• Beany Brain
  • Posts
  • Beany Brain #115: Comedian Shaparak Khorsandi on Being Diagnosed with ADHD in Her 40s + ANTs and Anteaters

Beany Brain #115: Comedian Shaparak Khorsandi on Being Diagnosed with ADHD in Her 40s + ANTs and Anteaters

Author

Abigail Munday
October 13, 2026

Beany Brain: loving our jumping-bean brains!

Welcome to this issue of the Beany Brain! I hope today’s newsletter will bounce us up as we contemplate the upsides and challenges of being neurodivergent, a little beauty, some creativity, and just general yeehawesomeness.

Table of Contents

Photo of Annoyance by Abigail Munday

Comedian Shaparak Khorsandi on Being Diagnosed with ADHD in Her 40s

Imagine what I could have achieved if, when I sat down to write, I didn’t suddenly search “where are the cast of La Bamba now?” and not surface again for three hours.

(Shaparak Khorsandi)

I don’t know Shaparak Khorsandi and had never heard of her before I read this article by her in the Guardian (or, the Gurniad as my husband and son call it), but I already like her.

And I relate!

She’s a lot funnier than I am, you know, being a stand-up comedian and all, but I really get what’s she’s been through.

Discovering in my 40s that I have ADHD was a bit like how, I imagine, Tarzan felt when he found out he was a human and not a chimpanzee. For years he must have wondered why he was so different to the other chimps. Why did he have to use rope instead of his arms to swing from the trees?

I think I’d like to hang out with her sometime. Tarzan style, in a tree?

When the initial Covid lockdown was announced, the first thing I did was buy a tin of purple paint and put massive purple hearts all over our walls. I am not an artist; the hearts were wonky. But this kind of thing quiets the chaos in my head.

I’m tempted like this too, but we are in a rental house with knobbly beige wallpaper on every wall, like almost every Japanese home and apartment. Purple paint would not be appreciated by Owner-san or Rental Management Company-san.

For better or for worse, or both, in addition to ADHD, I am also autistic. This means that when my ADHD brain wants to do something outlandish, which is often, the autistic part of my brain kicks in with anxiety and it holds me back.

Shaparak goes on to say:

People often console those of us with a late diagnosis, who are looking back at a trail of destruction, by saying “but that’s what makes you creative. It’s what makes you who you are.” I am not always sure about this link. True, a huge percentage of those who make a living in the creative arts have ADHD. But so do a huge percentage of those in prison. No one consoles them by saying brightly, “but it’s what makes you nick cars!”

The creativity she writes about comes with challenges too:

When we can’t fit into the boxes our work and education system lays out, as ADHD folk often can’t, then we make up rules and forge paths that are risky but make sense to us. This “creativity” is a survival tool and doesn’t diminish the frustration when we are overlooked and unsupported in other areas.

A late diagnosis? I understand.

Being on a stage with lots of people looking at you and expecting a laugh?

She must get a dopamine rush from that.

I’d be rushing offa that stage.

Ha Ha Haiku

A funny haiku for you every week in every newsletter, whether it’s one of my own or one I curate for you. HA. Ha. Haiku.

Probably-Ants-on-Those-Trees Photo by Abigail Munday

ANTs and Anteaters

Instagram Post

You know I like Dr. Daniel Amen’s helpful hints. I still try to do his bedtime routine for a healthy brain:

  1. Limit screentime before bed (use blue-light blockers).

  2. Go to bed. (That’s the crucial part.)

  3. Pray.

  4. Think about what you’re thankful for.

  5. Think about what went well throughout the day (micromoments of happiness).

Now in the above video he’s talking about ANTS: Automatic Negative Thoughts. He even brought his anteater along to eat the ANTS.

Dr. Amen says our brains release chemicals with each thought: if it’s a bad thought, bad chemicals; if it’s a good thought, good chemicals.

He says a master anteater way of thinking is to write down any bad thought and ask yourself:

Is it true?

My challenge is actually catching myself thinking the bad thoughts; they can just roll on through me noggin uninterrupted most of the time.

I wonder if buying a stuffed anteater and strapping it to my head would help. It’s almost worth a purchase and some duct tape.

(source unknown)

Photo by Abigail Munday

Yeehawesome!

Yeehawesome! is a happy-brain roundup in each issue of Beany Brain. What’s happening that’s good in brain land? What’s bringing me joy?

  1. Fall is falling and the kaki are kaki-ing. In full English, fall is here and the persimmons are almost ripe. That is yeehawesome cause for celebration! I love those guys. They’re amazing just to eat raw or to make cakes.

  2. It’s a kind of magic. It’s a kind of magiiiiiiiic! Dang. The Queen live in Budapest (OK, live in 1986) movie was superb. Good job, Peter Jackson studios (they cleaned it up and released it in cinemas)! It was the first Western rock concert behind the Iron Curtain. My only sadness about the film is that they didn’t interview any Hungarian people in the present day who were actually in attendance that night. Now I’m also looking forward to the latest Shaun the Sheep starting on October 23 here in Japan. And Lupin season 4 on Netflix on October 23rd as well!

Photo by moi of Freddie Mercury’s arm, armpit, and moi’s foot

  1. I voted. I do not take this for granted. Ever. I have officially received word that USPS has received my absentee ballot from Japan and it’s on its way to my local election office. My suffragette sisters were tortured and imprisoned for me to have this right, and I will use it every chance I have.

Quote of the Week

I suppose it’s a good time to be an anthropologist.

(Matthew Munday)

Beany Brownie Points and Extra Bonus Funniness

(source unknown)

Wonderful Wednesday

Wonderful Wednesday was a day once a year in college when they would suddenly and surprisingly call off all classes and we’d play all day. The cafeteria provided special fun food and we’d do stuff outside like slip ‘n slides and jello wrestling in sumo suits. This segment of Beany Brain is dedicated to that memory of silliness and fun—no words, just a photo from the week that I’ve taken or found that reminds me to let the joy in. Since Beany Brain is published on Wednesday every week (at least, Wednesday in Japan), I hope you enjoy this Wonderful Wednesday.

Photo by moi of moi’s hand

Today’s Beany-full Summary:

  • A UK comedian, Shaparak Khorsandi, writes about a late diagnosis of ADHD, her creativity, her intensity, and the drawbacks of needing dopamine hits.

  • ANTS = Automatic Negative Thoughts. If we catch ourselves thinking bad thoughts, we can write them down and ask ourselves if they are true.

  • Go forth in Beany joy. What will help you feel yeehawesome this week?

Thank you for reading this installment of Beany Brain! You’re very welcome to hop on by any old time.

If you’re enjoying Beany Brain, please share with a friend or seventeen at www.beanybrain.com. Cheers big time!