Rating: 
Summary: Helped me, help me
Review: I am an adult ADHD sufferer. This book was recommended by a doctor/friend of mine - it is great. It gives examples of real people with ADD and ADHD and what they do, that characterize the ADD symptoms. As I read the book, I realized that I could replace my name with the person they would talking about. It helped me to realize that some of the things I do, are not that I am stupid, but are just due to my lack of focus and "need for speed" in they way my life runs. Because of this book I was able to get medicated to help my focus and have recommended it to many others seeking the answer.
Rating:
Summary: This is a good book
Review: I started to read this book two years ago, but I could never get past the first few chapters. I'd put it down and pick it up again, over and over. Then one day I read the last chapter. Took a walk came home and read the book cover to cover in one night. I recommend this hit because now I'm cured.
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Summary: The classic on the subject of ADD
Review: This book on tape changed my life. At age 41, I finally got the answers to why some things were always so difficult for me. This book is loaded with both diagnostic info to answer the question "Am I ADD?" and practical tips to living with ADD. ADD has become something of a fad disease, so I appreciate that this is a book written by one of the top psychiatrists in the field. While practical, the book stays factual and sticks to those things which have been clinically proven. See also the reader reviews for the paper version.
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Summary: This book helped change my life - Fantastic Book!
Review: 2 years ago, I was diagnosed with Adult ADD, and this book helped to understand that I am not the only one with this problem. It provided me with a complete understanding of what Adult ADD is, and that medication is only a partial treatment for dealing with this problem.
Rating:
Summary: excellent source for information
Review: A friend loaned me this book in hardcover, and I read the introduction, gave it back to her immediately and went out and bought my own copy. I wanted to underline like crazy, and didn't want to mark her book! I was labeled a "space cadet" and "lazy" all through elementary school. I knew I was smart, but just couldn't complete ANYTHING. When as a mother, I searched to discover why my son was not succeeding in school, I learned about Attention Deficit Disorder. I count it a family victory to finally know what the heck was going on with me,my son, and my over 70 year old father. This book is an excellent resource for learning you are not alone, that there are strategies that can assist with coping, and then you can show the world how brilliant you really are! Hurray, for John Ratey and Ned Hallowell. Maggie in Maryland
Rating:
Summary: A superbly balanced and rigorous text for all readers
Review: Whether lay public or professionals in the field, this is the best book you'll find on Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). I treat patients who have ADD; many come bearing a well-marked copy of this book to say they've found themselves in it. To the others, I routinely recommend they read it before we finalize the diagnosis or decide on treatment. The tone throughout is rigorously scientific yet informal, relatively free of jargon, approachable by anyone with a high school education, and very supportive to the sufferer without being patronizing. It contains no propaganda, a rare virtue in books about ADD. Although written by physicians (who themselves are sufferers), it does not shill for medication management at the expense of alternative treatments that have been scientifically validated as effective. This is the ideal book for sufferers and their families, for teachers and those who evaluate the learning problems of children and adults, and for all health care providers. For those who find it hard to read, another book by these authors, Answers to Distraction, is written in an easier, sound bite format. Both books are available on audiotape, often the best way for the ADDers to "read". -Phil Torrance MD (Diplomate in Psychiatry)
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful resource
Review: I wanted to get this book for weeks before someone finally picked it up for me. Of course this is also one of the signs of ADD, procrastination. It is well written and easy to follow. I definitely reccomend it.
Rating:
Summary: An must read for anyone with ADD
Review: I am a 23 year old college who has ADD and this is one of the best books I have ever read. I found out I had ADD 2 years ago, and then found that most people knew very little about it. Even my doctor had little knowledge of what it is really like to live with this disorder every day. The author himself has ADD, and can accurately relate what it is like. I found this book to be insightful, funny, and very informative. I was so absorbed in this book, I found myself reading 100+ pages in one sitting. When I was done reading, I was dismayed that there was no more to read. Thanks to this book, I now have a better grasp on my disorder, and know about it than my doctor.
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Summary: The ONE & ONLY BOOK you need to read on the subject!
Review: After finding out that my youngest son had ADHD, I picked up this book and started reading. It was almost like looking into a mirror that showed my life: Further, it described many people in my family! I went to a Stanford psychiatrist for input and am now taking Ritalin. This book may have actually saved my life: I now understand my need for change, my attraction to violence, my Type-A behavior, even my claustrophobia--everything. It was as heartbreaking as it was a relief to find out that there was a name for what I was going through--that there was help available--and most important, that I was not alone. I will have to deal with this affliction for the rest of my life. If you or anyone you know may have either of these maddening disorders, please help by reading this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Positive, solution oriented book
Review: I was recommended this book by a friend who is also a psychologist. Based on my personal history and my gig as a teacher, I have tremendous interest in the subject. This is the first book I've read on ADD and I found this to be a thorough, though perhaps overly positive, treatise on ADD from a talented psychiatrist who clearly has compassion for his patients.
Hallowell is a clear writer and this book will be helpful to a very wide audience. He brings in many case histories that illuminate his clear points. Towards the second half of the book he offers many bullet points for strategies and treatments to different audiences. Some reviewers have complained about redundancy. Yes, many of the points are redundant, but I feels he does this for two valid reasons. First, he wishes to emphasize the importance of a comprehensive diagnosis and the value of education. Secondly, he wisely realizes that many teachers and other niche audiences will spend a day or two with the book skimming through fifty pages or so and I think he wants to make sure all audiences get his most important points.
He does a quality job reaching different audiences. Teachers, ADD parents, ADD adults, even a precocious ADD middle schooler or high schooler could read this book all the way through and learn a lot. I'm not sure if there's as much as I would like for ADD employers, although I greatly appreciate the fact that he mentions that ADD is a recognized disability that is protected by antidiscrimination laws. If anyone has this disease, knowing that they can discuss "reasonable accomdations" with their employer and be at least partially protected is a great help. I'm not sure how much this book would add to the psychotherapy community, but even here I think the reliance on case studies is helpful.
The book does have a few weaknesses that the glowing reviews overlook. One reviewer went with a one star blast because he neglects the consequences of overdiagnosis. Yes, this book is almost totally positive on a psychological approach over what may be better served by a sociological [change TV!], spiritual [have folks attend to their Maker over their random thoughts], or professional [deal with it!] kind of approach. That didn't really bother me but so much because he does make it clear throughout the book the importance on a diagnosis that includes the patient's history, outside input on the patient's experiences and habits, and even a doctor to rule out other potential causes. I do believe ADD and executive functioning disorders are both overdiagnosed and overmedicated in the Potomac, MD population where I currently tutor and parents have access to tremendous medical and monetary resources. Likewise, I believe that many people choose ADD diagnoses to classify poor children into special ED [see Washington, DC's astronomically high special ed budget] when environmental factors such as cold schools with crumbling facilities may be the distracting elements that provoke students to ADD like symptoms. A passing mention of pseudo-ADD is not adequate to address some of the consequences of over diagnosis and I wish he had done more outside research on ADD in schools and ADD in society. I felt most of his research was reporting on what was going on in his successful private practice. Not everyone doing the diagnosing is an ADD expert like this author and not everyone will have access to an ADD expert with this author's qualifications. What do we do in those circumstances, when you are an underemployed or unemployed parent, you check this book out of the library, and you are disheartened that this book seems to be written for an audience who has the insurance or the money to seek all available help for the child. Many times he goes out of his way to show that many of his case studies came from good homes. What happens when ADD symptoms appear in a child or adult who comes from a more damaging background?
I am thankful for the author for writing this book and my friend for recommending this book. I learned a lot from this and I would give this my unqualified recommendation for anyone interested in this frustrating illness.
[4 stars]
SD
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