Ryan Thomas reveals ADHD diagnosis
Ryan Thomas has been diagnosed with ADHD but is feeling "disheartened" that medication hasn't yet had the effect he was hoping for.
Ryan Thomas has been diagnosed with ADHD but is feeling "disheartened" that medication hasn't had the effect he was hoping for.
The former Coronation Street actor admitted he was initially "embarrassed" to reveal he has the condition - which is formally known as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and can cause issues such as trouble concentrating or sitting still - because it wasn't often discussed when he was a child.
Speaking to siblings Adam and Scott Thomas on their At Home With the Thomas Bros podcast, Ryan said: “ADHD for me has been a big problem and I’ve not actually spoke about it yet because If I’m really honest, I was quite embarrassed that I had ADHD.
“It felt like I had a condition and growing up, as kids, ADHD, I don’t feel like, was ever a thing – or it was loosely spoke about.”
The 41-year-old actor sought an assessment from doctors after fiancee Lucy Mecklenburgh urged him to after she witnessed him often losing belongings including his phone and not listening to conversations properly, and he was then given medication after receiving his diagnosis, but he had hoped to see a more dramatic change.
He said: “After the whole process, I was diagnosed – and I’m on medication.
“And friends that are on the medication have said it changes your life instantly, like the limitless pill. And it’s been quite disheartening for me because I’m on the medication every day.
“I’ve been on it for the last three, four weeks. And I still feel overwhelmed. I still misplace things.
“There is a part of me that I recognise – that I can sit down and write something on a piece of paper, which is very rare that that happens with me.
“I’ve up the dosage now, so let’s just see if that does anything. It’s being reliant on medication that I don’t like.”
Despite being warned by doctors the medication could see him experience a lack of sex drive and no appetite, he joked he's had the opposite experience.
He quipped: “I’m like a horny motherf***er that wants to eat all the time… It’s not working.”
