Dr Alex George's life has been transformed by ADHD and OCD diagnoses
Love Island star Dr Alex George's life has "completely changed" since he was diagnosed with ADHD in 2022 and OCD last year.
Dr Alex George's life has "completely changed" since he was diagnosed with ADHD and OCD.
The Love Island star and ex-A+E doctor was diagnosed with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) in 2022 before getting an OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) diagnosis last year and explained that his symptoms were evident since he was a child.
Dr Alex – who has written about the process of getting diagnosed in his new book Am I Normal? – told BBC News: "I was being blamed for things in school, even though I wasn't in attendance that day. I wasn't nasty or naughty, I was just exploring the world in my own way."
The 34-year-old star recalled how his family were told to "lower (their) expectations of Alex" when he was at school and thinks his life would have been transformed had he been diagnosed at an earlier age.
He said: "There's so much suffering that I have endured that I would not have endured if I'd been diagnosed when I was younger.
"I could've harnessed my superpowers so much younger. I'm incredibly creative, when I focus on things there's no stopping me.
"The difference between surviving or not, and thriving, would've been that diagnosis and it's something that's so fixable."
Dr Alex revealed that he paid £3,000 to access private assessments for ADHD and autism because of NHS waiting lists and has called for more to be done to speed up the assessment process.
The TV star said: "That's a painful amount of money to spend, but I am fortunate that I can afford that.
"There are so many barriers to access, and the waiting lists are unacceptable.
"The question is, are we going to accept that, and what are we going to do to change it?"
George recalled how he "accidentally" began writing Am I Normal? when he started answering questions for the assessment process for his ADHD diagnosis.
He explained: "I was trying to figure out is it me or is it the world? Am I normal?
"Literally that was the question I was asking myself so I sat down with my journal and just started writing these questions down.
"It's very much a reflection of my own life through these questions."
