Leah Breaks The Cycle

Leah Breaks The Cycle Mental health and ADHD/AuDHD minus the jargon. Registered Nurse and Master of counselling student, mostly laughing at myself.

Leah V is a Registered Nurse, Certified Mental Health First Aid Facilitator, and Broadcaster with a passion for making mental health conversations accessible, real, and powerful. Through her radio show Just A Thought and her nationally accredited MHFA courses, Leah empowers everyday people to confidently support those experiencing mental health challenges—at work, at home, and in the community. Kn

own for her clarity, warmth, and wit, Leah blends clinical knowledge with lived experience to create brave, engaging spaces where real learning and connection can happen. Whether you’re tuning in or showing up in person, this is where transformation begins.

03/08/2026

For almost 20 years, I searched for answers. I wasn’t looking for a diagnosis. I was looking for me.

My diagnosis didn’t change me. It helped me understand who I’d always been.

I’m a Registered Nurse, currently studying my Master of Counselling, and after spending almost two decades trying to understand why my brain worked the way it did, I decided to start sharing what I’ve learned.

This page isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about sharing the stories, the science, and the moments that make us laugh, cry, and realise we’re not the only ones.

If you’ve ever found yourself wondering, “Why does life seem harder for me than it looks for everyone else?” I hope you find something here that helps you make a little more sense of yourself.

If you’re looking for people who truly get it, I’d love to welcome you into our private Facebook community, Late-Diagnosed ADHD Adults (Minus the Jargon).

https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1jK3hLhKMc/?mibextid=wwXIfr

I’m really glad you’re here.

Leah Breaks the Cycle
Where shame ends and understanding begins.

02/08/2026

5 things I’d buy- ADHD edition.. The fifth water bottle to find the other four. The tenth blank planner that’s definitely fixing my life this time. The one safe meal on repeat for three months. The subscription future me will absolutely cancel (she will not). If your bank statement reads like a dopamine receipt, you’re not irresponsible, you’re just wired differently!

01/08/2026

Nearly 90% of kids with ADHD have working memory difficulties, and it doesn’t magically switch off in adulthood. So the moment that washing machine lid closes, your brain files the load under “gone.” Add time blindness and switching tasks being genuinely hard, and one load becomes a lifestyle. If your machine has finished more cycles than you this week, you’re not lazy, you’re just wired differently 😉

31/07/2026

Genuine question for the ADHD crowd: how many times do you think I’ve hit start on this exact load of washing? Comment your guess, I’ll tell you the real number.

There’s a reason ADHD brains do this on repeat, and it’s not laziness, but that’s a story for another day.

30/07/2026

A comment on my last video summed up something I’ve been trying to explain for years: “Gets to a point where everyone starts to ask what’s wrong bc I’m just normal and not masking.” So I thought I’d explain masking, and my own experience with it. Masking is suppressing your natural autistic or ADHD traits to look more neurotypical, often without realising you’re doing it. Research by Leedham and colleagues, published in the journal Autism, interviewed women diagnosed later in life, and one participant put it perfectly: “I was exhausted trying to figure it out.” If you’ve ever felt like dropping the mask made people worry something was wrong, you’re not alone, and there’s nothing wrong with you.

29/07/2026

For years I assumed the workplace nemesis thing was a character flaw. Someone would get under my skin so completely that I couldn’t think about anything else, and I’d feel the wrongness of it in my bones.

Turns out there’s a term for it. Justice sensitivity. It means you notice unfairness faster than most people do, and it hits harder when you notice it, whether or not it’s aimed at you. It’s more common in autistic people, and it isn’t a moral high horse. It’s closer to a nervous system response. Something is wrong and your body won’t let you put it down.

Add ADHD hyperfixation and rejection sensitivity to that, and one person’s behaviour can occupy your head for months.

I’m known for being brutally honest. That’s not a personality quirk. That’s justice sensitivity refusing to let something slide, with ADHD impulsivity failing to filter it on the way out.

If this is you, you’re not dramatic. There’s a name for what your brain is doing.

18/04/2026

When people ask about my career path I usually just laugh.
24 jobs. Everything from dealer to traffic controller.I used to be embarrassed. Now I just think it’s funny.
Turns out “can’t stick at anything” was actually “undiagnosed ADHD with a pattern of hyperfocus and burnout.” Who knew.

In Australia, 35% of the neurodivergent population is unemployed or underemployed. That is not a people problem. That is...
16/04/2026

In Australia, 35% of the neurodivergent population is unemployed or underemployed. That is not a people problem. That is a system problem.
I am a nurse. I have ADHD and autism. And I am not staying quiet about this.
Follow if you want to be part of this conversation.

15/04/2026

One in ten people in your workplace has ADHD. Most will never tell you.
In Australia, neurodivergent workers are nearly six times more likely to be unemployed than people without disability. 35% are unemployed or underemployed right now.
Not because they can’t do the work. Because the workplace was never built for how their brains operate.
I spent years thinking I was the problem. I wasn’t. The system was.
Follow for more.

14/04/2026

Can we talk about self-diagnosis without it turning into a fight?
On one hand, TikTok has genuinely helped people identify experiences they had no words for. Finding a name for something you’ve carried for decades is not a small thing.
On the other hand, the research is clear that consuming a lot of mental health content can shift how you see yourself, sometimes in ways that aren’t accurate.
The goal isn’t to stop watching. It’s to treat what you find as the beginning of a conversation with a professional, not the end of one.
Follow for more nuanced takes on mental health.

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