S1 E22 New Year, Same Brain: Why New Year’s Feels Anticlimactic for ADHD Women

New Year’s Eve is supposed to be magical.
New Year’s Day is supposed to feel like a fresh start.

But for many ADHD women especially those diagnosed later in life it often feels disappointing, exhausting, or quietly heavy instead.

In this episode of Angry on the Inside, Jess and Jeannine talk about why New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day can be so anticlimactic for ADHD brains. From the pressure to have the “best night ever” to the expectation that everything should feel different just because the calendar changed, New Year’s often becomes another place where shame, comparison, and unrealistic expectations creep in.

They explore the fantasy vs. reality of New Year’s Eve, the dopamine swings that make plans feel exciting one minute and unbearable the next, and why New Year’s Day can hit especially hard after the emotional and physical marathon of December. You’ll hear why exhaustion, disappointment, and self-blame aren’t personal failures they’re predictable responses when an ADHD brain is pushed to perform on a timeline that doesn’t fit.

The conversation also touches on late diagnosis, novelty, and the slow shift that happens when you stop working against your brain and start understanding it. From learning song lyrics to buying a Rubik’s Cube you never open, this episode uses humor and lived experience to unpack why “fresh start” culture doesn’t land the same way for ADHD women.

This isn’t about fixing yourself, setting better goals, or forcing a new version of you in January. It’s about permission to do New Year’s your way, to let go of the tropes that don’t work, and to remember that nothing is wrong with you because your brain didn’t magically change overnight.

If New Year’s has always felt harder than it’s supposed to you’re not alone.

🎙️ Angry on the Inside is hosted by two Certified ADHD Coaches sharing lived experience, insight, and honest conversation. This podcast is not therapy or coaching take what resonates and leave the rest.

00:00 – New Year’s Eve Expectations vs Reality (ADHD Women)
Why New Year’s Eve creates pressure, comparison, and stress for ADHD women and how expectations quietly build weeks before the night even arrives.

02:20 – ADHD Energy Swings on New Year’s Eve
From party mode to total shutdown, Jess and Jeannine unpack ADHD energy swings on New Year’s Eve and why every version of showing up is valid.

05:40 – Why New Year’s Day Feels Anticlimactic with ADHD
The post-midnight crash: exhaustion, disappointment, and why New Year’s Day rarely feels like a fresh start for ADHD brains.

08:45 – “The Whole Damn Time”: ADHD Expectations & Shame
That realization moment when ADHD women see how pressure, self-blame, and unrealistic expectations have been running in the background all along.

09:40 – ADHD, New Year Goals, and the Novelty Trap
Why New Year goals feel exciting at first, how novelty fades for ADHD brains, and what small stories reveal about motivation and follow-through.

12:00 – New Year, Same Brain: ADHD Women Doing It Their Way
Late diagnosis, self-compassion, and permission for ADHD women to stop forcing New Year’s traditions that don’t fit without shame.