#11 - Maddie McGarvey (Documentary Photographer in Columbus, Ohio) in LA

Maddie McGarvey is a documentary photographer based in Columbus, Ohio whose work examines grief, resilience, and the lives of people in the American Midwest — regularly published in the Washington Post, New York Times Magazine, National Geographic, and others. She was diagnosed with ADHD at 30, after years of not understanding why she couldn't get out of her own way, eventually finding the right doctor and the right medication — including using the GeneSight genetic test to figure out which antidepressant her body would actually metabolize properly.This episode was recorded at the NatGeo Storyteller Summit in LA — the same summit at which Laurel launched this podcast a few hours before the welcome dinner, after an ADHD procrastination spiral that lasted nearly a year. Maddie and Laurel talk about what it took to finally get heard by the medical system as women, how ADHD presents differently in women and gets masked differently across cultures, what getting properly medicated actually changed in Maddie's life (she bought a house that year), the perfectionism paralysis that affects women with ADHD disproportionately, and Maddie's 15-year documentary project following a family through poverty, grief, foster care, and into adulthood. Plus: why every single day being different makes photojournalism basically the perfect ADHD career.📝 Episode description generated with AI assistance.Send us Fan MailWatch episode videos on YouTube Follow us on Instagram: @allmyfriendshaveadhdFollow Laurel on Instagram: @laurelchorNew episodes every other Monday.