‘Moodswings, meds, and me’ – Woman shares ADHD story

Mared, who lives in London and works as a freelance journalist, told Express.co.uk how relieved she was to hear that her lack of concentration, her atrocious time management skills, her exhausting internal monologue, and her hyperactivity were not “just my personality”, but the symptoms of her ADHD. Following her diagnosis two years ago, she set out to persuade any TV company that would listen to allow her to produce a documentary about the behavioural condition. Earlier this year, ITV and S4C agreed to take on her proposition. Moodswings, Meds, and Mared is available to watch now on BBC iPlayer.

Mared wanted to create a documentary about a condition she believes is constantly misunderstood by the general public.

It’s a condition people associate with “naughty boys” and not adults – specifically not women, she told Express.co.uk.

“I want people to know exactly what it is,” Mared said. “The number of times I’ve told someone I’ve got it and they’ve gone, ‘oh I’m so ADHD at times too’.

“They think it’s a funny quirk. I don’t think people understand the severity of it and how it affects people. They don’t understand how hard it is to live with, especially if you’re undiagnosed and don’t know what it is.

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Mared continued: “I’ve heard that people who are older are put off going to get a diagnosis because they know they have it, so they think, how is a diagnosis going to help me? I used to think this, but it [the diagnosis] really helped me. It was a relief knowing why I’ve been the way I’ve been my whole life. It was a huge weight off my shoulders.”

The 26-year-old noted that having the condition on paper also meant being protected in a legal sense. For Mared, it was important that she could prove that she had a disability.

“People think ADHD is like anxiety or depression – that something triggers it and that it goes away with time or therapy,” Mared said. “But it’s the same as autism – you’re born with it and you die with it. It’s not a mental health condition. It’s like dyslexia or dyspraxia. That’s something I really want people to know.”

But the peace of mind wasn’t the only benefit of Mared’s diagnosis. It also enabled her to receive medication for her condition, which improved it. Mared explained that her medication, at the beginning, was “very strong, but it definitely worked”.

“I finally knew what it was like to live my life without a constant monologue going on in my head,” she added.

Mared wants her documentary not only to shed light on an insufficiently researched condition, but also to encourage those who think they might have ADHD to go and pursue a diagnosis.

“There’s no harm in trying,” she said. “It won’t hurt you – it’ll only help you.”

For more information about ADHD, as well as support, visit ADHD UK.

Watch Mared’s documentary, Moodswings, Meds and Mared, here.