Rage quitting, constant tiny mistakes, and emotional regulation with ADHD (John Garden’s story)

What if the clue to an ADHD diagnosis was making a different tiny mistake every night on stage?

John Garden is a therapist and professional musician. He shares how years of strong emotional reactions, rage quitting, boredom with repetition, and feeling like a failure eventually led to an ADHD diagnosis.

The conversation explores emotional regulation, inattention to detail, perfectionism, and the hidden ways ADHD can show up. It also highlights how ADHD realizations are often not a single lightning-bolt moment. More often, they come from years of experiences that slowly add up until everything starts to make sense.

For more on this topic

• Listen: Adult ADHD, perfectionism, and soft productivity
• Read: ADHD and perfectionism
• Watch: ADHD and emotional dysregulation

For a transcript and more resources, visit ADHD Aha! on Understood.org. You can also email us at adhdaha@understood.org.

Understood.org is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering people with learning and thinking differences, like ADHD and dyslexia. If you want to help us continue this work, donate at understood.org/give

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