“By and large, the education system is not designed for people like me,” says the researcher. She says that sitting still for hours on end, following a set timetable and learning things in a more or less predetermined way that she couldn’t prioritise herself was terrible for her. “It made me so angry that I had panic attacks, was afraid to go to class and had to repeat a year of school.” She ended up skipping classes and instead studied subjects she enjoyed in a café. Since her teachers were worried about her, they let her carry on. “But it didn’t occur to anyone at the time that I might have ADHD,” says Bastos. She now knows that her brain “simply works differently to other people. I can accept myself as I am,” she says. It took her a long time to get to this point.
[…]
“People with ADHD notice many things at the same time,” she explains: “You’re easily distracted if you’re doing something you’re not motivated to do. But if I am very interested in a task, I can spend days on it non-stop, even forgetting to eat and drink,” says the scientist. “If you can’t learn to set your own boundaries, you won’t get anywhere.” Feelings also play a major role: “I am impulsive and get excited, but then I also fall hard,” she admits frankly.
When she was finally diagnosed with ADHD in 2022, “it was a turning point for me,” she says. “On the one hand, I was able to better understand and communicate my own needs, which also made it easier for those around me to understand me,” she says. “I also want to emphasise that medication is very helpful,” she adds.
[…]
To raise awareness of ADHD and develop resources, she has contacted the Office for Equality, Diversity and Family Affairs. She is also involved in a national initiative to reduce the stigma around mental illness in science.
But that’s not all: ultimately, the aim is to bring greater inclusion and diversity – including neurodiversity – into academic institutions. “Research clearly shows that diverse teams are more creative and deliver better results because they bring in more perspectives,” she says. “In climate and environmental research in particular, we need solutions to problems that are complex and affect everyone. We still have a lot to change.”