Moms with ADD: A Self-Help Manual

Rating:
Summary: Helpful
Review: While not comprehensive, and sometimes focusing too much on kids with ADD, I found it good to have the particularly scattering job of parenting, esp. young kids, discussed by ONE WHO KNOWS. Now if I can just remember where I put the book.....

Rating:
Summary: Has good points, but caters only to those with mild AD/HD.
Review:  Moms with ADD: A Self-Help Manual.  by Christine A. Adamec

I had mixed feelings about this book. Many parts of this book would be quite useful for a mother with mild AD/HD. The author does a good job of dealing with the family interactions that can occur when more than one family member has AD/HD.  It can be difficult for any parent to attend to the needs of a child with AD/HD. The author makes suggestions for simplifying behavioral plans and household routines. She talks about how a mother with AD/HD responds differently to her children with and without AD/HD. She addresses relationship pitfalls between an AD/HD mother and her non-AD/HD child.     I had concerns about some of the material in Parts 3 and 4.

In Part 3, (Special Struggles) She lists certain types of abusive behavior that make one a "bad mother." I think that she was trying to make the valid point that most mothers with AD/HD are good mothers. Unfortunately, she seems to dismiss any mother who has ever engaged in abusive behavior. "Bad mother" is the last type of label such mothers need! How many AD/HD women have come close to hitting a child but stopped just in time? Those women should be thankful that someone along the line gave them enough nurturance and support so that they could stop themselves. When we see abuse, we should say, "There but for the grace of God go I." We should take action to protect abused children, but we should should do it out of love and concern for both the parent and the child.  

In Part 4, (Getting Outside Help) The author did a good job of explaining why a psychiatric evaluation is important, and why the psychiatrist might want to take more than one session to do the evaluation. I was glad that she made suggestions for how an individual might screen a clinician. I am surprised at the number of people who will entrust a clinician with so much, after simply getting a name out of the phonebook. As a psychiatrist, I feel that her depiction of our profession is not entirely accurate. She wrote, "Most doctors, including psychiatrists, don't like treating severely mentally ill people and prefer to treat people with less severe mental disorders." Yes, there are "boutique" clinicians who treat only the "worried well." However, many of us treat a wide range of people. AD/HD, like many conditions, can vary in its severity. The best psychiatrist is one who has is willing and able to treat AD/HD in all its forms and degrees of severity.  

She says that she does not feel that AD/HD is a mental illness. What then is it-a chronic viral infection? I think that we are better off being accurate-calling it what it is-and holding our heads high. If society has prejudice about mental illness, we should combat the prejudice, not hide behind euphemisms. One can be accurate while still acknowledging the positive aspects of AD/HD.