Jermaine Pennant (b.1983) is an English former professional footballer. He played as a winger for teams such as Arsenal (1999-2005), Birmingham City (2005-2006) and Liverpool (2006-2009).
Pennant was diagnosed with ADHD in 2022.
Mail Online (2023)
Jermaine Pennant has revealed he felt like a ‘lunatic’ for making a string of destructive decisions before being diagnosed with ADHD.
The former footballer, 40, appeared on Friday’s Good Morning Britain to discuss his ‘life-changing’ diagnosis and admitted that it helped him make sense of his past decisions.
While insisting that he couldn’t ‘make excuses’ for his behaviour he shared his sadness at not being diagnosed until now because it would’ve made his relationships, work and life easier, noting he’s now ‘happier than I’ve ever been.’
Speaking about his diagnosis, Jermaine said: ‘It’s life-changing because I would ask myself so many questions over the years. “Why do I leave destruction in my path?” Or “how have I got myself in certain situations?”
‘I just thought it was down to me just being a lunatic or just not well and having serious issues but not actually identifying what they were.
‘I was just going round-and-round in circles, making the same mistakes and telling myself ‘I know that I’m not a bad person but why am I doing this?’