Em Rusciano has revealed raw details about how early in her career she struggled to balance her high-profile career, parenthood and undiagnosed ADHD.
Em, 43, who rose to fame on Australian Idol before working in television, cabaret, stand-up comedy and podcasting, told Sydney Morning Herald columnist Peter FitzSimons on Sunday that she suffers existential crises at night.
“Sometimes I would cry myself to sleep at 2 a.m. and I’d be like, ‘What am I doing with my life? Should I just go and get a regular job? Are my children okay?” she confessed.
Em Rusciano, 43, (pictured) has revealed raw details about how early in her career she struggled to balance her high-profile career, parenthood and undiagnosed ADHD
EM also opened up about her recent ADHD diagnosis, saying she lifted a weight off her shoulders after realizing she was “wired differently” than others.
“I’ve spent my life figuring out how to be like everyone else and I’ve exhausted myself pretending to be a different version of myself,” she said.
“And then when I found out that my brain was actually wired differently, it was a relief to realize that it wasn’t because I was a bad or inadequate person. I was just different.”
Em, who rose to fame on Australian Idol before working in television, cabaret, stand-up comedy and podcasting, told Sydney Morning Herald columnist Peter FitzSimons on Sunday that she suffers existential crises at night
“Sometimes I would cry myself to sleep at 2 a.m. and I’d be like, ‘What am I doing with my life? Should I just go and get a regular job? Are my children okay?” she confessed
Em said she wished she had been diagnosed earlier in life, but noted that if she had, her career might not have been as successful.
It comes after Em spoke to the National Press Club, where she called on the government to add ADHD to the NDIS.
ADHD, also known as Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, was recognized as a disability under the Disability Discrimination Act in 1992 but is not included on the NDIS list of disorders.
Em said she wished she had been diagnosed earlier in life, but noted that if she had, her career might not have been as successful
On Monday, Em shared a video of herself complaining about how she struggles when things don’t go her way
“ADHD needs to be included as a primary disability in the NDIS,” she said during her speech in Canberra.
Rusciano said one in 20 Australians has ADHD, but women often go undiagnosed because symptoms are more noticeable in young boys.
“I’ve associated it with hyperactive 10-year-old boys who should avoid red liqueurs, much less 42-year-old anxiety-ridden adult women who are chronically exhausted all the time,” she said.
Elsewhere in her National Press Club speech, Rusciano revealed that working on breakfast radio brought out the “worst” of her then-undiagnosed ADHD
“I felt a deep sadness for this precocious, curious, and messy 10-year-old girl who was desperate to do everything right, the girl who was trying all the time and just wanted to be like everyone else.”
Elsewhere in her speech, Rusciano revealed that working on the breakfast radio brought out the “worst” of her then-undiagnosed ADHD.
“I now know that a person with rejection sensitivity, dysphoria, low self-esteem, time blindness, someone who is very outspoken, has a complete inability to regulate their emotions, and is overly sensitive to external stimuli, nowhere near the breakfast radio environment should be,’ she said.
“It brought out the worst of my undiagnosed ADHD symptoms. It brought out the worst in me as a person.’
Em’s son Elio (left) has been diagnosed with autism and Em is currently researching her own autism after she was also revealed to be autistic