Women & ADHD – Episode 203

Guest: Dr. Anupriya Gogne
Host: Katy Weber
Date: November 3, 2025
Episode Title: Dr. Anupriya Gogne: ADHD & Executive Dysfunction in the Perinatal Period

Episode Overview

This powerful conversation dives into the nuanced experience of ADHD—particularly executive dysfunction—during the perinatal period. Host Katy Weber interviews Dr. Anupriya Gogne, a board-certified addiction psychiatrist specializing in women’s mental health and the perinatal population. Drawing from her own late-in-life diagnosis and clinical experience, Dr. Gogne discusses how ADHD manifests differently in women, why it is frequently misunderstood or misdiagnosed (especially around pregnancy and motherhood), and how individualized, strengths-based approaches are essential for supporting neurodivergent mothers.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Dr. Gogne’s Diagnosis & Professional Journey

• Double Life Change: Dr. Gogne recounts how becoming an attending psychiatrist (with a sudden increase in caseload and responsibilities) and a major personal shift (moving in with her partner, impulsively adopting a husky) together stressed her executive functioning to the breaking point (05:10–09:45).
  • Quote (Dr. Gogne, 05:40):
    "I was lagging behind on notes... staying back to like seven, eight o'clock, and I'm still not done. What is going on?"
• The “Glass Wall” Analogy: She and many women describe a persistent feeling of being fundamentally different but not knowing why.
  • Quote (Dr. Gogne, 06:28):
    "It's almost like they feel like there is a glass wall between them and the rest of the world...they just don't know what it is."
• Diagnosis and Grief: Her eventual ADHD and nonverbal learning disability diagnoses triggered a cycle of relief, grief, anger, and deep self-reflection.
  • Quote (Dr. Gogne, 11:01):
    "It's like a grieving process...I felt relief because all the pieces of the puzzle fit into place."
• Learning and Integration: Immersed in literature (including Sari Solden’s work) and podcasts, Dr. Gogne adapted her understanding and clinical practice to better support women like herself.

Gender, Hormones, and Executive Dysfunction

• Hormonal Inflection Points: Dr. Gogne observed a pattern in her patients—the emergence or worsening of executive dysfunction during hormonal transitions (pregnancy, postpartum, menopause, PMDD), often in women previously undiagnosed.
  • Insight: These hormone-driven episodes are frequently mistaken for mood disorders or personality flaws, leading to misdiagnosis and mismanagement (13:50–15:15).
• Treatment Beyond Medication: Medication (primarily stimulants) helps but is only a partial answer—behavioral change, structure, and a strengths-based mindset are critical.
  • Quote (Dr. Gogne, 10:58):
    “Treatment doesn’t have to be about XYZ being a certain way...all of that can be facilitated by the medication. But really, a lot of behavioral change also needs to happen.”
  • Quote (Dr. Gogne, 23:11):
    “Any medication is not the full answer. They would have to really reassess and restructure their life and teach themselves how to get the most out of any of the ADHD medications...It is more a state of dysregulation than a deficit.”

The Importance of Context and Validation

• Emotional Toll & Context: Dr. Gogne reflects on her upbringing and medical training—structure and context masked her social and executive challenges and allowed her to thrive; less-structured settings exposed vulnerabilities.
  • Quote (Dr. Gogne, 18:28):
    "This context in which I am interacting with the patients is a context that I'm very well trained in...In personal relationships...contexts vary all the time...different things happen...there's more distractions."
• Gendered Guilt: The pressure on mothers and women with ADHD is exacerbated by internalized societal expectations.
  • Quote (Dr. Gogne, 26:41):
    "When a mother or a woman would say, 'Oh, I can't clean,' she would say, 'I must be a bad mother.' So really internalizing that, which is so specific to women."

Social, Cultural, and Evolutionary Perspectives

• Cultural Lag in Diagnosis: Dr. Gogne shares her experience of ADHD’s near-invisibility during her childhood in India and how shifting social/cultural landscapes (including increased access to psychological knowledge) now enable greater awareness (35:27–39:20).
  • Quote (Dr. Gogne, 35:32):
    "I think it has to do more with how psychiatry developed in India and how it was perceived...it was all in the service of you have to be productive."
• Modern Complexity & Evolution: Weber and Gogne discuss how today’s fast-paced, multirole society increases the demand for executive function, possibly making neurodivergent traits more “adaptive” but also more exposed (41:14–43:51).

ADHD, Trauma, and Symptom Clusters

• Trauma Intersection: ADHD and trauma are often intertwined, with unclear causality yet practical overlap—effective treatment requires focusing on specific symptom domains rather than labels (47:13–50:32).
  • Quote (Dr. Gogne, 47:23): "Regardless of whatever the DSM diagnosis is or the diagnosis the hospital is going to bill for. Let's forget about that for a minute...I find it more helpful to separate the symptoms into these domains and then think of treatment options."
• Medication Stigma & Substance Use: Hesitancy to prescribe stimulants (especially in those with a substance use history) is often unfounded; a careful, individualized approach is needed (51:21–53:32).
  • Quote (Dr. Gogne, 51:04):
    "There's nothing wrong with what I teach my trainees is that you don't have to be scared of prescribing stimulants...you have to do a realistic risk assessment."

Support, Shame, and Resilience in Motherhood

• Permission to Seek Help: Both speakers emphasize that women, especially mothers, should not have to “exhaust all options within themselves” before seeking help.
  • Quote (Dr. Gogne, 54:00): “You are not giving excuses, you are not lazy, you are still a good mother. It doesn’t matter if you got a cleaning lady...no one said you have to clean to be a good mother.”
• The Ever-Changing Landscape: ADHD challenges are compounded by the perpetual flux in parenting—from infant to adolescent, the demands morph faster than systems can be established (57:58–59:08).
  • Quote (Dr. Gogne, 58:23): "For the person with untreated adhd, it's more dysregulating and it takes a longer time to kind of find your new norm...Like the moment the mothers would get used to it and have a system in place, things stayed on them."
• Fundamental Message: Self-compassion, not perfectionism, is essential. Treatment is about finding balance and building a life that works for the individual—not meeting external standards (59:08–59:59).

The “Superpower” Debate

• Potential and Pitfalls: The “superpower” analogy works only when individuals receive support and guidance; without these, their unique strengths remain untapped.
  • Quote (Dr. Gogne, 52:45): "What good are superpowers if you can't use them?"

Notable Quotes & Moments with Timestamps

• Dr. Gogne on the so-called “glass wall” feel of undiagnosed ADHD:

  "It's almost like they feel like there is some, like a glass wall between them and the rest of the world, and they are different in some way. They just don't know what it is." (06:28)

• On the relief of diagnosis:

  "It's like all the pieces of the puzzle fit into place." (11:01)

• Ongoing frustration after diagnosis:

  "There's also more frustration because they notice it more." (11:49)

• Medication isn’t the answer by itself:

  "Treatment doesn't have to be about XYZ being a certain way...A lot of behavioral change also needs to happen." (10:58, also echoed at 34:19)

• Women internalize stigma:

  "She would say, 'Oh, I can't clean. I must be a bad mother.' So really internalizing that which is so specific to women in the social context." (26:42)

• On ADHD in tightly-structured vs. unstructured contexts:

  "I had a lot of structure. Strict parenting came with a lot of structure...In personal relationships, contexts vary all the time." (18:28)

• On substance use and ADHD:

  "Substance use should not become a barrier or like for you to worry that, oh my God, I'm going to give this patient Adderall and she's going to misuse it. It doesn't just happen like that." (61:39)

Structure & Timestamps for Important Segments

• Dr. Gogne’s Diagnostic Journey – 05:10–15:16
• Gender Differences & Hormonal Inflections – 13:50–17:40
• Life Experience, Context, and the “Glass Wall” – 18:28–21:48
• Medication, Mindset, and the “Superpower” Debate – 23:06–26:45
• Motherhood, Societal Expectations, Shame – 26:42–31:10
• Cultural Evolution, Diagnosis across Societies – 35:27–39:20
• Trauma Intersection & Symptom Clusters – 47:13–50:32
• Balancing Treatment & Realistic Self-Advocacy – 51:21–53:32
• Advice and Closing Thoughts for Clinicians – 61:07–63:43

Tone & Original Language

The episode maintains a conversational, candid, and empathetic tone throughout. Both Dr. Gogne and Katy Weber speak as clinicians with lived experience, blending academic knowledge with personal vulnerability and validation.

Summary Takeaways for Listeners

• ADHD in women, especially mothers, is often overlooked due to societal, cultural, and diagnostic biases.
• Executive dysfunction spikes during periods of hormonal shifts; it’s not laziness or a character flaw.
• Medication helps, but holistic, strengths-based behavioral strategies and mindset shifts are key.
• Women/mothers must reject shame, ask for help sooner, and remember they are not alone or broken.
• Cultural, societal, and generational factors deeply affect recognition and treatment of ADHD.
• The right support can transform ADHD from an invisible struggle to an opportunity for self-understanding and advocacy.
• Clinicians are urged to individualize care, look deeper than labels, and embrace collaborative, team-based, and trauma-informed approaches.

Recommended for:
Women navigating ADHD, clinicians, mothers (especially in or post-pregnancy), and anyone interested in neurodiversity, trauma, and gender-informed mental health.

Links:

• [Dr. Anupriya Gogne's Book: Neurodevelopmental Disorders in Adult Special Considerations in the Perinatal Period]
• [womenandadhd.com] for resources, coaching, and self-guided courses