A lifetime of working with undiagnosed ADHD leaves its mark.
Back then, it wasn’t recognised. It was labelled as anger, and misunderstood as attitude, disobedience, or trouble.
I wasn’t difficult, I was unsupported. I pushed through school without knowing why I couldn’t focus, why I reacted so quickly, or why everything felt harder than it should.
Nobody knew, I didn’t know. When I got into trouble, and my parents asked why, I simply said, “I don’t know.”
Then, at 35, I learned how to learn. Imagine that - halfway through life, finally understanding how my brain worked.
It changed everything, but the real shift came later.
Three years of intense depression while in the police, three years of hiding the struggle behind a uniform, three years of thinking I just had to ‘harden up.’
That was the start of my real journey. Not the badges, not the cases, not the rank.
Understanding people, understanding pain, understanding the brain. And eventually, understanding myself.
Although they hurt me, those years didn’t break me. They shaped me.
They moved me towards helping others before they reach the point I once did.
Today, I know this:
🧠 When you’ve lived inside the chaos, you recognise it in others.
🧠 When you’ve felt the weight of depression, you see the signs others hide.
🧠 When your own brain has been a battlefield, you learn how to guide people out of their own.
May I say I am proud of the work we do now, which isn’t about theory; it’s about lived experience.
I share this with you for one reason - whatever you’re carrying, you’re not alone.
Brains can be rewired, lives can be redirected, and sometimes the hardest years become the most meaningful.
You’ve got this.
Let’s talk.
A Lifetime of ADHD