Mental health advocate Keith Walsh joined Claire Bryne on RTÉ Radio 1 to discuss his adult diagnosis of ADHD. Listen back above.
According to ADHD Ireland, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is a medical condition in which the brain's neurotransmitter chemicals don't work properly. It is a genetic but treatable condition that affects learning and behaviour.
ADHD can lead to problems with attention, distractibility, short-term memory and learning as well as impulsive behaviour, which is why it is usually spotted early in life.
However, as Keith Walsh can tell you, that isn't always the case.
Reflecting on his adult diagnosis, Keith says that - although his sisters didn't seem all too surprised - it was certainly a shock for him.
"I never thought about it," he told Claire. "I had heard about ADHD, probably most famously as a fan of Kurt Cobain, and him talking about being given Ritalin by his mother and giving out about it. That was probably my only knowledge of ADHD."
It wasn't until his son, Finn, began having issues in school that Keith began to learn more about the condition.
In fact, it was during a meeting with one of his son's consultants, where Keith and his wife were talking through some of Finn's behaviours, that he realised he shared a lot of the same characteristics.
Soon after, he made an appointment with a psychiatrist who quickly confirmed the diagnosis.
"He seemed to think it was pretty obvious, which is mad because I wouldn't have thought about it at all. It was kind of a question survey consultancy and he was like, 'yeah, you've got it bad'," he laughed.
Following his departure from RTÉ 2FM's Breakfast Show in 2020, Keith says he began to feel a little directionless and began attending therapy. Although he enjoyed the process, he soon found that he was "hyper-focusing" on himself to try and get rid of his anxieties.
From giving up alcohol and running more often, to bouncing from a regimen of B-12 to magnesium, he kept waiting for his anxiety to drop and his energy to kick in.
"I was hyper-focusing on myself all the time, trying to find the reason why I needed a nap in the middle of the day," he explained. "I couldn't figure it out. I felt I was getting enough sleep, there was nothing physically... I had ticked every box. With the Psychiatrist, at the end of the meeting, he said 'you've found what you were looking for'."
Looking back at his childhood and time in school, Keith said a lot of things began to make sense.
"Looking back now, up until a certain year I was great, and then it got to a point where I... you know its a dopamine issue with your brain, your not making enough dopamine so you're constantly looking for dopamine.
"I became the class clown and the messer, my reports were always like, 'could do better, must try harder, if he could focus on his work, Keith would be great, he's a chatterbox'."
"I just didn't get on with school and I can remember then, even right up to Leaving Cert year, I would just not go in some days. I thought I was lazy, I was just wrecked.
"I think it took so much out of me. I know that from my son now, it takes so much out of him to spend a day sitting in a seat, trying to pay attention, trying to learn, but not really paying attention and not being able to learn in that atmosphere, which is adding to the stress."
To learn more about Keith's experience, listen back to the interview with Claire Byrne above.
The HSE recently launched an app for adults with ADHD, you can find more info here.
