Restless by Design

If you’re ADHD, ADHD-adjacent, or wired for rebellion, this episode is for you. Some of us learned to treat our amazing natural traits like danger. Let’s undo that.

We think appeasement is “being nice,” but it’s actually the quiet habit of shrinking so everyone else can stay comfortable. This episode looks at where it starts, why it sticks, and what recovery feels like when you finally stop smoothing the world.

Do We Even Need Both? What if your creativity already knows how to speak for itself?

ADHD traits are worth billions to the self-help industry, but we're the ones who can pivot when the map disappears. Unmask and enjoy the show!

A love letter to the right-brain/left-brain two-step and the art of feeling it all without losing it.

Not a self-help episode — a survival spell. Recovery, emotion, and a little apocalypse humor.

The body and the body politic rarely heal in logical steps. Healing arrives like medicine — unexpected, embodied, and real.

People call ADHD a gift. I’m not so sure. Here’s how to live with high perception without being consumed by it.

The Peter Pan Promise of Patriarchy lets men stay boys while women pay the price. Here’s how “boys will be boys” becomes “men will be monsters” — and why knowing matters.

We’ve been told ADHD is all about dopamine. Not so fast. The real missing link? What I call The Tiger Effect. Once you hear it, you’ll never see ADHD the same way again.

ADHD, purpose, and why every box feels too small.  

A job didn’t fix it. A role didn’t fit. Every new career felt like another box.

And you’ve started to wonder… What if what they call “symptoms” are actually deep signals?

You’re not broken. You’re restless by design.

In this episode I explore how embracing the full emotional range — from joy to grief, rage to delight — isn’t just a recovery truth. It’s a revolutionary skill.

Turns Out, Feeling Everything Was the Assignment.

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What if the real resistance begins by reclaiming the story? In this episode, Ellen Archer explores how fascism hijacks meaning — and how mythology, metaphor, and recovery can restore it. Through personal stories, archetypal insight, and a mythic lens on ADHD, emotion, and activism, this is rebellion for the weary and wise.

 

Recovery isn't just about quitting something. These days, people are in recovery from burnout, abuse, sexism, invisibility, systemic harm, and so much more. Recovery is a rite of passage. An initiation most of us never received. And it might just be the key to changing everything.

In this episode, I explore why a better future comes from fast-thinking, curious-questioning, pattern-loving ADHDers. If you’ve ever felt “too much” for the old systems, good news: they’re crumbling. And we’ve got better questions.

In this episode, I explore how habits form, why they stick, and how we can rewrite old patterns without shame.

Please share or leave a review—it helps others lose shame and find power.

@ellenarcher on Substack

In this episode, we explore how restlessness, boredom, and daydreaming can be signs of deep awareness—not dysfunction. From hidden library pages to early critical thinking, Ellen shares how High Perceivers are wired to notice what others overlook—and why that difference matters.

Many people with ADHD aren't just highly perceptive—they're deeply sensitive to injustice. In this episode, we explore how unacknowledged anger often fuels anxiety, depression, and burnout. When understood, that anger becomes a clarifying force—not just for ADHDers, but for all humans.

If you've ever been told you're too sensitive or that you're overreacting, this episode is for you. I explore what it means to be a High Perceiver—my term for ADHD. We’ll talk about the toll of being highly attuned in a world that favors numbness, how gaslighting erodes self-trust, and why many of us turned to substances not to escape—but to quiet the noise.