Growing up, the AFLW player, Emma O’Driscoll, thought she had an anxiety disorder.
“I would complain about feeling nervous all the time,” says the defender of the Fremantle Dockers to ABC Sport.
“I would worry the exams a lot and I was always bad with time management.
“My time management is still very poor.”
It was not until the 24 -year -old began to practice elite sport that decided to investigate more.
“I never sat down with a psychologist and tried to deceive this anxiety, especially when I affected my performance,” says O’Driscoll.
O’Driscoll was selected in the AFLW All Australian team during the 2024 W awards in November last year. (AFL photos through Getty images: Josh Chadwick)
The result of that research was a diagnosis of ADHD.
“I had no idea that someone would consider me with a neurodiver brain,” she says.
O’Driscoll has been on Fremantle’s list since 2020 and played more than 50 games.
It was recently named in the Australian AFLW team for the second consecutive year.
“1,000 percent would not be the footballer that I am without ADHD,” she says.
“I use it as a strength, it is what I am as a person, it is part of me and makes me play like me.”
She describes her game style as a cat on a hot tin roof.
“I have so many very open eyes, I’m so locked up,” she says.
O’Driscoll says that she would not be the player who is today without being neurodergent. (AFL photos through Getty images: Dylan Burns)
“This energy is what makes me play my best football and it is something that my teammates thrive.
“I can go to where the ball is, where my opponent is. The fact that I can provide energy and exaggeration to the team is incredible.”
‘You would absolutely have an advantage’
ADHD can be described as a neurological condition, to see changes in the structure of the brain.
There are three subtypes, in which problems can vary from problems with attention, organization and motivation, to impulsivity and hyperactivity.
Senior clinical psychologist Caroline Stevenson says that women are often diagnosed with ADHD later in life.
“It is more likely that women have the unattended subtype of ADHD,” she says.
“If they have that, ADHD rarely occurs on its own, and a condition that entails TDAh unattack is anxiety.”
UDAH unattended is where there are difficulties with focus, attention and organization. Dr. Stevenson says that he often goes unnoticed in girls.
“Boys are recognized because they tend to have behavioral problems, while girls with [inattentive] ADHD, they don’t. “
Many professional athletes have shared their ADHD diagnoses, and perhaps the most prominent is the United States Gymnast Simone Biles and swimmer Michael Phelps.
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There has been little research when it comes to neurodiversity and elite sport, but a review published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine (BJSM) found that ADHD affected 7 percent to 8 percent of elite athletes, compared to 2.5 percent of the general adult population.
And in 2023, the former AFLW player, psychologist and researcher, the associated professor, Erin Hoare, published a review with the University of Deakin, concluding that there was some evidence to suggest an overrepresentation of neurodivergentes in the sport of elite.
The BJSM review found a reason for overrepresentation could be that children with ADHD can be attracted to sport, because physical activity can improve attention.
Dr. Stevenson says that sport can be a double -edged sword for those with ADHD.
“I think there are many parents who put their children in sport to burn part of energy,” she says.
“There is an equal number of children who would say that he fails in the big thing in group sport because they cannot follow the instructions, they are dumb and the coaches cross with them.
The sport can be a double -edged sword for children, and how it goes can depend on who is trains them. (Getty images)
“But then you get these extraordinarily special coaches that get these children.”
Dr. Stevenson says that for some people with ADHD, sport can be an absolute game change, especially when it comes to using things like Hyper Focus, impulsivity and a lot of energy.
“The problem with ADHD is that you can be very distracted, [and] What happens when you focus is the opposite, “she says.
“It’s as if you had flashing lights, and you can see one thing.
“I am 100 percent sure that impulsivity is an advantage in sport because it means that you can make SNAP decisions, and you are not afraid.
O’Driscoll says he plays as a “cat in a hot tin roof.” (Getty Images: Brendon Thorne)
“You will go through the ball when other people do not, which is an absolute force, so you have that combination of hyper approach and speed and the ability to make a decision.
“You would absolutely have an advantage.”
Use exercise as medicine
It is believed that an ADHD brain has lower levels of dopamine and neurotransmitter noradrine than a neurotypical brain.
Some people with ADHD use medications to increase these levels, but Dr. Stevenson says that exercise can have a similar effect.
The ADHD medication aims to level dopamine and norepinephrine in the brain. (Nurphoto through Getty Images: Jaap Arriens)
“You can use it [in] Conjunction with medications or as an alternative to medication, “she says.
“The medications are brilliant if they work for you, and if they do not have masses of side effects.
“[When] The medications are not viable options, we are obtaining the same effects of increases in dopamine and norepinephrine outside exercise and we can use it therapeutically.
“So that first bit in the day, getting up and exercising, will have the same effect as Ritalin for a couple of hours after exercise.
The exercise could have the same effect as the medication for ADHD, for a short period of time. (Unspash: Louis Quintero)
“You get it with exercise [dopamine] Faster, but with medications you get it for longer. Then the combination can work quite well. “
O’Driscoll says he doesn’t wear medications when he plays football.
“I think I like [being] A little to the limit, “she says.
“I use my ADHD in terms of hyperactive, but that really obsessed guy for my advantage.”
Get the correct biochemical balance
While ADHD can work on an athlete advantage in the field, the evidence suggests that it can have negative effects of it, including over-compromise.
“I put so much on my dish to the point where it is not sustainable,” says O’Driscoll.
Dr. Stevenson says that putting too many things on the same day is common, and another way to increase adrenaline, which is a precursor to dopamine.
She says that she often will have conversations with patients about the delay.
“Then, delay, delay, delay and then get great adrenaline success,” she says.
“Running late or putting too much in your day is the same.
“You are constantly pressing the adrenaline blow you are receiving.
“I can tell you that most of the time what people are doing with ADHD is to play with their biochemistry.”
Clarity and creation of more inclusive sports environments
Now with her diagnosis, O’Driscoll has the knowledge and tools to develop strategies that help her balance her commitments outside the field. And he knows his body in that.
“He has provided so much clarity about why I’ve always felt like this,” she says.
“He opened my eyes to commit realistic expectations, where he then reduces that anxiety.
O’Driscoll now has the resources and support around him to play with confidence. (AFL photos through Getty images: Dylan Burns)
“I have the resources and help it around me, whether medications or talking with psychologists.
“I am totally comfortable now talking about that and knowing that there is no stigma around what you have to do to ensure that your mental health is thriving.”
When it comes to creating more inclusive environments for neurodergentes, O’Driscoll has this advice.
“That people are who they are,” she says.
“One of my greatest insecurities is that people tell me that I am too much.
“My friends and family know not to mention that I am too much for them or that I am too hyperactive and that I need to calm down.
“If I need to establish myself a little or they need to help me with a situation, they know how to help me with that, unlike their language, I could have made me spiral, it really made me anxious, really annoying.
“I think it’s just having the conversation with that individual about what works best for them.”
