Island MP speaks out about ADHD diagnosis

Island MP, Joe Robertson, has revealed this week that he has been diagnosed with ADHD, and said: “There is no limit to what anyone can achieve.”

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is a condition which affects how people focus, and they may have trouble with things like concentrating or sitting still.

The MP for East Wight said that, while watching his two young children grow up, he has increasingly become interested in the way people learn and get on.

Joe, 42, told the IW Observer: “I have thought for a while that I might be suffering from ADHD. I never really switch off, I can’t even relax and watch television in the evening, and I have found it mentally exhausting.

“I try and occupy my mind and my ability to ‘hyperfocus’ is well suited to my job as an MP, as I am able to go into overdrive and deal with it by doing five things at once.”

Before becoming an MP, Joe was a successful family solicitor, yet said he didn’t suspect his condition as he was growing up because “I had a positive outlook and, basically, was told to ‘get on with any problems’.

“Until I was elected in 2024, I had never really lived alone. I shared with flatmates at university and then moved back in with my mother. I then moved in with my wife a decade ago, and I’ve always been surrounded by a support network at home.

“But I now live half the week away from my family and I’m confronted with day-to-day domesticity, and those mundane tasks can feel exhausting.”

Despite this, he said: “People diagnosed with ADHD really need support and access to community therapy. I think if I had been diagnosed younger in my life, it might have hampered my development.

“I don’t want to be a standard bearer for ADHD, people have so many experiences of it and are from all walks of life. They should not be labelled, and I want to try and help with local and national policy.

“If people have ADHD, they can work and achieve something which can be good for society; they don’t need to sit at home on benefits. The system is not working to help with their specific needs.”