Justin Baldoni reveals ADHD diagnosis
Justin Baldoni's therapist convinced him to get tested for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder after years of feeling 'stupid,' and he was officially diagnosed this year at the age of 40.
The actor's symptoms began as a child when he was told he was 'disruptive, out of control' and 'didn't pay attention'.
Baldoni told Elizabeth Day's How To Fail podcast on Wednesday: 'I don't really have any positive memories of school. Reading was always very tough.
Moving on: Justin Baldoni was officially diagnosed this year and he is seen this month
'I remember at a very young age, having to reread and reread and reread pages over again, because I would read and then I would forget what I read, and that continued over the course of my life.'
Baldoni - who felt like 'God made a mistake' - doesn't blame his parents Sam and Sharon for choosing not to get him tested and put on drugs like Ritalin to treat the neurodivergent condition.
'Not wanting me to be doped up on something and ADHD back then wasn't really understood,' the filmmaker explained.
'I think they didn't want to raise me feeling broken and ironically, because nobody was there to talk to me about it, nobody held space for me. I felt broken.'
Baldoni continued: 'They did the best that they could. I've gone through my anger and my frustration and my grieving about what could have been. I end with compassion and empathy for those two trying to raise a son that looked very similar to them and how triggering that must have been.'
Baldoni 'harmed myself quite a bit over the course of my life' over whether or not it was ADHD, so the diagnosis 'gave me so much compassion for myself'.
Baldoni continued: 'I am able to hold that little boy who had nobody, who felt like he was the odd one out that he couldn't learn the way everyone else could. That he couldn't function, that he couldn't regulate his emotions, that he couldn't sit still.
'I'm able to hold him and let him know that it wasn't his fault and I get to remind him that all that the way that your brain works, all of those things that you hate about yourself are going to be the things that allow you to be successful one day, that allow you to flourish and succeed.'
He gets a lot of support from his Swedish wife of 11 years, Emily Foxler, whom he originally met in 2011.
Baldoni and his wife are parents to nine-year-old daughter Maiya Grace Baldoni and seven-year-old son Maxwell Roland-Samuel Baldoni.
Baldoni is now focusing on producing rather than acting or directing.
Baldoni - who felt like 'God made a mistake' - doesn't blame his parents Sam and Sharon for choosing not to get him tested and put on drugs like Ritalin to treat the neurodivergent condition
Speaking out: Baldoni was very honest during the podcast
Happy times: Baldoni and his wife Emily Foxler met in 2011
Trouble: The cast and crew were clearly estranged from Baldoni, who did interviews solo to promote It Ends With Us
