#26 - How we Deal with Depression, Anxiety, & ADHD#26 - How we Deal with Depression, Anxiety, & ADHD
Learning to Lose
There are other ways to approach these issues other than meds
1:10:20•21 Jul 2019
ADHD, Anxiety, Meds and Messy Growth on Learning to Lose
Episode Overview
- Uncomfortable conversations are framed as a key skill for growth, success and healthy relationships.
- Medication can help some people, but the group stresses combining it with habits like exercise, therapy and honest communication.
- ADHD and anxiety are described as real, often severe conditions, while also being tied to creativity and hyper-focus.
- Over-prescription of meds is questioned, particularly for young people, while still validating those who genuinely benefit from treatment.
- Deliberately choosing what content and people you surround yourself with, online and offline, is presented as crucial for mental health and recovery.
“Success is directly related to how many uncomfortable conversations you're willing to have.”
How do people cope with the challenges of staying sober while also dealing with depression, anxiety and ADHD? Learning to Lose brings that question into sharp focus as Patrick Ridge and his crew talk frankly about mental health, meds and the messy bits in between.
You’ll hear Patrick and Wickham unpack a recent argument, using it as a springboard to talk about conflict avoidance and how hard it is to say, "I don't want to do this" when you’re scared of letting people down. One line that keeps coming back is, “Success is directly related to how many uncomfortable conversations you're willing to have,” and they actually mean it – from calling sponsors to confronting friends.
Wickham shares how a wild solo trip to New York felt like a movie and left him convinced he’d become a “new me”, only for Patrick to gently remind him that growth is gradual and setbacks are part of the deal. ADHD and anxiety sit at the centre of the chat: Wickham describes his diagnosis, severe test scores, and how medication once changed everything but came with brutal side effects.
CBD, structure and reduced pressure now help him function without feeling broken. Patrick, meanwhile, talks about being on Lexapro, comparing a tiny shift in brain chemistry to a golfer adjusting their shoulders by a millimetre. For him, meds plus therapy, honesty and discipline work together rather than compete. Newcomer Alex jumps in with his own “superpower” view of ADHD, sharing stories of Ritalin crashes, family expectations and choosing not to push the same meds on his younger sister.
Threaded through it all is sobriety, creative work, internet overload and the pressure of chasing YouTube success while trying to stay sane. If you’ve ever wondered whether you’re “lazy” or genuinely struggling, or questioned whether meds are the only answer, this raw, funny and honest conversation might feel uncomfortably familiar – in a good way. What hard conversation have you been putting off?
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