Why I Created the Hidden in Plain Sight Podcast Artwork

Hidden in Plain Sight - ADHD, ASD, OCD & OCPD - The Often Missed Diagnoses Driving Overthinking, People Pleasing, Perfectionism, Self-Doubt, and Burnout

You’re overwhelmed and tired, mentally, emotionally, maybe even physically. You overthink everything, feel like you're never doing enough, and constantly worry about what others think of you. You're stuck in cycles of procrastination, perfectionism, or people-pleasing. Social situations can feel draining, and even rest doesn’t feel restful.

You’re the one who holds it together. You care deeply and try so hard to be good and helpful, while quietly unraveling inside. You get things done, but you never feel done. You never feel rested. You never feel right.

You find yourself endlessly doom-scrolling, withdrawing from others into books or your phone, and struggling to feel motivated. If this sounds familiar and nothing seems to be helping, you’re not alone. You’ve just been hidden in plain sight.

Hidden in Plain Sight is a podcast for people-pleasing, perfectionistic, over-giving women who can't seem to find relief. Hosted by psychologist Dr. Lauren Schaefer, this show explores the hidden diagnoses behind lifelong anxiety, depression, self-doubt, shame, and burnout among women whose symptoms have been written off as "just anxiety and/or depression." This is a podcast for deep-feeling, overthinking women who’ve been called too sensitive, too anxious, too intense, or too much, when really, they’ve just been misunderstood.

We’ll talk about the perfectionism that may have developed to hide your ADHD, or the obsessive-compulsive personality traits to overcompensate for neurodivergent executive dysfunction; the intrusive, obsessive thoughts that rule your mind. We will touch on your ability to be a chameleon in relationships, taking on the personality of those around you, and not knowing who you are outside of your relationships. We'll explore how emotional intelligence, people pleasing, an overcontrolled personality, and hypervigilant masking can hide neurodivergent wiring, leading to late diagnosis and poor self-image. We'll explore how your unique nervous system wiring translates physically and common co-occurring physical health issues. And you'll learn strategies to quiet your mind and calm your body.

Here you’ll find language for your exhaustion, compassion for your coping, and a mirror that finally reflects the truth: You were never too much. You were just unseen. This is a place to unmask, unravel, and understand the real reasons it’s always felt harder than it looked.

All Episodes

Hidden in Plain Sight - ADHD, ASD, OCD & OCPD - The Often Missed Diagnoses Driving Overthinking, People Pleasing, Perfectionism, Self-Doubt, and Burnout

Why I Created the Hidden in Plain Sight Podcast

October 27, 2025 • Dr. Lauren Schaefer • Season 1

0:00 | 8:19

This brief episode explores the purpose of this podcast and why it was created.

So many women look fine on the outside, capable, kind, accomplished, while quietly suffering on the inside. Hidden in Plain Sight is for the ones who hold it all together, the ones who care too much, the the high-functioning, deeply feeling women who have been dismissed for their anxiety, while all along may have been dealing with something else (e.g., ADHD, ASD, OCD). In this podcast, Psychologist Dr. Lauren Schaefer invites listeners to understand what is behind the over-thinking, to unmask the roles of helper, fixer, good girl, and emotional manager, and begin coming home to who they really are.

Each episode explores the intersection of neurodivergence, trauma, perfectionism, and emotional burnout with honesty and compassion. This is not a self-improvement show. It’s a self-seeing one.

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Dr. Lauren Schaefer - Hidden in Plain Sight Podcast