Mariella Frostrup speaks on her midlife ADHD diagnosis

Mariella Frostrup is used to juggling different projects, and her career shows no sign of slowing down as she heads into her mid 60s. While the broadcaster knew she had always been an “active” person, it was only when her son was being assessed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) that she started to consider whether she might have it too.

“I’m one of those most vilified of groups, which is the middle-aged woman suddenly discovering she’s got ADHD,” she tells woman&home in an interview from her home in Somerset. The 62-year-old says it was when her then-teenage son Dan brought home the list of symptoms from school that she “looked at them and ticked every box”.

“My son’s school asked me to test him for it, and I was quite dismissive of it because he’d just been diagnosed with dyslexia, and I was like ‘how many conditions do you need’... then he brought home the list of symptoms, and it was extraordinary,” she recalls.

Mariella was in her late 50s at the time and says while she had “clearly developed coping mechanisms over the years”, she still wanted to pursue a formal ADHD diagnosis. “I had to go down the private path, and I was in a lucky position that I was able to afford it, but I think it’s disgraceful that it’s not taken more seriously, particularly when it’s in the case of a kid,” she says.

She adds that “most women” she knows who think they need a diagnosis are “struggling to get one for three or four years, which is just outrageous”. And she doesn’t believe its prevalence among middle-aged people, or impact on their wellbeing, is being taken seriously by the professionals.

Later-in-life diagnoses are often seen to be “cluttering up the health system”, she says. “I think the way that it’s treated as a sort of ‘accessory illness or accessory condition’ is really, really disingenuous and bad.” In the last decade, there’s been a substantial increase in adult ADHD diagnoses, thought to be due to several factors, including increased awareness of symptoms, reduced stigma and a rise in self-referrals.

Knowing she has ADHD has been “hugely helpful” for Mariella. “It’s the same as the menopause thing. Understanding why you operate the way you do, I think, is a really, really good path to living with all of the different aspects of your personality,” she explains.

Mariella says the minute Dan was diagnosed and started taking medication, “it was like watching a miracle happen” because, for the first time, he was able to study for his exams for hours at a time without getting distracted.

“For me, it’s slightly different, and there are certain things I need help with,” she says. “I know that if I need to sit down and write something and really concentrate, that’s when I struggle. But at the weekends or on days when I don’t have to sit down and write something, I actually think it’s a superpower in a way, because my head’s full of different ideas. As long as I manage it and try to stop the anxiety that can come with that, then it’s not as debilitating as it could be. But you need to know about it and to have the tools and the medication for when you do need it.”

Common symptoms of ADHD

Difficulty concentrating and focusing on tasks
Not being able to organise or complete time-consuming tasks
Making careless mistakes
Being easily distracted
Hyperactivity
Impulsiveness

The Autism Service says: “Some studies suggest that women with ADHD are more likely to present with predominantly inattentive symptoms and less hyperactive/impulsive or conduct problems than men. It means that women are perceived to be less problematic and have fewer disruptive behaviours when displaying ADHD symptoms. Therefore, women who have ADHD are more easily missed in the diagnostic process and less likely to receive a diagnosis.”

Charities such as the ADHD Foundation and ADHDadultUK are great websites to visit for support and information.

Kat Storr has been a digital journalist for over 15 years after starting her career at Sky News, where she covered everything from world events to royal babies and celebrity deaths. After going freelance eight years ago, she now focuses on women's health and fitness content, writing across a range of UK publications.

From perimenopause to the latest fitness trends, Kat loves researching and writing about it all. She's happy to give any fitness challenge a go and speaks to experts about wellbeing issues affecting people every day.

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