The singer has spoken about receiving ADHD and OCD diagnoses in midlife, while also discussing the impact of perimenopause and reflecting on her experiences with IVF and solo motherhood.
Natalie Imbruglia has spoken candidly about being diagnosed with ADHD and OCD in midlife.
Describing her neurodiversity as her “superpower” while revealing how perimenopause left her feeling as though she had “fallen off a cliff”, the Australian-British singer and actress, 51, said she has experienced a range of mental health challenges, opening up about receiving diagnoses of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder later in life.
Natalie, whose sixth studio album Algorithm is due for release in September and who is preparing for a series of summer festival appearances, revealed her neurodiversity can make performing particularly challenging.
Her latest comments on her health come weeks after she spoke publicly about becoming a solo mother through IVF, rejecting suggestions that she had chosen parenthood instead of a relationship.
Speaking to The Sunday Times, Natalie said: “You name it, there’s a sprinkle of it. They’re just labels. It’s not a negative, it’s my superpower.”
She added: “But there’s a particular thing about my neurodiversity that’s hard for me to accept, which is how I get when I’m nervous before a show. Perimenopause made it worse.”
Discussing the impact of perimenopause, Natalie said: “Let’s just say it was a grieving process. I was really angry. I fell off a cliff. It felt like someone had taken some of my personality.”
Natalie also explained speaking with menopause campaigner Davina McCall helped her better understand what she was experiencing as she dealt with “anger and anxiety”.
She said she now manages her symptoms with HRT creams and welcomed the fact that conversations about menopause have become less “shameful or taboo” than they once were.
Perimenopause is the transition before menopause, when hormone levels begin to fluctuate and symptoms including irregular periods, hot flushes and mood changes can occur.
Best known for her global hit Torn and for playing Beth Brennan in Neighbours, Natalie has continued to balance music and acting throughout her career, including roles in Johnny English, Closed for Winter, Underdogs and Among Ravens.
Natalie’s latest comments on her health follow an emotional appearance on the How To Fail podcast with Elizabeth Day last month, during which she reflected on her decision to have her son, Max, through IVF using a sperm donor in 2019.
She said: “I think it’s really interesting that people frame it or they did with me that somehow I’d chosen this over being with a man.”
Natalie added: “And for all the men out there, that’s absolute rubbish. Like it wasn’t some kind of ‘I don’t need a man or you know women can do this and not have a man in their life.’”
She continued: “It really upset me… because that was not the case. We just find ourselves in a situation where there’s a biological clock and you know a decision needs to be made.”
Natalie also said: “Thank God for medicine that we’re able to have that option because women before us didn’t have that option.”
Reflecting on her IVF experience, Natalie described the process as “pretty brutal” and encouraged women considering treatment to seek as much information and support as possible.
She said: “What I will say is that it’s really important to educate yourself and to ask a lot of questions and for women to share.”
Natalie added: “There’s a lot that I didn’t know or understand about that process and there’s a lot of trauma involved along the process of learning things that someone could have told me.”
Recalling the moment she discovered she was pregnant, Natalie said: “In fact, I remember when I found out I was pregnant, the one thing in my mind was every woman on the planet who was still waiting.”
She added: “Oh, that makes me emotional thinking about it.”
Natalie Imbruglia hails ADHD as her ‘superpower’ after opening up about midlife diagnosis
