Former AEW Women’s World Champion Jamie Hayter has reflected candidly on her personal health struggles, speaking on her neurodivergent diagnosis and the mental recovery process following a severe back injury.
In an interview with the BBC, Hayter shared her experience of being diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) over a decade ago. While discussing neurodiversity, Hayter noted that while her condition helps her lock into her work in the ring, managing it in everyday life remains an ongoing challenge.
“It was not a surprise because my family are all neurodivergent and my siblings have autism, at school someone would say ‘oh, you might have ADHD’ but it never went beyond that, other than getting a little extra help for exams which I always really struggled with,” Hayter said. “It was a relief being diagnosed at the end of the day. It meant I can understand my brain a little better, and how I process and work with things.”
Hayter continued by challenging the popular sentiment that neurodivergence is simply a “superpower,” highlighting the overwhelming daily realities that come with it.
“I need to be in the zone with it, and I wish my brain could do that with other things too. But I think it mixes a lot of things together – there’s an audience I want to entertain, it’s my job, there are consequences if you don’t do it well and I never want to let down the people who are there,” she explained. “You hear people say ‘oh, being neurodivergent is my super power’ and I hate that, because it’s a debilitating thing. It can be a lot to deal with, and at points I do slip – I’ll get overwhelmed with having places to be, or things to do, and life things go out the window. I’m still learning to manage it all better.”
Overcoming Injury and Finding a Mellowed Perspective
Elsewhere in the discussion, Hayter addressed her prolonged absence from professional wrestling due to a severe back injury suffered in 2023. Sidelined with two herniated discs, Hayter detailed the physical limitations that left her bedbound during the initial stages of her recovery.
“The worst was the first few months because I was really unsure of things, the pain was at its highest and I was bed bound – the most I could do was get up, feed my cats, make a coffee and then wobble back to bed,” Hayter recalled. “I was sitting there depressed, think I’m not doing anything, nothing is going on in my life, and it was hard to see a positive light. Weeks felt like they were taking years to go by.”
Despite the difficult recovery period, Hayter noted that the time away ultimately helped reshape her approach to her wrestling career, giving her a clearer, more grounded outlook.
“It helped me come back with a better mentality for wrestling than I had before, just more mellowed out and with a better understanding of what is worth getting upset over,” she concluded.
Make sure to join us here at WrestlingAttitude.com for live updates, breaking news, and continuous coverage across AEW and the pro wrestling landscape.
WA on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/wrestlingattitude/
WA on Facebook (Women's Wrestling) - https://www.facebook.com/WrestlingDivas/
WA on X/Twitter - https://x.com/wa_wrestling
WA on Instagram (Women's Wrestling) - https://www.instagram.com/wa_wrestlingattitude/
WA on Google News - https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMJf3owsw2oG8Aw
WA on Bluesky - https://bsky.app/profile/wrestlingattitude.bsky.social
