The Guardian - UK (2022-04-30)

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The Guardian | 30.04.22 | SATURDAY | 7

CUTTINGS


Keeping up with Kanye
Recent years have been trying for Kanye West-watchers but
content continues: the “desultory” album Donda 2 arrived
in February, as did a Netfl ix documentary. Meanwhile, there
was a brief, oddly staged romance with Julia Fox, playing
out on the Insta grid and beyond. Fox is also writing a book
that she has declared a “masterpiece ”. She seems to have
grasped the essence of a wild celebrity moment, telling the
Cut : “Give people something to talk about ... do your job.”

L


ast year, over a quarter of
a million British women took
a n o n l i n e t e s t f o r a t t e n t i o n
defi cit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
The condition is most commonly
diagnosed in childhood, but with
cases routinely being missed in
schoolgirls – just one is referred for
every four boys – many women may
fi nd themselves wondering later in
life. I asked Tony Lloyd, CEO of ADHD
Foundation , what they need to know.

What are the symptoms of ADHD?
There are three core characteristics:
impulsivity, inattention and
hyperactivity. You only have to have
two to get a diagnosis.

It’s about the intensity of those
characteristics right? Because
I imagine most people experience all
those things regularly. I sure do.
It can be overwhelming. And
impulsivity is not just impulsive
actions; it’s impulsivity of emotion
and thought. So you go to bed and
you’re exhausted, but you can’t sleep
because your mind is still racing.

Oof, that last bit sounded way
too familiar.
Anybody who is really stressed is going
to look a bit like they’ve got ADHD. But
whereas anxiety is a direct response
to environmental stresses , ADHD is an

Conversations


with Coco


Could I have


adult ADHD?


innate genetic cognitive impairment,
which can be exacerbated by stress.
If somebody’s got anxiety, once you
remove the stresses, the response
goes. With ADHD, it’s more constant.

So if someone’s reading this thinking,
“This sounds like me”, what next?
There is a free booklet on our website
about what ADHD is, and ways to
manage it. I’d caution everybody
to read that fi rst – because you
can’t expect your GP to know how
ADHD presents in adults. They’re
not trained. Even many general
psychiatrists aren’t. If you think
you’re still struggling and need
medication, ask for an appointment
with an ADHD specialist. The problem
is, there’s a three- to fi ve -year waiting
list for adults. And nearly half of all
new adult diagnoses are made by
private clinicians.

Blimey. So why has testing
increased so suddenly? Is it just
greater awareness? I know a number
of celebrities – singer Solange
Knowles, reality star Olivia Attwood


  • have opened up about their adult
    ADHD diagnoses.
    I think so, though the pandemic may
    be a factor. When most people leave
    education, they gravitate towards
    careers where they can play to their
    strengths and have strategies. But
    during lockdown, routines, structure
    and support mechanisms were
    disrupted. So people may have found
    themselves struggling, having coped
    for a long time, and beg un asking why.


I still don’t really get why
schoolgirls in particular have
been so underdiagnosed.
ADHD correlates with
neurodevelopmental delay. So certain
parts of the brain develop more slowly.
Girls mature quicker than boys, so that
immaturity appears more obvious
in boys. Also, girls are more likely
to mask anxiety that comes from
a diffi culty with cognitive functioning.

One more thing, Tony – how many
people are estimated to have ADHD?
Roughly one in 20 people. We know
that one in 10 have dyslexia, one in
60 have autism – and in fact roughly
one-fi fth of the human population are
neurodiverse. One in fi ve people can’t
be seen as errors of genetics. We have
to acknowledge there is diversity of
human neurocognitive capacity and
we’re all the richer for it.
Coco Khan

Down the rabbit hole
Lost in the f low of pop culture
This week: Julia Fox

by Larry Ryan

Kick out the jahms
Julia Fox broke big in late 2019 with the intense Uncut Gems
( 5 stars! ). In the actor’s telling, she was writer/director
Josh Safdie ’s muse, and her pronunciation of the fi lm title
comes with a rather looser use of vowels and consonants
(“Aw n c u h t J a h m s ”). A role in Steven Soderbergh’s enjoyable
No Sudden Move followed but mainly she has become
a permanent, if confusing, fi xture in memes and minds.

Kool thing
Fox was a designer/model/dominatrix/mover/
shaker before fi nding wider attention, and follows
the classic trajectory from Manhattan scenester to
celebrity, as traversed tragically by Edie Sedgwick
in the 1960s, and eff ortlessly by Chloë Sevigny in the
90s. Sevigny can be seen in the new series of Russian
Doll (Netfl ix), but back before the controversial Kids ,
her 1992 screen debut was in Sonic Youth’s video for
Sugar Kane. In it, Sevigny parades in clothes from
Marc Jacobs ’ notorious grunge collection.

Sell me by your name
After heroin chic and plaid shirts, Marc Jacobs graduated
to the role of creative director at Louis Vuitton, while also
pioneering his eponymous label and, ironically , endless
variations on his name – from Marc by Marc Jacobs to Jacobs
for Marc in collaboration with Marc Jacobs.

Chicago’s fi nest
The dearly departed Virgil Abloh , who died last
November, was named men’s artistic director at
Louis Vuitton in 2018. The fashion designer and
all-round visual polymath founded Off -White and
was a regular collaborator/creative counsel for fellow
Chicagoan Kanye West.

Pairing notes
R e a d In 1994, Jay McInerney profi led Chloë Sevigny in a classic
New Yorker piece. Meanwhile, Edie: American Girl recounts the
rise and demise of the Warhol superstar.
Drink The play Dimes Square charts the cool crowd “ making the
scene ” in Manhattan. Fernet , a n amaro , is their drink of choice.

Insta Ye

Illustration: Lalalimola

FILMMAGIC; SHUTTERSTOCK; GETTY IMAGES FOR MARC JACOBS; AFP; GETTY IMAGES FOR VANITY FAIR


for

elling the
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Scene
queen
Free download pdf