Paris Hilton Reveals What Made Her 2000s Media Period ‘So Extraordinarily Painful’

Paris Hilton is getting actual about her psychological well being, and this time, she’s placing a highlight on a facet of ADHD she says was “so, so extraordinarily painful” to stay with. On an upcoming episode of Lauryn and Michael Bosstick’s Pricey Media podcast “The Him & Her Present,” Hilton sat down for a wide-ranging dialog that dives into her expertise rising up with ADHD and the way it impacted her lengthy earlier than she ever had a reputation for it. The episode is about to air on January 26, and Paris Hilton revealed that she wasn’t formally identified till her late 20s, that means she spent a lot of her childhood and early maturity making an attempt to navigate signs she didn’t totally perceive.

Throughout the dialog, the “Easy Life” star opened up about rejection-sensitive dysphoria, also referred to as RSD, which she described as a standard expertise for individuals dwelling with ADHD. Rejection sensitivity dysphoria is when somebody feels “intense emotional ache associated to rejection,” and Hilton admitted she has battled that emotional spiral firsthand.

Hilton stated she handled signs of RSD, which she described as “nearly like a demon in your thoughts that’s like saying destructive self-talk to you.” She additionally admitted she didn’t even understand what she was experiencing till later, saying she “did not even know what [RSD] was earlier than,” however after speaking to “so many individuals” with ADHD, she discovered that others cope with the identical struggles.

Hilton defined that connecting with individuals who share related experiences has been “useful,” particularly after dwelling by her most public years below fixed scrutiny. “I have been by so many issues in my life, and particularly within the 2000s, simply all the pieces I used to be going by with the media and affected by this RSD with ADHD, it was like so, so extraordinarily painful,” she stated.

Hilton’s newest feedback aren’t the primary time she’s spoken overtly about ADHD. Actually, she’s been leaning into it an increasing number of, and even reframing it as one thing that’s helped form the individual she is immediately. “I would not be the person who I’m immediately with out it,” Hilton instructed PEOPLE in an October 2025 interview.

On the time, Hilton teamed up with consultants Sarah Greenberg and Dr. Andrew Kahn for a YouTube sequence titled “Inclusive by Design,” which centered on creating accessibility at residence and within the office for individuals with ADHD. Hilton stated she wished the sequence to be sensible, but additionally private, and to assist others really feel much less alone.

“I simply actually wished to share methods and various things that I’ve discovered from managing my ADHD, each in my private {and professional} life, and I actually hope by sharing my experiences it will probably assist scale back the stigma of ADHD and make neurodiversity relatable,” Hilton stated. “I’ve simply seen how so many individuals who assume in another way really feel so alone, so I actually wished to create area and simply present how I am embracing and harnessing my ADHD, and so they can, too.”

Hilton additionally described how isolating it felt to expertise ADHD signs as a child, particularly at school, and the way she typically internalized it as one thing being “incorrect” along with her. “For me rising up, like nobody was speaking about ADHD,” Hilton stated, explaining that when she was at school. “It was so tough for me to recollect issues. I’d consistently lose my homework get in hassle with the lecturers.”

“I simply felt like one thing was incorrect with me and I’d simply be unhappy, however then I’d simply masks or, like, type of attempt to act like nothing’s incorrect on the within,” she continued. “I used to be simply going by so many feelings, and after chatting with so many others with ADHD, I can completely perceive it now. It is exhausting having to try this and to really feel that means.”

Whereas Hilton made it clear that the emotional facet of ADHD took a significant toll on her, she additionally says she’s lastly reached some extent the place she will be able to perceive herself higher, and even embrace what makes her totally different.

Now, she says, “I am studying a lot and I simply want that I knew all I do know now, again after I was a child rising up at school, however I am doing this for the little lady in me … now I see it as a superpower, and I would not be the person who I’m immediately with out it. I am such a creator. I am consistently considering of recent concepts.”