Olympic Marathoner Molly Seidel on the Long Road to Her ADHD Diagnosis

Molly Seidel is one of only three American women to medal in the Olympics in one of the most brutal of events, the marathon. Even with all her triumphs in competition, perhaps what is even more remarkable about Molly is her candor and courage in discussing and addressing a series of mental health challenges including #adhd #ocd and #eatingdisorders. “When I speak publicly about being diagnosed with ADHD and get absolutely flamed online for it, it’s frustrating and a little bit heart breaking sometimes because I know there are other people out there who are dealing with this,” said Molly, who set a new personal record at the 2023 #chicagomarathon. “One of the reasons that I didn’t get help earlier, when I was in high school or in college, is because I didn’t have the role models speaking out about this. Everybody who was at the pro level running then seemed like these perfect people, and I was like, 'Why doesn’t my brain work?'” “I do think we’re getting to a point where there is a lot more acceptance,” said Molly, who suffered a race-ending hip injury during the 2022 Boston Marathon. “I think the Tokyo Olympics was this watershed moment for mental health, but there is still so much stigma and so much hatred out there that we need to be aware of… Athletes are real people with real mental health issues.” #adhdawareness Subscribe to the ADDitude YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_3d... Visit the ADDitude web site: https://www.additudemag.com Follow ADDitude on Facebook:   / additudemag   Follow ADDitude on Instagram:   / additudemag   Follow ADDitude on Twitter:   / additudemag   Follow ADDitude on Pinterest:   / additudemag