Geena Davis felt ‘huge burden of shame’ before ADHD diagnosis

Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon starred in the 1991 film Thelma and Louise. Photo / File

Geena Davis carried a “huge burden of shame” before being diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder, now known as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

The Thelma and Louise actress, 66, added she discovered she suffered the condition when she started seeing a therapist.

Mum-of-three Davis, who has daughter Alizeh, 20, and twin sons Kian and Kaiis, 18, with her former partner Reza Jarrahy, from whom she split in 2017, told Loose Women on Wednesday: “I had started with a therapist and I think by the second session she said has anyone told you, you have ADD?

“I carried a huge burden of shame most of my life, I thought there was something wrong with me because I couldn’t finish or start a lot of things.

“I found it very shameful. But when I found out there’s a reason and I’m not a bad person it was very interesting.”

Davis added on the ITV chat show she is grateful she didn’t become a mother until she was in her forties.

“I’m really grateful that I had children in my 40s because I knew I’d be more involved.

“I didn’t have a lot of self-esteem but I was really determined that my children would have self-esteem.”

Davis, who is promoting her new memoir Dying of Politeness, told Good Morning Britain this week that Susan Sarandon transformed her life.

Davis said about meeting Sarandon: “It totally changed my life, because somehow in my sheltered life, I had never spent time with a woman who says what she thinks without qualifiers in front of it.”

The actress, who starred with Sarandon, 76, in the 1991 film Thelma and Louise, said she also showed her how to be “authentic”.

“I was used to living as somebody who says, ‘I don’t know if you agree with this or if this is a good idea’ – I was busy dying of politeness.

“As soon as I met Susan – Oh my God – this was a whole different world. And it wasn’t that anyone reacted differently to her. Everyone loved her and everything.

“I was like, ‘Wow, you can actually be like that’.

“She showed me what it’s like to live authentically and be in the moment.”