BEAST OR BLESSING?

BEAST OR BLESSING?

ADHD – it’s the neurological condition on everyone’s lips. With TikTok alone notching up 3.4 billion views using the hashtag #ADHD, more people are reading about attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and saying, ‘that’s me’. We talk to experts about the reality of having ADHD, and the need to bust myths and accentuate the positives.

Impressionist Rory Bremner says ADHD is his ‘best friend and worst enemy’. For singer songwriter Sam Fender it can be a ‘creative super power’. Yet ADHD can make daily life overwhelming. Those living with the condition may constantly lose things; they forget important dates and arrive late to everything because the time management part of their brain is impaired.

They can be impulsive, struggle to manage workloads and may be viewed as unreliable because they don’t fulfil commitments or meet deadlines.

The person is likely to be acutely aware of these traits – and the impact on their own and other people’s lives – but their ADHD brain stops them changing the situation.

The condition is very treatable, yet many people are never diagnosed. Social media coverage has brought a surge in numbers of adults recognising themselves and seeking help.

Consultant psychiatrist Dr Kuben Naidoo leads a pioneering adult service based in Sefton, Merseyside, developed in 2006 after forward thinking psychiatrists

argued that children were being left unsupported once they turned 18.

“Back then the view was that children grow out of ADHD. There was scepticism from psychiatrists who said everyone has days where they lose things, or struggle with concentration.

“That’s like suggesting that occasionally feeling down in the dumps is the same as being clinically depressed. We do all forget things now and again. But imagine waking up, day in day out, feeling completely overwhelmed by details, struggling to be organised, and unable to stay focused. For someone with ADHD that’s the reality.”

Dr Helen Pears is a consultant psychiatrist specialising in adult ADHD. She says the clues to whether someone has the condition are always there during assessment. “It’s like being a detective. You need to look at the whole person.”

Helen describes those she sees as ‘a brilliant group of people’.

The word ‘disorder’ can make ADHD sound like the problem,” she says.

“Parts of it can present problems, but the other side is people who are

energetic, creative, fun loving, flexible, observant, entrepreneurial – people who will take a risk or try something different. I’ve never yet met a patient who doesn’t have some of those attributes.”

Some people are happy just to have a diagnosis and make lifestyle choices that play to their strengths. Options for treatment include psychological therapies, or medication. Unusually the latter is often a first line of treatment because it is so effective.

“Up to nine out of ten patients will experience some positive effects – that’s much higher than we see in many other areas of medicine,“ says Helen. “Some of the medications work almost immediately, like a painkiller. You can take it when you need it, and it wears off after a few hours. It can make treatment very flexible.

Dr Kuben Naidoo and Dr Helen Pears treat people with ADHD.

ADHD is described as having a Ferrari brain with bicycle brakes.

“ADHD has been described as having ‘a Ferrari brain with bicycle brakes.’ Medication strengthens the ‘brakes’ in people whose heads are full of ideas, thoughts and distractions. It lets them focus all those ideas into action, filter out what they want, and act on it before the thought or idea flies away.”

There’s increasing evidence and recognition of ADHD as a real condition. Brain scans show differences in ADHD brains. GPs treating people for anxiety or depression can see how, once the ADHD is treated, other issues can disappear. Schools are taking a more positive outlook, seeing it as a superpower that needs managing, and making adjustments.

Helen says assessment brings mixed emotions. “It’s always sad to meet ‘bright people whose self esteem has eroded just because they haven’t been able to prove themselves. It’s also really good to be able to give them a way to show what they can do.”

Read Lori’s story on page 20.

Beauty and The Beast and Harry Potter star Emma Watson is reported to have posted on social media that she has been on medication for ADHD since childhood. Other celebrities who live with the condition include rapper and judge of BBC’s The Voice, Will.i.am, singer Justin Timberlake and TV chef Jamie Oliver.