Simon Pegg says he has been diagnosed with ADHD on a podcast

Actor and writer Simon Pegg revealed that he has been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, stating on a podcast appearance that the assessment confirmed a lot of issues he had wrestled with and previously attributed to character faults.

The 56-year-old star of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz discussed his diagnosis on the podcast I’m ADHD! No You’re Not. Pegg explained that 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.

Pegg Reflects on ADHD Diagnosis and Childhood Behavior

According to the NHS, ADHD is a condition where the brain works differently, affecting a person’s ability to concentrate, sit still, and control impulses. Pegg noted that learning about his diagnosis helped put his childhood behavior into perspective, admitting he previously assumed that children with ADHD were merely chaotic, difficult, and inattentive at school. However, he recalled doing other things as a child, such as fidgeting, which made him realize he might have had the condition longer than he initially thought.

Reflecting on his family life, Pegg shared that his wife has been supportive and is dealing with it as if I’d been diagnosed ages ago, noting that she makes allowances for his forgetfulness and lack of concentration.

Mental Health and Prior Assumptions

Pegg also spoke about his broader mental health history, including living with clinical depression since he was 18 and struggling to control his drinking. He initially suspected that his alcohol struggles might have caused his ADHD or that the condition had emerged later in life because he was not a naughty child. He expressed a belief that years of therapy and medication may have been treating his symptoms rather than the root cause.

The actor explained that he was initially very guarded about his private life, only beginning to speak publicly about his mental health around 2018 while making a film about schizophrenia. I was so bowled over by the amount of people that said, ‘Oh, thanks for talking about that’, Pegg said. I was so touched by it.