SIMON PEGG REVEALS ADHD DIAGNOSIS

Simon Pegg has said he has been diagnosed with ADHD, telling a podcast the outcome "confirmed a lot of stuff that I'd been wrestling with". Pegg, known for Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead and The World's End, as well as television series including Spaced and Doctor Who, spoke about the diagnosis on the podcast I'm ADHD! No You're Not. He said he pursued a formal assessment because he "just wanted to know", adding that "there was a lot of build-up and suspicion, and it just took a while actually to get there". Before his diagnosis, Pegg said he had put his symptoms down to "just character fault".

Pegg said he initially believed his ADHD had developed later in life and had been caused by his clinical depression, which he has experienced since the age of 18, along with difficulties controlling his drinking. "I felt like it was something that had come on in later life because I wasn't a naughty child," he said, adding that he may have been "treating the symptoms and not the cause" through years of therapy and medication. He said he had assumed children with ADHD were "chaotic and difficult" and did not pay attention at school, but reconsidering his own childhood behaviour, including fidgeting, made him think he may have had the condition for longer than he realised. According to the NHS, ADHD affects a person's ability to concentrate, sit still and control impulses.

Pegg said his wife has responded supportively, treating the diagnosis "as if I'd been diagnosed ages ago" and making allowances for his forgetfulness and lack of concentration. He said the condition is "just who I am, and it's just things that I do". No further details of ongoing treatment or future plans were given in the podcast interview.