Originally published: The Mirror, 20 May 2024
The celebrity chef and restauranteur said he believes his mental health conditions have been closely linked to his success and hopes this can be the case for more people.
Heston Blumenthal is advocating for a shift in perspectives towards neurodiversity in the workplace after being diagnosed as bipolar.
The renowned chef and restaurant owner revealed that he received his mental health condition diagnosis recently, having previously been positively assessed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in 2017. His belief is that his own neurodivergence has largely contributed to his success in business and he hopes his story will encourage more employers to change their attitudes to mental health.
A survey involving FTSE 350 board directors and HR professionals found that 37% of respondents rated their company’s understanding of its neurodivergent employees as average or poor.
The study was conducted by Pureprofile for Perception A. HR directors and board members from 50 FTSE 100 and 50 FTSE 250 companies from the UK were surveyed on their policies and perspectives on hiring neurodiverse individuals.
