A panel discussion on ADHD scheduled for this week has proven so popular, the organizers are planning a second session.

The co-founders of HeadCase, a local peer-support non-profit say the panel is aimed at bridging the gap between those seeking answers and the resources they need.

This Thursday’s event at the Annex in Mount Pearl already has an overflow wait list, and Dean MacIsaac says he and co-founder Stu Greenoff are not surprised.

He says the concept behind their ‘High functioning on the outside / exhausted on the inside’ panel stems from that period between knowing something’s up, and formal diagnosis.

“What Stu and I both found was that there’s a long period of time where things just weren’t great. We didn’t really know what was going on, we maybe didn’t identify that it was a mental health thing that we were going through…before we saw a doctor or psychiatrist or therapist about our mental health.”

“There’s this long period where things just aren’t wonderful, so that’s the space we’re trying to fill. To help people understand sooner that; ‘ maybe I’m not alone in this, maybe there’s someone I can talk to about this,’ and that facilitates healing in a different way than just being able to talk to a specialized person or clinician” says MacIsaac.

The panel discussion takes place this Thursday, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Annex on Old Placentia Road in Mount Pearl. A second session is planned at a later date.