Thoughts by Kate Adams
@HondaRacingCorporation
I thank Marc Marquez for getting diagnosed with ADHD.
I understand that's not usually how someone would start an article/blog post like this, but I'm all about honesty. At least now I am, and I now understand my ADHD. I would like to point out and make it VERY clear: I am not saying Marc Marquez has ADHD at all. I am not a professional mental health expert. This is just my experience, and a tale about how I was diagnosed and to bring awareness to mental health.
Let me start by telling you about myself. I'm 29, a Kiwi who was born in England. I am an avid Grand Prix fan, both MotoGP and F1. Prototype racing is my bread and butter. I've had mental health struggles throughout my life and I've hopped careers quite a bit throughout my life, never really feeling settled on something until I rediscovered motor racing.
I grew up with Formula 1 and MotoGP; my grandparents and I would watch the races together. I kept up with Formula 1 but MotoGP fell away when life got in the way, and I didn't rediscover MotoGP until much later in life. It would have been around the time of Covid-19 lockdowns that I did rediscover it. I had started watching the main race on demand in about 2017, but when Covid-19 hit I ended up binge watching every race from 2010 onwards. I went into what I call 'hyperfocus' mode.
@HondaRacingCorporation
Fast forward to January 2023. I saw a TikTok clip with something about Marc Marquez and his documentary. I decided to watch it, which was a big hassle. I didn't have Amazon Prime, so I got Amazon Prime. Then it wasn't available in New Zealand, at this point, I was so committed to watching it, I ended up getting a VPN and setting my location to England as I really wanted to watch it. In total I ended up spending around $150NZD just to watch it. Not ideal and not a way to get content out to people. Fortunately at the time of writing it's on Video Pass and also on RedBull TV.
But alas, I digress, there is one particular scene in the documentary that changed everything for me. So for me, it was $150NZD well spent. The scene is when Marquez is in recovery, and they are watching the race on the TV. Marquez does something 'loud,' and someone comments, "you just can't hold it in, can you?" For some reason, that particular scene got through my brain filter and stuck with me. I began to recognize that I do this all the time, sometimes I feel as though I am being controlled by a motor and there are times when I can not hold a comment or thought in and I let the intrusive thoughts win.
It was then I started really noticing my behaviors. Things I'd always done but thought were 'normal'. When I get ready for work, I start each task at the same time and don't finish them. My days and thoughts are scattered. Fast forward a couple of days, and I took a hard look at my life. I wasn't accomplishing the things I wanted to accomplish. I knew I could do more if I could just focus. This is when I started to suspect it was ADHD. I made a doctor's appointment, got a referral, and within half an hour of seeing a psychiatrist, he said, "you absolutely have ADHD."
So, thanks, Marc Marquez. It's a very good documentary. It actually was so good and impactful on me that my life has forever been changed, for the better.
@PrimeVideo
My thoughts on the documentary itself are as follows: The cinematography is absolutely stunning. There is one part where they replicate diplopia, which was absolutely incredible. It's a really fascinating insight into the life of Marc Marquez; he comes across much more approachable after viewing. The only downside is that it is in Spanish. As someone with ADHD, it is incredibly difficult for me to focus on subtitles. However, I believe that speaking in the native tongue should be encouraged in all areas of motorsport. If I can learn Italian for MotoGP, so can others.
I would highly recommend watching it if you are a MotoGP fan. It does offer some insight on that incident in Sepang 2015. Personally, I get the feeling that Marquez didn't want to talk about it but was pushed by whoever was running the show. It looks to me like it's quite a painful topic for him, but I am not getting into that whole incident here. When I give my opinion on that, I will need to take a week off social media.
I also really liked seeing the bond between the Marquez brothers, and getting some outside takes from Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo was really captivating.
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