22. Anxiety, ADHD, and Living Abroad | Seda Battilani

Voices of Academia

Emily chats with Seda Battilani, who was drawn into research in linguistics after learning about the field during her undergrad. She became fascinated by how our communication impacts the way we perceive each other. Seda opens up about early struggles with an anxiety disorder, and the complexities of pursuing an ADHD diagnosis whilst also an international student.

This episode covers:

• Seda’s COVID wedding and a crash course in her research (translanguaging and endangered languages)
• The impact of the pandemic when abroad and doing a PhD
• The road to being diagnosed with generalised anxiety disorder
• The mental health impacts of being an international student
• Adjusting to higher work demands with ADHD
• The vulnerability of pursuing a diagnosis
• Lack of communication from medical professionals re: what to look out for when starting medication
• Navigating visas and a foreign health system

If you find this episode valuable, and have some spare change, please consider supporting the podcast!

Resources:

Good places to start for ADHD - Insta: @the_mini_adhd_coach, TikTok: @connordewolfe

• Seda is available on Twitter and via email
• Previous episode: 15. I will not be silenced | Dr. Clare Griffin – self-advocating for a diagnosis

Full transcript of the podcast is available here, with many thanks to Dan Ranson. If you find these transcripts useful, please consider supporting accessibility!

Mental health support: please contact your GP or use the appropriate support for your country at https://checkpointorg.com/global/

You can find out more about Voices of Academia & other personal stories at @academicvoices or our website.

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Recorded: 07/09/2021.

Sound: Mindset by Ketsa is licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, available through Free Music Archive.