'I was in denial when I was told I had ADHD at 52'

Ellie Smith-Barratt was diagnosed with ADHD when she was 52

A woman who was diagnosed with ADHD at 52 years old said she was in "complete denial" after having traits pointed out to her at a work meeting.

Ellie Smith-Barratt, from Penrith, in Cumbria, had no idea she had the condition until last year and said it left her feeling like she did not know large parts of herself.

Speaking during October's ADHD Awareness Month, Ms Smith-Barratt said while her diagnosis was "empowering", it also left her feeling isolated.

She now volunteers as an ambassador for ADHD UK in order to help other people come to terms with diagnosis.

"I think when I was growing up, we had a very different society that we lived in, it was always recognised or it was talked about as the 'naughty boy syndrome'," she said.

ADHD is a neurodevelopmental condition characterised by difficulties with concentration, energy levels, impulsiveness, or by a person's ability to manage their time.

Ms Smith-Barratt, now 53, told BBC Radio Cumbria she did not even think about ADHD until another neurodivergent person in a meeting told her she had traits.

Friends then also started to point it out, but she initially reacted negatively and it took her a while to get to the point of seeking a diagnosis.

Ellie Smith-Barratt said she was in "complete denial"

"I was very, very reticent, in fact I shut down completely from it," Ms Smith-Barratt said.

She said the traits that were pointed out to her included being defensive, putting off things until the last minute and having a tendency to have various "doom piles" around the house.

"It wasn't a particularly nice feeling to have all of that pointed out to me," she said.

"It took me a while to acknowledge it myself, I went into complete denial."

When she finally did go to the GP about it, Ms Smith-Barratt said they reacted dismissively, which put her on the "backfoot" again.

She now volunteers as an ambassador for ADHD UK

Finally having a diagnosis had a "double-edged sword effect," Ms Smith-Barratt explained.

"Although it felt incredibly empowering, and incredibly enabling because it felt that there was a massive part of my identity there that had been missing from my understanding of myself, it also meant that the coping mechanisms that I'd built up around myself in order to deal with a society that isn't built for people with neurodivergent conditions started to tumble down," she said.

"So that complete lack of understanding meant that I was profoundly impacted by that new knowledge of myself and I felt like I had to start again with some of those things."

After coming to terms with her diagnosis, Ms Smith-Barratt decided to become an ambassador for ADHD UK in order to help people who struggled like herself.

"I felt very isolated," she said.

"I found it to be very difficult to talk to people about it and I actually found going through the process quite traumatic.

"That was why I decided to become an ambassador and in doing that I wanted to help and support other people and advocate for other people because I felt like I had it within me."

If you have been affected by this report, help and support are available at BBC Action Line.