On Our Mind

Posted on 18 Mar 2025

For Neurodiversity Celebration Week (17-23 March), Anna, Trainee Advanced Clinical Practitioner at the Trust shares a blog about her life living with ADHD and how this has affected her and her journey to becoming a mental health nurse. She also shares details on the support she has from colleagues and the Trust to ensure she feels included and valued.

Anna said: Neurodiversity has shaped my life for many years, initially through supporting my diagnosed loved ones, and more recently, through my own diagnosis of ADHD in 2023, after years of wondering, maybe...?

Life in the pandemic lockdowns highlighted so many key things that were crucial to my ability to function, by ripping them away overnight. These included routine and structure, as well as novelty, personal space, and physical activity. When those things disappeared, I was left with increased anxiety and agitation, loss of identity, and significantly more house plants and abandoned hobbies than I knew what to do with.

Finding out I had ADHD was eye opening and validating. It explained why I struggled to focus on tasks so much, why my mind constantly felt like it was racing at 300 mph, and why I struggled with how others perceived me. It also gave me the breathing space I needed to consider how much it had impacted my journey to becoming a mental health nurse - spoiler alert, a lot! - as well as the elaborate and often ridiculous methods for coping I had developed since qualifying.

Nursing, whilst inherently rewarding and full of purpose, is challenging. I don't think there's a nurse around who won't agree with that to some extent. There's paperwork, reams upon reams of it, and a need to be organised, detailed and reliable. You have to be aware of risk and your surroundings constantly and be able to make potentially life-or-death decisions at the drop of a hat. Many aspects of nursing feel like they were made for people with ADHD; the fast pace, the wide variety of tasks, and the need for compassion and empathy perfectly harness our ability to hyperfocus, adapt and care.

Sometimes though, it can be a real struggle, especially on days where your mind is in overdrive, you can't focus on anything you need to, and everything feels impossible. That's why it's important that employers, especially organisations like the NHS, must be equipped to understand and support people like me. ADHD is a condition that affects so many aspects of life - social interactions and relationships, and even physical health and wellbeing. In some ways, it can be a strength, but in others, it creates barriers, and without the right support, colleagues with ADHD can find it hard to strike a healthy balance.

Since working in the Trust, I've had many genuinely positive experiences and interactions with others around ADHD. The team I work in feels supportive, a place to be honest about who I am and where I've come from. Not only can I empathise with my patients and work collaboratively with them to develop coping strategies and independence, but I can also support colleagues who may be having similar questions as I was back in those strange and unprecedented times.

I'm surrounded by colleagues who are supportive and understanding, which allows me to feel included, appreciated and valued. The Trust also has an invaluable Disabled Staff Network for colleagues to seek advice and support, which helps me to feel connected and understood. I work in a highly varied, dynamic role with many different hats , which helps me to feel creative, motivated and focused. There's significant room for growth and development, something I hadn't truly experienced in previous roles. I'm able to be open and transparent about my difficulties and needs with my managers and I'm given opportunities to think about how to manage these and cope in a way that doesn't risk my own health and wellbeing.

Practically speaking, I've been supported to set up Access to Work support including coaching, which has been invaluable in helping me understand how to manage my ADHD in the workplace. I've also had access to a Workplace Individual Support Plan (WISP), a tool for disabled colleagues to complete with their managers to consider reasonable adjustments. This has helped both me and my manager to understand how my ADHD impacts my role - both positively and in challenging ways - and how I can be better supported during difficult times.

I fully acknowledge that the world isn't perfect. Many people often either don't understand or judge a thing before they've fully understood it. But by fostering awareness and advocating for inclusivity, we can ensure that neurodivergence isn't just accommodated, but valued and nurtured. My journey with ADHD continues, but knowing that I have the right support, coping skills and acceptance in the workplace makes an enormous difference.