New Fife ADHD support group launches with focus on supporting adults

ADHDFife meets every Thursday between 6.00pm and 8.00pm with members discussing a range of topics, including employment, physical health and mental health.

The group was formed after participants took part in a six-week pilot programme called SPARKS, conducted by the ADHD clinic at Whytemans Brae day hospital in the town. However, with the programme only offering nine hours of sessions, those attending kept in contact with each other and formed ADHDFife. More information can be found at www.adhdfife.co.uk/

Alistair Waterson, ADHDFife administrator, said the group came about quickly after the SPARKS programme came to an end.

He explained: “When SPARK came to an end around the end of September, we decided to keep in touch and make a WhatsApp community group. It was from there that things started to really progress.The group was speaking about what they wanted us to do and things that could help them and I kind of ran with it and started pushing the group to become more than it actually was.

“And where we're at now is that we have policies, aims and objectives. We've got a Facebook page, a website and we've just launched a charity application. We’ve really evolved and it’s only really been a month and a half.”

Feedback for the group has been promising so far, with people pointing to a gap being filled in support that they didn’t receive growing up.

Alistair said: “For a lot of us as adults, we didn't get support growing up. We didn’t have education in schools, and parents didn’t know. So we didn’t have a great deal of support growing up. Right now, for the most part, adults are somewhat alone in their symptoms. So having people that know about ADHD, we can actually say ‘well actually, you know what, I feel the same’ or ‘you know, for I find a way to get around that’.

“Having people that know or know about ADHD, we can actually say well actually, you know what, I feel the same or you know, for I find a way to get around that.”

The group meets at West Bridge Mill near Links Street and will resume on Thursday, January 11.