My ADHD was very beneficial in certain job roles I have had over the years, for example working in hospitality and living abroad as a children’s entertainer. I have always been fast and very through whilst at work, I am professional and have a very good work ethic. I believe this is down to having ADHD. Within the NHS I have always followed policies and procedures militantly when carrying out clinical tasks and I am unable to take shortcuts which is hugely positive.

During my time in the NHS, I have experienced a lot of discrimination around my hidden disability. In 2017, during my nursing degree, I was told I had ADHD by a psychiatrist. My referral was put in for an ADHD assessment in 2017 and I had my diagnosis in 2022. Whilst I was a student I was told I was overconfident, not liked by my mentors for asking questions as I needed to understand why things were done a certain way which looked like I was challenging them, people asked if I was on drugs and told I was too loud and to calm down, constantly.

When I was diagnosed I was pregnant and I was not allowed to take ADHD medication at this time. My medication review appointment is in April 2024 so in total it has been 7 years since the referral was completed.

Whilst working in my previous nursing role I had several long periods of sickness due to poor mental health which was a result of burnout and extreme fatigue as a result of workload pressures and poor support from management. During COVID19 our work loads were increased, nurses left and preceptors were not signed off complex clinical competencies. When I started my role, I would visit around 10 patients a day and when I left my visit list would be 25-30 patients often with 10 of those being long complex visits. My ADHD gave me the ability to work faster than my colleagues so I could visit more patients, however this was abused and became my usual daily workload. I would complete my documentation after each patient to prevent overwhelm or forgetting what i had done. During one period of sickness I was advised to stay off sick until I had received my ADHD diagnosis and commenced medication, this was 2019 and I will be commencing medication in April 2024 so this advice was of no use to me at all. I made the very difficult decision, to hand in my notice as this was having a huge impact on my mental health and when I spoke out about this I was not listened to or told everyone has the same workload. No adjustments were made for me at all.

Since changing jobs I have had a much more positive experience, almost the opposite in-fact. I received my ADHD diagnosis a few weeks after starting my current role, I disclosed this to my colleagues straight away, but my manager was off for a period of time and I was worried this would negatively impact her opinion of me. When my manager returned to work, we discussed reasonable adjustments and if there was anything that could make my time at work easier. At the time I was unsure of anything specific, but I now take regular small breaks to prevent myself from zoning out, I have noise cancelling headphones I can use if I am unable to concentrate in a shared office and I have the option to alter my working hours.

Since returning from maternity leave, I have been experiencing imposter syndrome and low self esteem but my team are so supportive and have been giving me lovely positive feedback and I am starting to feel more comfortable. This would not be the case if I had chosen not to disclose my hidden disability.

Who or what has helped you the most:

My manager and team being supportive and allowing me to work in a way that celebrates neurodiversity.

Kind and positive words and not creating stress or pressure in the workplace and reasonable adjustments to allow me to work more efficiently.

What advice would you give others?

I would advise that people disclose their hidden disabilities, although my experience has not always been positive, I feel that if I had kept it to myself my experience would have been worse. Adjustments can’t be made if no one knows about it. People will have opinions but if we are facing discrimination this is a breach of the equality and diversity act 2010 and should be reported to prevent this happening to others. Always remember you are not on your own, join the DAWN and neurodiversity networks to talk with others and share your stories. Having a hidden disability does not make you worse at your job than others it allows you to be better in some cases, find out your strengths and put them into practice. Not everyone is good at everything, neurodivergent or neurotypical people all have challenges.