A psychiatrist diagnosed me as autistic with ADHD Now, finally, I can thrive msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Marianne Eloise this year. Photograph: Marianne Eloise
Far from feeling deprived when the world went into lockdown this year, I thrived. After a difficult start to 2020 grappling with health issues, I felt incapable of doing anything I’d planned, no matter how much I wanted to see my friends, work or travel. It ran deeper than exhaustion: during my entire life I had struggled with things that other people seemed to find easy, like socialising, employment, education or feeling comfortable in my own body. I often found myself overwhelmed, struggling to connect with people and suffering with sensory overload when faced with certain lights, smells, sounds or textures. I needed more time alone than other people to recover from being in the world, and selfishly, lockdown felt like a blessing.