Fremantle Dockers AFLW player Emma O'Driscoll on how ADHD shapes her

Growing up, AFLW player Emma O'Driscoll thought she had an anxiety disorder.

"I'd complain about feeling nervous all the time," the Fremantle Dockers defender tells ABC Sport.

"I'd get really worried about exams and I was always bad with time management.

"My time management still is very poor."

It wasn't until the 24-year-old started playing elite sport that she decided to investigate further.

"I'd never sat down with a psychologist and tried to nut out this anxiety, especially when it was affecting my performance," O'Driscoll says.

The result of that investigation was an ADHD diagnosis.

"I did not have any idea that I would be considered someone with a neurodivergent brain," she says.

O'Driscoll has been on Fremantle's roster since 2020, and played more than 50 games.

She was recently named in the AFLW's All Australian team for the second year in a row.

"1,000 per cent I would not be the footballer I am without ADHD," she says.

"I use it as a strength, it's who I am as a person, it's part of me and it makes me play the way that I do."

She describes her playing style as like a cat on a hot tin roof.

"I'm so wide eyed, I'm so locked in," she says.

"This energy is what makes me play my best footy and it's something that my teammates thrive off.

"I can zone in to where the ball is, to where my opponent is. The fact that I can provide energy and hype to the team is incredible."

'You'd absolutely have an edge'

ADHD can be described as a neurological condition, to do with changes in the structure of the brain.

There are three subtypes, in which issues can range from trouble with attention, organisation and motivation, to impulsivity and hyperactivity.

Senior Clinical Psychologist Caroline Stevenson says women are often diagnosed with ADHD later in life.

"Women are more likely to have the inattentive subtype of ADHD," she says.

"If they have that, ADHD rarely occurs on its own, and a condition that goes with inattentive ADHD is anxiety."

Inattentive ADHD is where there are difficulties with focus, attention and organisation. Dr Stevenson says it often goes unnoticed in girls.

"The boys get recognised because they tend to have behaviour problems, whereas the girls with [inattentive] ADHD, they don't."

Many professional athletes have shared their ADHD diagnoses, with perhaps the most prominent being United States gymnast Simone Biles and swimmer Michael Phelps.

There has been little research when it comes to neurodiversity and elite sport, but one review published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine (BJSM) found ADHD affected 7 per cent to 8 per cent of elite athletes, compared to an estimated 2.5 per cent of the general adult population. 

And in 2023, former AFLW player, psychologist and researcher Associate Professor Erin Hoare published a review with Deakin University, concluding there was some evidence to suggest an over-representation of neurodivergent people in elite sport.

The BJSM review found a reason for over-representation could be that children with ADHD may be drawn to sport, because physical activity can improve attention.

Dr Stevenson says sport can be a double-edged sword for those with ADHD.

"I think there's a lot of parents that put their kids into sport to burn up some of the energy," she says.

"There's an equal number of kids that I would say fail big time in group sport because they can't follow instructions, they're silly and the coaches get cross with them.

"But then you get these extraordinarily special coaches that get these kids."

Dr Stevenson says for some people with ADHD, sport can be an absolute game changer — especially when it comes to using things like hyper focus, impulsivity and lots of energy.

"The problem with ADHD is that you can be very distracted, [and] what happens when you hyper focus is the reverse," she says.

"It's like you've got blinkers on, and you can just see one thing.

"I'm 100 per cent sure that impulsivity is an advantage in sport because it means that you can make snap decisions, and you're not scared.

"You will go for the ball when other people won't, which is an absolute strength, so you've got that combination of hyper focus and speed and the ability to make a decision.

"You'd absolutely have an edge."

Using exercise as medicine

It's thought an ADHD brain has lower levels of the neurotransmitters dopamine and norepinephrine than a neurotypical brain.

Some people with ADHD use medication to increase these levels, but Dr Stevenson says exercise can have a similar effect.

"You can use it [in] conjunction with medication or as an alternative to medication," she says.

"Medications are brilliant if they work for you, and if they don't have masses of side effects.

"[When] medications are not viable options, we're getting the same effects of increases of dopamine and norepinephrine off exercise and we can use it therapeutically.

"So that first bit in the day, getting up and exercising, you're going to get the same effect as Ritalin for a couple of hours post the exercise.

"With exercise you get it [dopamine] faster, but with medication you get it for longer. So the combination can work quite well."

O'Driscoll says she doesn't use medication when she's playing footy.

"I think I like [being] a bit on edge," she says.

"I kind of use my ADHD in terms of the hyperactive, but that really fixated type to my advantage."

Getting the biochemistry balance right

While ADHD may work to an athlete's advantage on the field, evidence suggests it can have negative effects off it, including over-committing.

"I put so much on my plate to the point where it's not sustainable," O'Driscoll says.

Dr Stevenson says putting too many things in the same day is common, and another way to increase adrenaline, which is a precursor of dopamine.

She says she'll often have conversations with patients about procrastination.

"So, you delay, delay, delay and then you get a really big hit of adrenaline," she says.

"Running late or putting too much in your day is the same thing.

"You're putting pressure on yourself constantly by the adrenaline hit that you're getting.

"I can tell you that most of the time what people with ADHD are doing is playing with their biochemistry."

Clarity and creating more inclusive sporting environments

Now with her diagnosis, O'Driscoll has the knowledge and the tools to develop strategies that help her balance her commitments off the field. And know her body on it.

"It has provided so much clarity as to why I've always felt this way," she says.

"It opened my eyes to over committing and having realistic expectations, where it's then reducing that anxiety.

"I've got the resources and help around me, whether that's medication or talking to psychologists.

"I'm totally comfortable now talking about it and knowing there's no stigma around what you have to do to ensure your mental health is thriving."

When it comes to creating more inclusive environments for people who are neurodivergent, O'Driscoll has this advice.

"Let people be who they are," she says.

"One of my biggest insecurities is people telling me I'm too much.

"My friends and family know not to bring up that I'm too much for them or that I'm too hyperactive and I need to calm down.

"If I do need to settle down a bit or they need to help me with a situation, they know how to help me with that, as opposed to their language previously could have made me spiral, made me really anxious, really upset.

"I think it's just having the conversation with that individual about what works best for them."