North Lincolnshire star Jake Quickenden has opened up about living with ADHD.
Taking to his Instagram page, the X Factor singer and TV personality said he was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder last year. He said he was keen to spread awareness to highlight that “being different isn’t a bad thing”.
“Only good” can come from opening up, he added. According to the NHS, symptoms of ADHD in adults can include forgetfulness, poor organisational skills, interrupting conversations and the inability to focus, among other characteristics.
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Jake’s post reads: “So last year I finally got diagnosed with ADHD . . . something I always thought I might have after being told by everyone that I had it, and it makes sense now.” He added: “I’ve had a lot of time to process it and my mind works differently, but that’s ok.
“It also answered a lot of questions for me, explained why I can feel anxious, how I can feel unbelievably motivated, but some days feel flat and unmotivated. But I look at it like this,” he said, “I see it as a super power.
“Yes I am extremely impulsive and slightly annoying at times, I have too much energy and feel guilty if I’m just sat around, but also if harnessed in the correct ways it makes me hyper focused on certain things, extremely loving and empathetic. I also am not writing this for any reason other than to say being slightly different isn’t a bad thing.”
Jake said he had been talking to Danny-Boy Hatchard, the former EastEnders actor, who has spoken about his own struggles with ADHD. “It’s helped me a lot talking to him, someone else that can relate. A lot of people see ADHD and think ‘ohhh they are disruptive or naughty or overly opinionated’, that’s not the case at all, It just means you may be slightly better at one thing than the other.
“Yes my mind wanders sometimes, I can be a little forgetful, sometimes I just decide to clean my wardrobe out at 11pm at night and organise my life. But if I love something then I put my all in to it.”
A lot of people were now prepared to talk about the condition. He said: “So this is me just saying it out loud and hopefully it can reach one person and help . . . no bad can come from opening up, only good.”
The Scunthorpe star added: “I love the way my mind works, and we should all embrace our true selves.”
Original artice: https://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/all-about/scunthorpe
