Rory Bremner was fresh back from a hectic Edinburgh festival and about to embark on a short tour, performing with the likes of John Cleese and Barry Cryer.
He was busy and could well be forgiven for momentarily taking his foot off the pedal and taking a well earned rest. But he can’t. It’s one of the bits he hates most about having Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. He’s made time for our interview but it overruns and he’s left rushing to pick up his daughter from school. “I take on too many things; over commit myself without properly planning. I don’t fully appreciate that until I’m doing it. But I have to remind myself of what it’s given me.”
You don’t know what it is that makes you different - The condition he describes as both best friend and worst enemy first came to light – to him at least – during a ‘chaotic’ childhood. Bremner realised what it was when a relative was diagnosed and has had many years of therapy. “There’s a fear. You don’t know what it is that makes you different. The best description was told to me by Dr Hyatt Williams, an eminent counsellor. He said it’s like being made up of patchwork – lots of small bits stuck together. “
The love hate relationship with his condition hasn’t changed with age. “I don’t like being disorganised and losing concentration. I wonder sometimes that it’s getting worse. But it’s given me the ability to make leaps and bounds out of the ordinary. “
You can’t step out of your head
He’s patron of the ADHD Foundation, speaking at its annual symposium last year and is worried that the education system, rather than allowing children with the condition to flourish, simply labels them as disruptive. “Imagine an open plan office, on a busy day, big TV screens blaring out, music playing, and a football commentary. Could any of us produce good work in that environment? That’s what it’s like for a child with ADHD in a classroom. And you can step out of an office – you can’t step out of your head. We just need to be understood
Would he change anything? Not at all. “It helps to have an overactive imagination. It’s not always fun living with it but like most ADHD’ers, I’d rather have it than not. People with this condition are special -we just need to be understood.”