Robbie Williams has announced that he has been diagnosed with autism after years of struggling in the public eye. On Friday (August 14), the former Take That star spoke about his recent diagnosis in a Q&A session in London.
Singer's reaction to diagnosis
According to Metro, he told the audience: "I have ADHD, and I just found out I have a bit of autism as well, which I actually f***ing love because it explains so much."
"It is my get-out-of-jail-free card now, and all the weird s**t I do, I just say, 'Sorry, I'm autistic'."
The Rock DJ singer also delved into how he uses his diagnosis to lean into his creative activities to help him focus.
Explaining his behaviour
He explained: "With the ADHD, you can completely and utterly concentrate on something 1000%, but with absolutely everything else, you just cannot do it. Ask my kids."
"What I'm completely and utterly obsessed with is creating images and making funny things. If I'm creating images and funny things, I'm not thinking about me, because my brain is incredibly creative, and it can be creative about everything in the world that you panic or are scared about."
"For example, this is how crazy I am: Recently, I was sitting on a plane, and I thought, 'What [if] I can have telekinesis and my intrusive thoughts tell the plane to crash itself'. So that's the kind of level of insanity that I'm dealing with; it's best to train my brain to do something better than worrying about having supernatural powers and crashing a plane."
Understanding autism
The NHS defines autism as "a difference in how your brain develops that affects how you see and experience the world." It can also impact how a person communicates, as well as how someone thinks, learns and pays attention to things.
Autistic people are also more likely to have conditions such as anxiety and depression. The 52-year-old musician has opened up about dealing with anxiety and depression over the years.
Past comments on mental health
Speaking on the podcast, I'm ADHD! No You're Not last year, the singer said: "I'm an Olympian at masking because what I managed to do, to my detriment as well, is I will look full of bravado and look pompous and look smug and do these grand gestures, which have worked for me because they put my face on the poster and people still buy tickets."
"But actually, what's happening is, I feel like the opposite of that all the time." He also revealed that he often has intrusive thoughts, explaining: "I was just walking down the road the other day, and I realised that these intrusive thoughts are inside Tourette's. It just doesn't come out."
Speaking to The Independent in January, Williams said of his mental health struggles: "It took me nearly a couple of decades to fight through it, and now I'm at the other end, and it's beautiful."
