'I make people laugh but I couldn't make myself smile'

Serena Terry is well-known for her brutally honest stand-up comedy.

But after selling out her previous two UK and Ireland tours and becoming the first female comedian to sell out Belfast's SSE Arena in 2024, she found herself in the "depths of depression".

"A big part of my job is making people laugh, but I couldn't even make myself smile," she said.

When her tour ended last year, Ms Terry, known on TikTok as Mammy Banter, said it was as if her "entire body and mind just went 'we can relax now, we can break down now'".

For Ms Terry, a turning point came with a diagnosis of combined Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

ADHD was first recognised in adults in 2008, eight years after childhood ADHD was formally recognised through National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in most of the UK NHS (England, Wales, and NI).

"Whereas I thought ADHD was being hyperactive, hyperactive is just one type. There's also inattentive – so I have a combined type where I'm more inattentive," Ms Terry said.

"It turns out that during peri-menopause as your oestrogen fluctuates it heightens the symptoms of ADHD, mainly emotional deregulation, and breaks down any coping mechanisms you've had up to that point."