Happy Mondays frontman Shaun Ryder has opened up on what life is like with ADHD, and he believes the neurodevelopmental disorder has helped him as a songwriter.
Shaun Ryder has described having ADHD as “having a f****** brain like a watering can” – but he is happy he wasn’t diagnosed until he was 50.
The 63-year-old Happy Mondays frontman didn’t know he had been living with the neurodevelopmental disorder until 13 years ago, but since getting more understanding of the condition he believes can have its advantages as a musician as well as its negatives in daily life.
When asked if his ADHD has helped him creatively as a songwriter, he said: “Do you mean like having a f****** brain like a watering can? I suppose so.
“This super-power stuff, which is the in thing at the moment, that ADHD is a super-power, it sort of is and it sort of isn’t. There’s good things and there’s mad things about it.”
ADHD – or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder – is a neurodevelopmental condition linked to dopamine dysregulation, which affects attention, motivation, and reward processing.
People with ADHD often struggle with inattention, impulsivity, and emotional regulation, while also experiencing enhanced creativity, out-of-the-box thinking, and problem-solving abilities.
Step On hitmaker Ryder – a key figure in the late-80s and early-90s Madchester music scene – admitted that much of his wild, hedonistic past could be traced back to undiagnosed ADHD and the brain’s pursuit of dopamine, often leading him to self-medicate.
Yet he expressed no regrets about those experiences for they shaped who he is today.
In an interview with website Contact Music, he said: “One of the f****** reasons I self-medicated as a kid was because of ADHD, it was to make me feel f****** normal and help me remember stuff.
“But what happens and what you go through just makes you who you are, so I’ve not really got any complaints about that. I’m really f****** lucky.”
Shaun has mellowed significantly in recent years, and he credits his ADHD medication for improving his focus.
He said: “The medication really helps … The medication helps me focus, and I can focus on s*** now.
“But when the meds start wearing off – they should last longer but they wear off after a few hours – when the meds start wearing off I start flying off in about 19 different directions at once, forgetting what I’m talking about.”
Celebrity Gogglebox star Shaun is heading out on a UK tour with the Happy Mondays to celebrate the 35th anniversary of their seminal album Pills ‘n’ Thrills and Bellyaches, and he is currently working on the band’s first new album for 19 years.
Happy Mondays singer Shun Ryder says ADHD feels like ‘having a brain like a watering can’
