Simon Pegg calls ADHD diagnosis a 'relief'
Simon Pegg opened up about his diagnosis, which he said happened “not two weeks ago”, in an interview on the I’m ADHD! No You’re Not podcast.
Simon Pegg says finally being told he has Attention Hyperactivity Deficit Disorder (ADHD) is a “relief”.
The Mission: Impossible star opened up about his diagnosis, which he said happened “not two weeks ago”, in an interview on the I’m ADHD! No You’re Not podcast.
Speaking to hosts Paul Whitehouse and Dr. Mine Conkbayir, the 56-year-old actor admitted that the diagnosis “confirmed a lot of stuff that I’d been kind of wrestling with and that I’d been attributing to just character faults”.
Simon initially realised something was off when he was growing up, saying he “did feel different” in a way he couldn’t put his finger on, and now that he’s been officially diagnosed, he can see all the “tells” that pointed to him having the neurodevelopmental disorder.
He mused: “There had been so many tells and my wife was always saying that I had ADHD and it just became, like, I’ve got to find out.”
And when Simon was told by the doctor that he does have ADHD, he experienced a wash of mixed emotions - with relief being top of the list.
However, he added: “I was expecting it to be a positive diagnosis, but it still hit quite hard when she said it… [it was] a real sort of mish mash of emotions ... it was just ‘Oh, thank f*** for that.’”
Simon also said that the diagnosis meant he was able to look back at some his past behaviours and identify that ADHD may have played a part - such as when he was caught speeding and lost his driving license for six months.
He revealed his doctor told him he has a “lack of impulse control”, due to being “desperate to get to the wherever you’re going because you want this part of your life to be over so you can go to the next part of your life”.
Due to his propensity for speeding, Simon now has a special device in his car that is able to prevent him from driving too fast.
The screen star also said that being diagnosed with ADHD means he has something else in common with his frequent collaborator Nick Frost.
He said of his Hot Fuzz co-star: “We always check in on each other and every now and again if we don’t see each other for a while.
“Nick and I are always checking in on each other.”
