Paris Hilton Reveals What Made Her 2000s Media Era ‘So Extremely Painful’

Paris Hilton is getting actual about her psychological well being, and this time, she’s placing a highlight on a aspect 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 ready to air on January 26, and Paris Hilton revealed that she wasn’t formally recognized till her late 20s, which means she spent a lot of her childhood and early maturity attempting to navigate signs she didn’t totally perceive.

Throughout the conversation, the “Easy Life” star opened up about rejection-sensitive dysphoria, also referred to as RSD, which she described as a standard expertise for folks 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 mentioned she handled signs of RSD, which she described as “virtually like a demon in your thoughts that’s like saying damaging self-talk to you.” She additionally admitted she didn’t even notice 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 realized that others cope with the identical struggles.

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

Hilton’s newest feedback aren’t the primary time she’s spoken brazenly about ADHD. In truth, she’s been leaning into it increasingly more, and even reframing it as one thing that’s helped form the particular person she is right now. “I would not be the person who I’m right now with out it,” Hilton informed PEOPLE in an October 2025 interview.

On the time, Hilton teamed up with specialists Sarah Greenberg and Dr. Andrew Kahn for a YouTube collection titled “Inclusive by Design,” which centered on creating accessibility at dwelling and within the office for folks with ADHD. Hilton mentioned she wished the collection to be sensible, but in addition private, and to assist others really feel much less alone.

“I simply actually wished to share methods and various things that I’ve realized from managing my ADHD, each in my private {and professional} life, and I actually hope by sharing my experiences it might probably assist scale back the stigma of ADHD and make neurodiversity relatable,” Hilton mentioned. “I’ve simply seen how so many individuals who suppose in another way really feel so alone, so I actually wished to create house 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 usually internalized it as one thing being “unsuitable” together with her. “For me rising up, like nobody was speaking about ADHD,” Hilton mentioned, explaining that when she was at school. “It was so troublesome for me to recollect issues. I might continuously lose my homework get in bother with the academics.”

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

Whereas Hilton made it clear that the emotional aspect 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 completely different.

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