s like, yes, she’s super, super hot. Yes. She’s super talented and we enjoy her music and the movies she’s in and all of those other things. But I think what really draws both of us, I think, to Dolly Parton, is just how good she is at being a person.
Jordan (46:34):
Yeah. I mean, that’s something I know we’ve talked about before and is the reason that we, you and me, founded a production company. The methodology behind our artistic statement is we want to make space for people’s human experiences and the love that everyone deserves and she embodies that so beautifully.
Lex (46:57):
Yeah. Sometimes I feel like I fall short of that so often. Right. But it’s so admirable to see this woman who’s just been like that her whole fucking life. So yeah. We have a picture of her in our house cause seeing her just sort of reminds us that like, hey, it might be January, but it’s gonna be okay. Put on some Two Doors Down and you’ll be fine, you know. Maybe watch Dumplin’, cry a little bit.
Jordan (47:22):
And cry a lot a bit. Yeah. You know, maybe some 9 to 5. We need to watch that.
Lex (47:27):
We need to watch 9 to 5 and we need to watch-
Jordan (47:29):
Best a Little Whorehouse in Texas. Yes. We do.
Lex (47:32):
We need to watch so much. We need to watch all of her episodes in Hannah Montana. We need to do a proper A to Z Dolly Parton appearances marathon and or ongoing thing because it’s a lot more than we’re thinking of.
Jordan (47:48):
That’s true. Might be worth looking into if you can do a Lord of the Rings kind of day out of it or if that’s gonna be like a Dolly Parton book club situation.
Lex (47:58):
Yeah. All that said, we both really like Dolly Parton.
Jordan (48:02):
We both really respect and admire Dolly Parton and I wanna acknowledge that she is a person and we don’t wanna put her up on a pedestal that is above the human experience because I think it’s really worth pointing out and remembering that she is a human and manages to do all of this.
Lex (48:19):
Absolutely. However, will I build a platform with my own bare hands to get her up there? Maybe. She’s not on a pedestal, but she does have a platform.
Jordan (48:31):
She does have a good view. We just think she’s neat.
Lex (48:34):
Just think she’s neat. What’s your favorite Dolly Parton song?
Jordan (48:38):
Oh gosh. I mean, I have a soft spot for Light of a Clear Blue Morning. Tennessee Mountain Home is another top one for me. And 9 to 5 just on principle.
Lex (48:50):
Yeah. Yeah. I was waiting for you to be like, well I have to choose 9 to 5.
Jordan (48:56):
It’s my top three. I don’t think I can narrow it down more than that. What about you? It’s
Lex (49:00):
So fair. Here You Come Again.
Jordan (49:03):
Also good.
Lex (49:03):
Good. Also, Light of the Clear Blue morning, you know, it gets us both. I remember when we were listening to it in the car on a morning drive sometime two years ago. And we both were just quietly crying. It was really, really objectively fucking hilarious.
Jordan (49:20):
Yeah.
Lex (49:21):
But at the time I remember we both were just like-
Jordan (49:24):
Oh, Dolly, we’re really in it now.
Lex (49:24):
Yeah. Oh, Dolly, we’re really in it now. Like, oh my gosh. But I think my absolute favorite that I can’t really deny it not being my favorite is Two Doors Down. It is just so, I don’t know, one of my favorite memories and we really do have her music on a lot of road trip playlists.
Jordan:
Yeah. We do.
Lex:
These two things that I’m talking about are road trip adjacent. But I remember Jordan and our old roommate Camie, and also one of our other besties.
Jordan (49:54):
Hi Camie, I miss you.
Lex (49:55):
Love you so much. But they both came to visit my family in Michigan a couple years back. And we were driving down a back road that I took to and from school every day. And we had the windows down and it was summertime and we were listening to Dolly Parton and Two Doors Down. Come on. And it’s just such a, I mean, if you wanna get into lyrically breaking it down, it’s such a good self-advocacy boost.
Jordan:
Oh yeah.
Lex:
Like, you know what? No, I am sad and that’s okay, but I’m tired of crying. I’m tired of moping. I’m gonna go down the hall, make some friends, and find myself a new man to make out with back down the hall.
Jordan (50:32):
Like, I’m gonna turn it around and I’m going to find happiness for myself. Hell yes, I am.
Lex (50:38):
Yes. And all to the backdrop of a relaxed party fun atmosphere where it’s like everyone’s just having a good time and when I think of my home in Michigan and my family, I’m like, yeah. That’s like my family party. My family has parties that remind me of Two Doors Down. And I feel like, Jordan, you can attest to that, just very comfortable.
Jordan (51:02):
Yeah. I’ve been to your family parties and that’s how my family parties too, just like, we’re all here to have a good time together.
Lex (51:08):
Yeah. And we’re all gonna be welcoming. But we’re not gonna back off from teasing you on having fun and having some drinks and it’s like, I don’t know. Anyway, so Two Doors Down is definitely my favorite.
Jordan (51:19):
It’s hard to pick a favorite. There are so many bangers.
Lex (51:23):
So many bangers.
Jordan (51:25):
Yeah. Thanks for everything, Dolly.
Lex (51:27):
Thank you for everything, Dolly.
Jordan (51:28):
Anything else we got before we close this one out?
Lex (51:31):
Let’s sign this out and go listen to some Dolly.
Jordan (51:33):
Hell yeah. This has been Or, Learn Parkour from Wholehearted Production Company.
Lex (51:38):
You can find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher. Any of the places where cool people get their podcasts.
Jordan (51:43):
Special thanks to Krizia Perito for our cover art design. You can find her at Petalhop. That’s P-E-T-A-L-H-O-P on Instagram, Twitter, and Etsy.
Lex (51:54):
Thank you as well to Tom Rosenthal for our intro and outro song. There is a Dark Place off of the album Keep a Private Room Behind the Shop.
Jordan (52:03):
You can follow us on the sosh meeds, we are @orlearnparkour on Instagram. That’s a fairly recent change in the last couple of months, if you haven’t noticed. And you can also check out our website wearewpc.com.
Lex (52:17):
You can find links to all that as well as links to our transcripts and sources in our episode description.
Jordan (52:23):
If you enjoy this podcast and would like to hear more, click follow, subscribe, whatever the button is on your pod catcher of choice. And if you would like to start a podcast of your own, click our Buzzsprout affiliate link in our episode description. You get a great show website, access to tons of podcasting resources, your show listed in every major podcast platform, which is so nice. If you haven’t run a podcast before, it’s such a pain in the ass to go fill out the same information on 50 different platforms. Get started with the company that over a hundred thousand podcasters already use and trust and we get a little kickback that helps us keep the lights on. So join us, join us in Podcast Land.
Lex (53:06):
Join us and if you don’t want to join us, but you still are able to give us money of your own accord, not through Buzzsprout, you could just give us money. You could find a link to our Ko-fi on our Instagram or on our website
Jordan (53:19):
That you can.
Lex (53:20):
Please.
Jordan (53:21):
Would be really nice. We don’t make money on this podcast. And we’re saving up to go to Dollywood this summer.
Lex (53:29):
We actually are. That’s not a bit, we’re trying to go to Dollywood this summer.
Jordan (53:33):
We’d love to do that. We’ve been waiting for so long.
Lex (53:35):
We’ve been waiting for so long. We were planning it before the Panorama, as the kids call it.
Jordan (53:40):
Yeah. Before that panini was toasted. Do we have an outro question or a joke?
Lex (53:45):
No, I really just wanna go listen to Dolly.
Jordan (53:47):
Let’s do it. I’m Jordan.
Lex:
I’m Lex.
Jordan:
And this has been Or, Learn Parkour. See you in two weeks.