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A review by beritt
Driven to Distraction: Recognizing and Coping with Attention Deficit Disorder by John J. Ratey, Edward M. Hallowell
3.0
I picked this up to learn more about all aspects of AD(H)D, and that’s exactly what I got.
First published in 1994, the personal stories felt a bit dated at times (several people had never heard of AD(H)D or thought only boys could get it), but the scientific parts have been updated to about 2011. If you need the most recent, cutting-edge research on AD(H)D, you’re probably better off scouring an academic database, but if you need a comprehensive, thorough review of the social, behavioural, and neurological aspects of AD(H)D and how this affects individuals, families, and relationships, this book is a great starting point.
I do not have AD(H)D myself, but know people who do.
For the longest time, I was under the mistaken impression that AD(H)D just meant being a bit loud, talkative, and scatter-brained.
Sometimes, it looks like that. More often, it does not.
Inattentiveness plays a HUGE role in ADD (without the H, also called ADHD-I). This doesn’t just mean forgetting to bring your wallet once a year, it means forgetting your purse — not once, but repeatedly, consistently. It doesn’t mean accidentally missing some details from a conversation, it means forgetting the conversation happened a day later. It doesn’t mean not caring, it means caring very deeply about everything: so much so, that it becomes impossible to differentiate between important and unimportant stimuli. And it also means long hours of intense hyperfocus when caught up in something you love.
I loved seeing all those aspects demonstrated in Hallowell&Ratey’s book. It’s easy for neurotypical people to judge anyone who is neurodivergent, but it’s so important to understand that someone’s brain just literally works differently. Not in a “worse” way or a “broken” way, but differently.
As a side note, the authors profile a family in one of the chapters (“ADD and the family”) that bothered me deeply. The family members are so utterly mean towards each other, so vicious, cutting, and undermining, that I don’t understand why the author(s) did not comment on their dynamics. The way they behaved towards each other was far from normal. Surely, growing up in such an environment affected the person with AD(H)D as well? And surely, the parents and brother of the individual in question also have mental health issues? Who the hell thinks growing up in a family in which one family member is bullied by the rest, laughed at, made fun of, and then blamed again when he has ADHD is just business as usual? Good Lord!
I have also read Scattered Minds, and that one was better written and more engaging. I think I just prefer Maté’s writing style; this one (Driven to Distraction) reads too much like a handbook at times.
However, both books complement each other: Hallowell and Ratey give you literally everything you need to know in a factual way, whereas Maté goes deep into the environmental aspects of AD(H)D.
Driven to Distraction is great if you’re feeling overwhelmed and don’t know where to start understanding the disorder, because it covers so much. You could also skip easily between chapters if any particular chapter feels less relevant for you.
All in all, I’d recommend this to anyone who knows relatively little about AD(H)D and would like to learn more about the way it affects people’s lives. Definitely useful.
First published in 1994, the personal stories felt a bit dated at times (several people had never heard of AD(H)D or thought only boys could get it), but the scientific parts have been updated to about 2011. If you need the most recent, cutting-edge research on AD(H)D, you’re probably better off scouring an academic database, but if you need a comprehensive, thorough review of the social, behavioural, and neurological aspects of AD(H)D and how this affects individuals, families, and relationships, this book is a great starting point.
I do not have AD(H)D myself, but know people who do.
For the longest time, I was under the mistaken impression that AD(H)D just meant being a bit loud, talkative, and scatter-brained.
Sometimes, it looks like that. More often, it does not.
Inattentiveness plays a HUGE role in ADD (without the H, also called ADHD-I). This doesn’t just mean forgetting to bring your wallet once a year, it means forgetting your purse — not once, but repeatedly, consistently. It doesn’t mean accidentally missing some details from a conversation, it means forgetting the conversation happened a day later. It doesn’t mean not caring, it means caring very deeply about everything: so much so, that it becomes impossible to differentiate between important and unimportant stimuli. And it also means long hours of intense hyperfocus when caught up in something you love.
I loved seeing all those aspects demonstrated in Hallowell&Ratey’s book. It’s easy for neurotypical people to judge anyone who is neurodivergent, but it’s so important to understand that someone’s brain just literally works differently. Not in a “worse” way or a “broken” way, but differently.
As a side note, the authors profile a family in one of the chapters (“ADD and the family”) that bothered me deeply. The family members are so utterly mean towards each other, so vicious, cutting, and undermining, that I don’t understand why the author(s) did not comment on their dynamics. The way they behaved towards each other was far from normal. Surely, growing up in such an environment affected the person with AD(H)D as well? And surely, the parents and brother of the individual in question also have mental health issues? Who the hell thinks growing up in a family in which one family member is bullied by the rest, laughed at, made fun of, and then blamed again when he has ADHD is just business as usual? Good Lord!
I have also read Scattered Minds, and that one was better written and more engaging. I think I just prefer Maté’s writing style; this one (Driven to Distraction) reads too much like a handbook at times.
However, both books complement each other: Hallowell and Ratey give you literally everything you need to know in a factual way, whereas Maté goes deep into the environmental aspects of AD(H)D.
Driven to Distraction is great if you’re feeling overwhelmed and don’t know where to start understanding the disorder, because it covers so much. You could also skip easily between chapters if any particular chapter feels less relevant for you.
All in all, I’d recommend this to anyone who knows relatively little about AD(H)D and would like to learn more about the way it affects people’s lives. Definitely useful.