Why can you care deeply about a task, fully understand what needs to be done, and still feel physically unable to begin? In this episode of Authentically ADHD, Carmen explores the AuDHD freeze response—the frustrating gap between intention and action shaped by task-initiation struggles, autistic inertia, cognitive disengagement, transition friction, overwhelm, and nervous-system protection.

We break down why this is not laziness, defiance, or a lack of discipline, and why shame often makes the freeze even worse. You’ll learn how to identify what kind of “stuck” you are experiencing, reduce invisible steps, create gentler transition ramps, use body doubling and external cues, and choose a first step small enough to actually access.

Because sometimes your brain is not refusing to cross the bridge. The bridge simply has no ramp, no lighting, no signs, and one deeply unqualified raccoon in a hard hat yelling, “Figure it out.”

This episode is for every AuDHDer who has ever spent an hour thinking about standing up—and then blamed themselves for still sitting.

Research and Show-Notes References

* Buckle, K. L., Leadbitter, K., Poliakoff, E., & Gowen, E. First-Hand Accounts of Autistic Inertia. Frontiers in Psychology, 2021.

* Rapaport, H. et al. “I live in extremes”: A qualitative investigation of autistic adults’ experiences of inertia. Autism, 2023/2024.

* Lage, C., Smith, E. S., & Lawson, R. P. A meta-analysis of cognitive flexibility in autism spectrum disorder. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 2024.

* Hoofs, V. et al. Task switching in autism: An EEG study on intentions and actions. Neuropsychologia, 2018.

* Willcutt, E. G. et al. Validity of the executive function theory of ADHD: A meta-analytic review. Biological Psychiatry, 2005.

* Diamond, A. Executive Functions. Annual Review of Psychology, 2013.

* Becker, S. P. et al. Cognitive Disengagement Syndrome–Clinical Interview. 2024.

* Yücens, B. et al. Examining cognitive disengagement syndrome in an adult ADHD evaluation sample. 2024.

* Roelofs, K. Freeze for action: Neurobiological mechanisms in animal and human freezing. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 2017.

* Arnsten, A. F. T. Stress signalling pathways that impair prefrontal cortex structure and function. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 2009.

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