Rory Bremner says ADHD is ‘my best friend and my worst enemy’

Rory Bremner says his attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is “my best friend and my worst enemy” and there was increasingly positive discussion around the condition.

The impressionist said living with ADHD used to feel like spinning multiple plates and called for more understanding and support to be given to children.

Speaking on Channel 5 News, he said: “A lot of things could be positives (with ADHD) because if you have got energy, that’s a good thing.

“If you are impetuous, that can mean you get to an idea quicker, you can think out of the box, you can make connections.

“So, I say it’s my best friend and my worst enemy.

“A worst enemy because you don’t like being disorganised and you don’t like constantly losing things, or you don’t like losing the track of what you are saying.

“But, the positives are you like the fact that you can make those jumps, you like the fact that you can get to an idea quickly and you can make random connections.”

He continued: “It’s a bit like plate spinning sometimes, I feel like my life used to be like how you see circus acts with six plates spinning and there’s always one just about to fall off – sometimes your life can be like that.

“Part of the thing with children is if you find the thing that really engages their attention, then you can lose them for hours because they are absolutely focused and concentrating.

“So, I think we are increasingly talking about the positives, which is why companies are now increasingly looking to recruit people who are neurodiverse because there are many, many, positives that come with it.”

Mr Bremner said that with developments in technology, children that were once labelled as “naughty” were being diagnosed with more complex neurodevelopmental conditions.

“(It’s) good to see that it’s being caught up. Now we need to see understanding, we need support,” he said.