Hi, I’m Nicola. My ADHD was pointed out to me when I was 49 and I went on to be diagnosed at the ripe old age of 50.

I had no idea what ADHD was. I thought it only affected children and that it was mostly disruptive boys in schools.

At no point did I imagine that I could possibly have a condition which had the word “hyperactive” in the name. I have always been so frustrated by my inability to motivate myself. In fact that very problem had ruined my further education and I had always blamed myself.

In fact so much of my life and how I saw myself in a negative light as a result was down to ADHD and once I knew, I began a process of real healing and unmasking.

Although after half a century of masking I suspect that unmasking will be a life long thing.

I’d seen so many doctors, mental health nurses and I even saw an NHS psychotherapist for 18 months, but none of the people who I was looking to for help had even considered ADHD.

Instead of a proper assessment I was given 25 years of antidepressants which I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to get off now. I wish my story was a rare one. Sadly it’s not.

It became obvious to me that myself and many others were going through such difficulty because of a lack of awareness about ADHD and how it really affects people.

I’d spent my life spending too much, attracting bad partners, risky behaviour, under achieving, struggling with motherhood, blaming myself for not being able to easily do the things my peers could and skating dangerously close to the wind when it came to alcoholism thanks to all the self medicating.

I wanted, no needed to do something to make a difference. I decided to start posting on TikTok in January 2024 to raise awareness.

I now have a large following on TikTok and Facebook which enables me to help people with many aspects of ADHD and often ASD.

I have been able to help people access their right to choose, deal with difficult employers and take on schools.

It’s been nothing short of an honour.

When formulating my social media content I make sure that what I say is correct. This means using reliable sources like NICE guidelines, peer reviewed studies, etc and I found myself time and time again on the ADHD UK website.

Not only do ADHD UK provide an invaluable and reliable source of information on all aspects of ADHD but they also work hard for the change that the ADHD community needs politically.

I really want to be an ambassador to support ADHD UK in everything they do because it’s so important.