"No one can know about this." Erin Keyes, J.D.—Dean of Students and ADHD Panic Monster Slayer

JDHD | A Podcast for Lawyers with ADHD

Erin Keyes is a lawyer and the Dean of Students at the University of Minnesota Law School.
In this first episode since before the world shut down, we talk about what it means for law students and lawyers with ADHD to keep themselves healthy. We talk about why ADHD can make law school harder, how law schools can support ADHD law students, and the well-known pattern of ADHD law students falling behind and struggling to get caught back up.
We talk about how ADHD looks different in women, the panic monster and negative feedback loops, and how students are helping one another with ADHD and other mental wellness issues.
And we talk about how you slay the ADHD panic monster. Just start. Start the process of figuring out a way to figure out a way.
Learn More about Erin Keyes, JD

• The University of Minnesota Law School
• Twitter
• Email Dean Keyes

Two Quotes

"Some students struggle with how to build meaning over the course of a semester and give themselves lots of opportunities to test their understanding of information. Because you can't cram in law school."
"There is so much shame around the manifestation of ADHD in terms of the things that are left undone. The things that were started but not finished. There's a good reason why ADHD is so highly correlated with anxiety and depression. It is not just a function issue. It's also an emotional issue."
ADHD Resources in this Episode

• Professor Fred Morrison
• David Jaffe
• Jerry Organ
• Organ, Jerome M. and Jaffe, David and Bender, Katherine, "Suffering in Silence: The Survey of Law Student Well-Being and the Reluctance of Law Students to Seek Help for Substance Use and Mental Health Concerns" (September 13, 2016). Journal of Legal Education.
• Krill, Patrick R. JD, LLM; Johnson, Ryan MA; Albert, Linda MSSW, "The Prevalence of Substance Use and Other Mental Health Concerns Among American Attorneys," Journal of Addiction Medicine.
• National Task Force on Lawyer Wellbeing
• The Path to Lawyer Well-Being: Practical Recommendations for Positive Change
• Minnesota Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers ADHD Support Group

JDHD | For Lawyers with ADHD

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Kapitel

1. Shame-sharing, a mea culpa, and a grand "Welcome Back!" (00:01:05)

2. What law students with undiagnosed ADHD look like. (00:10:10)

3. The negative feedback loop for law students with ADHD (00:15:16)

4. The shame around how ADHD shows up in law students (00:21:57)

5. How is the legal profession doing with law student wellbeing and lawyer wellbeing? (00:24:13)

6. One example of the mental wellness conundrum in law students with ADHD (00:29:35)

7. How law students are helping each other with mental health and wellness (00:34:54)

8. What's out there? What help even exists for law students with ADHD? (00:40:45)

9. Women with ADHD and law school. (00:44:23)

10. What is the Student Affairs department, and what does a Dean of Students do? (00:48:35)

11. Learning outcomes in law school and how they punish law students with ADHD. (00:52:16)

12. "Just start the process of figuring out a way to figure out a way." (00:56:07)

13. The Two Questions (and Dean Keyes' answers). (00:57:36)