“I Was Diagnosed With ADHD at 40”

Undiagnosed ADHD is costing Australia billions – and costing women their health, marriages and careers. Inside the growing movement to finally recognise it.

PRIMER, 2022

One morning in June 2019, six months after having her second baby, Emily Butler walked into her local Woolworths – a shop she’d visited countless times before – and inexplicably froze.

In that strange and terrifying moment, the crowds in front of the sleep-deprived mother suddenly seemed dense and threatening, the glare of the overhead lights blindingly bright. Panicked, she ran back to her car. “I just couldn’t even walk in there. I was completely overwhelmed.”

That day, Emily rang her mother, who immediately came to stay and helped care for her two young boys. She also visited her GP, who prescribed anti-depressants. Everyone agreed: it was a classic case of post-natal anxiety.

And for a while, Emily felt better.

Then, in the lead-up to Christmas 2020, the 39-year-old marketing director began to experience “intense” fatigue. She tried coffee, short walks and going to bed earlier: nothing helped. Her brain felt blunted, her motivation non-existent. Every day she felt the tendrils of fogginess and exhaustion overtake her.

“I’ve always found it difficult to concentrate,” says Emily. “But this was different. I’d stare at all my open [computer] tabs not knowing where to start. It was extremely noticeable.”

It was only after she missed a mid-morning meeting because she’d fallen asleep that she sought help. A family member had recently been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD), and the symptoms – particularly the inability to concentrate, sensory overload and forgetfulness – seemed eerily familiar.

Emily tentatively asked her GP whether she should be screened. “I wouldn’t say she was sceptical, exactly. But she was surprised,” recalls Emily of her GPs’ reaction.

A few weeks later, the diagnosis was confirmed: it was ADHD all along.