“Just be yourself” …which one? 🤣 The calm one The fun one The one reading the entire room Or the one replaying something you said years ago at 2am It sounds funny… but it’s also very real. Masking isn’t just “being fake” It’s: - adapting to your environment - picking up on every

Masking isn’t just “being fake” It’s often: - Reading the room - Managing risk - Staying safe And most conversations miss something important: AuDHD + complex trauma together. So people think something is wrong with them. There isn’t. The explanation just isn’t complete yet.

I didn’t know the word “hypervigilance” until recently. I just thought I was: too aware too sensitive too much But what I’ve come to understand is this: My body wasn’t overreacting. It was responding exactly how it had been trained to. Always scanning Always reading people Alway

“Am I safe here?” Not consciously. But your body is always asking. That’s why you: – read the room instantly – notice small changes in people – adjust yourself without thinking That’s hypervigilance. And masking? That’s what helped you stay safe in the first place. You’re not br

I need to tell you something. Last week I put something brave into the world. A podcast episode where I challenged everything you’ve been told about masking. But I want to be precise about what I was actually saying. Because this matters. I’m not saying unmasking is wrong for everyone. I’m sayin

For years, I thought I was: too emotional too sensitive too much But really… I was adapting. Reading the room ➡️ Masking ➡️ Shrinking. ➡️ Performing. And at some point, you stop knowing what’s actually you and what’s survival. That’s where the self-doubt comes from because you’ve bee

Do you ever replay a conversation or text in your head wondering if you said the wrong thing? Did I overshare. Was I overreacting. Maybe I’m just too much. For many neurodivergent women this spiral happens almost automatically. Not because we are actually the problem. But because we’v

Have you ever walked away from a conversation thinking: Did I overreact? Am I too sensitive? Maybe I’m just too much? For many neurodivergent women this spiral happens automatically. Not because we are actually the problem. But because we’ve been told that story so many times we start

It may not seem like much, but we need to do something to get somewhere.

I recently joined @mediastormpod as an ambassador for @causewaycharity to talk about modern slavery in the UK. Too often these conversations focus only on the trauma. But survivor voices also carry insight, expertise and lived understanding that can help shape better responses and better policy.

For years I believed something was wrong with me in relationships. Too sensitive. Too intense. Too much. I would replay conversations afterwards wondering if I had said the wrong thing or felt something too strongly. But over time I realised something important. I wasn’t too much.

For most of my life I thought being sensitive was a flaw. If someone was hurting, I felt it too. If the energy in a room changed, my body reacted instantly. And I kept wondering: Why does it hit me so deeply? Why do I feel everything so intensely? But I’ve started to understand someth

Not because I didn’t want help… But because I was scared of losing myself. I’ve just finished week 3. 10mg → 20mg → now 30mg of Medikinet. Before I started, I kept thinking: What if it doesn’t work for me? Or worse… What if it changes me? I was scared the creativity would di

Not all chemistry is compatibility. Sometimes it’s uncertainty. If you grew up scanning for shifts… If unpredictability once meant survival… Ambiguity can feel magnetic. But steady doesn’t spike you. It regulates you. In this episode of Dating on High Alert, I unpack the trauma-dop

Not all “chemistry” is compatibility. Sometimes it’s uncertainty. If you grew up in unpredictability, ambiguity can feel familiar. And familiarity can feel magnetic. But steady doesn’t spike you. It regulates you. New podcast episode: Dating on High Alert - When Ambiguity Feels Lik

For years, I only had one explanation: trauma. I had a cPTSD diagnosis. That made sense. The hypervigilance. The bracing. The exhaustion. But I didn’t know I was ADHD or autistic. So everything went into the trauma box. Over time, I realised something important. Some traits were

Sometimes it’s silence. And the silence is loud. When I left a traumatic environment, there were no slammed doors. No threats. No chaos. It was just calm. And that calm petrified me. Because calm used to mean: “The storm is coming.” My body stayed hyper-alert for years. I didn’

I’ve just finished recording a podcast episode on impulsive spending. Not in a budgeting way. In a nervous system way. The kind where your brain becomes completely convinced something will change your life. I’m curious - What’s your “impulse” purchase? Clothes? Courses? Books?

POV: You finally get your kitchen back after 6 months and your nervous system exhales. Living in building chaos with an AuDHD brain + trauma history is… a lot. External mess = internal noise. Tonight: • Fire on • Dinner cooking • Washing machine humming Safety doesn’t have to be dr

To receive messages like this is the very reason I talk about the things I talk about. If I can help just one person it makes it all worthwhile. 💕