Driven to Distraction: Recognizing and Coping with Attention Deficit Disorder from Childhood Through Adulthood

I've bought several books on ADHD but this is by far the best! It does such a great job of helping you understand the condition (practically and medically) AND provides great advice that you can apply right away. Solutions without understanding is incomplete. A big part of working w ADHD-ers is working to understand how they feel, what makes them tick and how to support them more completely. This book is IT!

No matter who you are or what your reasons for picking up Driven to Distraction, by Dr. Edward Hallowell, be prepared to get some real answers to your questions about attention deficit disorder. The book is organized so that it can easily be utilized in any number of ways. It would be a great reference source for information on particular aspects of ADD, but beware... if you start reading at the beginning you will be drawn into Dr. Hallowell's detailed, and in some sense very personal, unfolding of what is known about attention deficit disorder and you won't be able to put this volume down!I ordered this book as a somewhat disinterested bystander. I was intending it as a sourcebook to pass along to a family of my acquaintance who suspect that they are raising a child who has this disorder. After having read Driven to Distraction, I recognize that there are no "disinterested bystanders" when it comes to ADD. My life is impacted by the syndrome whether or not I am the person hearing the diagnosis being pronounced. You may be the neighbor, relative, employer, friend, or co-worker of someone who is living with this disorder, either aware or unaware of what is happening in his/her life. The symptoms are various and occur in almost limitless combinations.The effect on the lives of those coping (or not coping) with the fallout from ADD is almost impossible to gauge. It is probably accurate to say that there are hundreds of times as many people who have undiagnosed attention deficit disorder as there are those aware of their condition. If you have a family member undergoing testing for ADD, take heed to the implications for your own life. Dr. Hallowell repeatedly stresses that having an official diagnosis by a qualified professional is essential. The positive diagnosis is a huge relief for many with ADD, but it is only the beginning in terms of finding workable solutions for very real life problems in the lives of patients.That is when the information gleaned from Dr. Hallowell's book becomes invaluable. Wherever we find ourselves in the scheme of things with regard to ADD, we can be uninformed and unwittingly contribute to the difficulties ADD patients face or choose to arm ourselves with knowledge about the condition and become a force of encouragement and compassion toward those courageously confronting their ADD challenges. What will it be?

The book has helped me to identify next steps.

I bought my first copy of this book about two years ago. Grabbed my brain and would not turn it loose...because the pages SCREAMED... "THIS IS YOU!". I am now 51 years old, and have had the cross of ADHD ... or blessing... as you may see it all of my life.I found myself picking up the phone to call close relatives and grabbing friends to lecture them on what was going on...mostly reading straight from the book. My mother wondered if my father and older brother had ADHD. Dad is dead now, but this can help me put some of the dysfunction in our relationship together. Yes, I have been persecuted for having untreated, undiagnosed ADHD. Yes, this book explained an awful lot to me, gave me real solutions, and encouraged me knowing that the two authors are also blessed / victims of this malady / mental enhancement! I subsequently have bought copies for my aged mother in another state, and for my fiance. I have to say, my fiance read it through and studied it like a how to manual for fixing me! (She's a little scary, sometimes!) And of course I sent a copy to my brother, the doctor, who has added it to his trusted library of resources and textbooks.I am now on one of the medications for the neurotransmitter stimulus. I have opted out of the antidepressants, because of their scary side effect warnings. But the stimulant works to calm me and flush me with something I don't have without the medication. It makes a difference. I feel better and more confident, more able to concentrate and more up to meeting all the challenges of life. What more can I say? Their attention to all facets including proper medication and case history is fascinating, intriguing, and extremely useful. Hope is out there.

One of the most helpful things in this really excellent book was the self-diagnostic information. Because of the genetic factor, when a child is diagnosed with ADD, chances are at least one of the parents may need to do a little self-evaluation. The enormously informative case histories and the "100-questions chapter" really helped us a lot in two ways: it put a name to the problems being experienced by my daughter and my spouse, and it gave us a roadmap of what questions to ask the doctors next.The authors are neutral on medication; they present case histories of successful outcomes both with and without meds. If your mind is already made up (either for or against meds), this book probably won't sway you.The tone is informative without being clinical, often in the first person, so it feels like sitting down for a good chat with a doctor who's not trying to rush off to the next patient. Also, I appreciated the emphasis on, "it's not entirely a disorder, but simply a variation in perception" (my paraphrase.) Children and adults with ADD may struggle in some areas of their lives, but the authors point out how they can excel in other areas. This is _so_ important to emphasise, especially for children.This is the book I recommend to people when they ask me for a good "first book" on ADD. If you've had a family member recently diagnosed with ADD, you're probably going to want to do a lot of research; this is an excellent starting point. I also recommend "ADD: A Different Perception" by Thom Hartmann.

Hard for someone with ADHD to read this book. Tiny letters. Lost focus. Not written in a way that the desired audience can really get into and absorb.

Sehr gut.

Great book any one who has ADHD and need to learn about it .

Paying full price for a aged and worn book was not fair.

great