Mia Freedman tells: Why my actions are just so quirky

Not for the first time media entrepreneur Mia Freedman became the story on her ubiquitous website when she announced her ADHD diagnosis – at age 49.

Not for the first time media entrepreneur Mia Freedman became the story on her ubiquitous website when she announced her ADHD diagnosis – at age 49.

Acknowledging ADHD is presently “having a social media moment”, Freedman described herself as a “very basic bitch” in a lengthy essay that won praise from one high-profile individual, departed ABC 7.30 host Leigh Sales.

Thirteen years after the private school-educated Freedman penned a memoir at age 37 that skipped over some of the riveting personal dramas that titillated many who observed her golden run at publishing company ACP first-hand (including a marriage break-up, marriage reconciliation and some interesting romances) and focused instead on her miscarriage, Freedman finally has a professional diagnosis that fits what she call her “quirky” personality.

Mia Freedman.

So quirky is the constantly in motion Freedman that this column had a tough time pulling a flattering freeze-frame from her Instagram account as the businesswoman fusses with her costume and make-up-free appearance from one post to the next – something that I know once confounded editors at Fairfax Media.

Freedman said of her diagnosis: “It felt like my brain was frantically searching for something it could never find.

“I began to have more minor car accidents. I’ve never been a great driver, but I reversed into my son’s car in my driveway twice within a few months. Then I did the same to my husband’s car.

“I was losing more things. Dropping more things. Spilling more things. Breaking more things. I was constantly late no matter how hard I tried not to be … I was shopping too much, spending too much. My senses felt hungry all the time … and I was exhausting everyone around me.”