Megan Marx: My comments about ADHD were inflammatory - but I won't be shut down ... trends now

I grew up in a fundamentalist religion, where certain mental health conditions were deemed either a sin, or a punishment from God.

Schizophrenia and epilepsy were considered demon possession, arthritis was bitterness, depression was selfishness, and ADHD was just a general lack of discipline. 

I have ADHD and know what it's like to not seek help because of harmful community attitudes (an exorcism was more commonplace than going to a therapist).

I'm therefore devastated to think that my original - and admittedly haphazard comments - regarding the condition may have prevented people from seeking help.

Whilst I don't believe I have been 'attacked' by Abbie Chatfield for personal reasons, I also don't believe that her campaign against me is about harm reduction.

Abbie's content regarding me has proven to be more an act of entertainment and self-promotion than a semblance of comradeship within the ADHD space.

A fair example of this would be Abbie claiming that weight loss as a side effect of ADHD medication is something that shouldn't be discussed as it could trigger people with eating disorders to seek false 'treatment'.

Her point could have had merit, yet she proclaimed this to her near-half a million followers, providing a platform for the very idea she found too harmful to examine.

The fact is, Abbie Chatfield is a stranger. And strangers can't possibly have the singular moral authority to make an objective statement regarding my character based on a few Instagram stories.

Pursuing a muddy defamation case and personally organising an exile from a community I am part of, without any regard to my experience with substance abuse, withdrawal, neurodivergence, and most importantly ADHD diagnosis and medication is not just absolute lunacy, but total hypocrisy.