ADHD & Empathy with Dr. Tamara Rosier

In this week's episode of The ADHD Podcast, hosts Pete Wright and Nikki Kinzer explore the nuances of empathy for those with ADHD. Their guest, Dr. Tamara Rosier, recently presented on "The Unexpected Downside of Empathy" at the 2023 International ADHD Conference. Dr. Rosier, founder of the ADHD Center of West Michigan, explains that while empathy is often seen as a virtue, ADHDers may experience it in a more complicated way.Dr. Rosier outlines three main types of empathy: emotional, cognitive, and compassionate. Typically, employing all three types leads to well-regulated empathy. However, she notes that ADHDers frequently operate at extremes, either overly empathetic or non-empathetic. This imbalance leaves them vulnerable to several "downsides" of empathy.First, ADHDers may experience misplaced empathy, making excuses for other's inappropriate behavior. Second, getting stuck in emotional empathy can lead to empathetic distress and fatigue from taking on too many others' burdens. Dr. Rosier hypothesizes this stems from the ADHDer's desire to avoid rejection sensitivity.Third, ADHDers may underfunction by shutting down empathetically. Fourth, they may overfunction by overcompensating for other's lack of empathy. Finally, manipulative people can exploit the ADHDer's emotional empathy to gaslight without triggering their cognitive empathy.ADHD wiring leads to a complicated relationship with empathy. Our great thanks to Dr. Rosier for sharing her insights this week!Links & NotesDr. Tamara RosierThe ADHD Center of West MichiganDig into the podcast Shownotes Database (00:00) - Welcome to Taking Control: The ADHD Podcast (03:37) - Introducing Dr. Tamara Rosier (05:36) - What is Empathy? (25:00) - Empathetic Trust (31:28) - Grief (35:22) - Underfunctioning Empathy (38:46) - Overfunctioning Empathy (40:26) - Empathy & RSD (42:26) - Finding Balance (49:04) - The Genesis of the New Book --It's Time to Live Unapologetically — The Book is Available Now!Our new book, Unapologetically ADHD: A Step-by-Step Framework for Everyday Planning on Your Terms, is out and available now! You can find the hardcover or ebook version via Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, and Apple Books. Visit https://takecontroladhd.com/adhdbook for direct links to your favorite bookstore online, or visit your neighborhood bookstore and ask for it by name!  ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★