This episode is in two parts. This is part two.

“Everyone's a bit ADHD these days, aren't they?”

In the second half of this conversation, I turn my attention to the sceptics, the self-diagnosis debate, and the difference between everyday distractions and living with ADHD.

I also reflect on what receiving a diagnosis at 33 has actually changed — from medication and self-understanding to the complicated experience of looking back at a lifetime of struggles through a different lens.

It's a conversation about evidence, empathy and responsibility. But above all, it's about learning to give myself a little more credit.

Further reading

NHS — ADHD in adults

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/adhd-adults/

NICE — ADHD: Diagnosis and management (NG87)

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng87

Royal College of Psychiatrists — ADHD: Your questions answered (2026)

https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/news-and-features/blogs/detail/the-rcpsych-blog/2026/08/19/adhd--your-questions-answered

🎵 Music

Hear Me Out — the original theme for Bow Tie Talks — and its accompanying variations were created and produced by Kayleigh Roberts.

This episode is in two parts. This is part one.

How can you desperately want to do something, yet find yourself unable to start?

In the first of this two-part episode, I explore what living with ADHD actually feels like — from childhood daydreaming and last-minute university assignments to the everyday struggles with focus, motivation and perfectionism.

Drawing on my own experiences and my ADHD assessment, I reflect on the things I spent years believing were simply personal failings, and the emotional cost of feeling that I was never quite good enough.

Because perhaps I wasn't lazy. Perhaps there was something else going on.

Related reading

I have ADHD — my original reflection, written the day after receiving my diagnosis in September 2025.

https://www.clarkeroberts.co.uk/2025/09/25/i-have-adhd/

🎵 Music

Hear Me Out — the original theme for Bow Tie Talks — and its accompanying variations were created and produced by Kayleigh Roberts.