Russell A. Barkley

This book started off okay and then went downhill for me. I believe it could possibly be helpful for some people, but it was not particularly helpful for me. I think part of the problem I had with it is that it focused primarily on a very stereotypical hyperactive manifestation of ADHD from the male perspective and I cannot relate to that lived experience, so much of it was just not relevant for me. However, I had some other issues with it as well.

The author sometimes comes across as show more patronizing. At one point, I found myself thinking, “Does he really believe we are all so severely incapacitated that we cannot even ___?” It also seemed like he equates having ADHD with a lack of character and integrity and in his examples of women with ADHD, it started to feel like he was painting them all as floozies with zero self-control. He definitely broad-brushes people throughout the book. For example, on page 253, he says, “Because you have ADHD symptoms in place of innate conscientiousness, you’re…” I had a major problem with this because when tested by a psychologist with a Big 5 personality test, my trait conscientiousness tested notably above average. I have very high trait conscientiousness. To assume that I don’t just because I have an ADHD diagnosis is, honestly, kind of offensive.

Further, some of his recommendations seemed unrealistic. For example, one of his suggestions is to ask your supervisor at work if you can meet with them “several times a day” to keep you on track with getting your work done and reaching your goals. This kind of having to “report in” to someone multiple times each day, while perhaps a good strategy for some people, would drive me nuts and make me feel like I was being micromanaged. I can’t imagine a request to do so going over well with a supervisor who just wants me to get my work done, not babysit me. He also recommends having a parent manage your money for you. Keep in mind this book is directed to adults. Learning to manage your money well and responsibly is part of being a functioning adult and you are capable of doing it even if you have ADHD. It might take a little more effort and more frequent reminders to keep on top of it, but most people do not need to rely on their parents to do it for them. There are many resources Barkley could have recommended to help someone learn money management instead of recommending handing finances off to a parent. What about when one doesn’t have a living parent or a parent dies or gets sick and the responsibility falls back on you? Let’s not forget, too, that if you don’t want to learn do it yourself, you can hire a professional.

He definitely seems to paint people with ADHD quite negatively and stereotypically, i.e. not being able to pay bills on time, always speeding and driving recklessly, incapable of discipline or self-control, frequently overspending, addicted to substances, etc. I’m not saying these characteristics never describe anyone with ADHD, but neither I nor anyone I know with ADHD presents this way, so I think it is far from the stereotypical norm he seems to place on everyone.

Lastly, the author emphasizes evaluating sources of information and looking for citations when reading about ADHD, which is great, except that he doesn’t follow his own advice. He frequently makes claims that are not cited and in the back of the book where citations should be, he basically says the book is based on thousands of studies (none of which he bothers to cite), then recommends another of his books.

The section on medications is helpful if you have not yet become familiar with the different options currently available for treatment. The author definitely prefers this method of treatment and does not go into much detail on alternative methods for managing symptoms. show less

This book was extremely helpful informing a path forward to manage what I’m now fairly certain is undiagnosed ADHD.

Barkley explains how one can identify some of the symptoms that may indicate they have ADHD, as well as some information on what may indicate other mental health struggles.

He goes into extensive detail about treatment options and how they work, with a thorough explanation of medical treatments and how they work. This is especially helpful for people who may have multiple show more co-morbid conditions and are concerned about the effects of stimulant medication.

Barkley also provides extremely helpful tools for use by both individuals on and off medication to help manage their symptoms and externalise their executive functions in order to avoid their deficiencies in those mental functions.

He provides plenty of information on how exactly ADHD affects life in a variety of areas such as schooling, work, relationships and more.

I highly recommend reading, or listening to this book if you have ADHD, or suspect you or a loved one has ADHD. It has been instrumental in providing steps forward in my path towards management of symptoms. show less

We have an adult son who has self diagnosed himself with ADHD. Although I am not keen on any psychological self diagnosis, having read this book I can see why he is tempted to believe this to be the case.

I found the book very helpful, particularly the sections on the consequences of untreated ADHD, the impact of adult ADHD on the loving ones, helping your loved ones to get professional help and how to help your loved one understand and accept adult ADHD.

Obviously i found the chapters on show more living with an adult with ADHD less useful, but I’m sure that for a spouse/partner these contain valuable strategies.

Overall then, four stars. show less

there is a lot of good information here, primarily around defining adhd and what is happening neurologically, as well as information about medicine. if that was all that was in this book, it'd be 5 stars for me. so that's what i'll take from it, and will continue to find useful.

as far as the ideas for behavior modification and reward/punishment go, i guess some of it was good to read, but most of it was not useful. partly because thankfully, we don't have an oppositional and violent show more antisocial kid, and partially because never ever would we give candy and video games as rewards. and there's even less of a chance that we'd convince the teacher in his school to allow video games in the classroom as a reward. that entire part of the book was beyond ludicrous to me. i do think we might need to consider something other than medicine to get more of the behavior we want, so maybe i'm just not ready to hear it yet, but regardless, candy and video games are out of the question. and for that to be the suggestion, it's not confidence inspiring.

but the information about adhd itself and what is happening in his brain, along with what we might see as he ages, all was really important information that i needed to read. and there's great value in having learned this.

"ADHD is a developmental disorder of self-control. It consists of obvious problems with attention span, impulse control, and activity level."

"...the challenge of raising a child with ADHD elevates parenting to a new, higher plane. Bringing up a child with ADHD may be the hardest thing you ever have to do."

"...working memory - the capacity to hold in mind what one is supposed to be doing and use it to guide his ongoing behavior."

"...when children with ADHD play or work with other children on a task, the information they communicate to others is less organized, less mature, and less helpful in getting the activity done than the information communicated by children of the same age without ADHD."

"...ADHD is a disorder of self-control, executive functioning, willpower, and the organizing and directing of behavior toward the future..."

regarding dopamine and norepinephrine: "We now know for certain that this problem of brain underreactivity to stimulation is reasonably typical of children with ADHD. The results tell us that the problem here is not at the initial level of perception or in detecting the stimulus but at the level where the prefrontal lobes of the brain would enhance attention to that stimulus. This enhancing effect seems to be less in those with ADHD."

"How is it, many parents still ask, that children with ADHD, who are more active and energetic than children without ADHD, could have brains that are less active? Remember that the areas of the brain that are not as active as they should be are the parts that inhibit behavior, delay responding to situations, and permit us to think about our potential actions and consequences before we respond - the executive brain. The less active these inhibitory and executive centers are, the less "top-down" self-control a child will be able to demonstrate."

"...ADHD is a developmental disorder of self-control - or what some professionals call the executive functions critical to planning, organizing, and carrying out complex human behavior over long periods of time. That is, in a child with ADHD, the "executive" in the brain that is supposed to be organizing and controlling behavior, helping the child plan for the future and follow through on those plans, is doing a very poor job."

"Most misbehavior stems from your child's biological deficits in inhibiting behavior and sustaining attention." show less