Brainstorms: Understanding and Treating Emotional Storms of ADHD from Childhood through Adulthood [Hardcover]

H. Joseph Horacek (Author), Jr. David Earl Edwards (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0765700808 | ISBN-13: 978-0765700803 | Publication Date: January 1, 1998 | Edition: 1

Neurophysiologic disorders that impair normal learning as well as social and emotional development afflict at least 5-8 percent of the school-aged children in this country. Significant symptoms often persist into adulthood and many people struggle for a lifetime, never understanding what continues to hamper their functioning. Brainstorms examines questions surrounding the possible neurobiological underpinnings of the emotionally hyperactive and hyperreactive components of ADHD and related disorders. These 'pre-psychological' substrata may, for example, be fundamental to what we think of as temperament. Here is where the regulation of selective attention and the filtration of noise reside, along with the neurosystems behind energy, sleep/wakefulness, and emotional intensity.The 'firecracker temperament' often associated with certain subtypes of ADHD is quick to heat up and just as quick to cool down. Episodes of dyscontrol, involving anger or any other strong emotion, can present the most challenging aspects of managing ADHD in people of all ages; on the other hand, what takes shape in one person as a handicap may be a welcome burst of creativity and inspired vision in others-such as Mozart, Edison, Hemingway. Exploration of the many paradoxes of these brainstorms is the business of Dr. Horacek's very different, very necessary book.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Illuminating, comprehensive, and delightfully written, Brainstorms offers a fresh perspective on ADHD and related disorders. Dr. Horacek addresses their baffling emotional component, recognizing the need for paradigm shifts and an effective reframe for behavior. He simplifies brain chemistry and medication, and arms clinicians with the kinds of understanding that will help them solve the riddle of the complex neurology and psychology governing these syndromes. (Eduardo M. Bustamante, Ph.D. )

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder has become one of the fashionable psychiatric diagnoses of the 1990s. This book, authoritative, engaging, and often entertaining, explains the clinical presentations of ADHD and effortlessly guides readers to an understanding of their underlying neuroanatomy and rational pharmacology. Dr. Horacek's stated goal is to help us 'better understand the emotional storms that blow through the brains and souls of the people [we] love,' and he has succeeded admirably. His insights will serve as an invaluable resource for parents, teachers, educators, and psychotherapists. (Anthony LaBruzza, M.D. )

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder has become one of the fashionable psychiatric diagnoses of the 1990s. This book, authoritative, engaging, and often entertaining, explains the clinical presentations of ADHD and effortlessly guides readers to an understanding of their underlying neuroanatomy and rational pharmacology. Dr. Horacek's stated goal is to help us 'better understand the emotional storms that blow through the brains and souls of the people [we] love,' and he has succeeded admirably. His insights will serve as an invaluable resource for parents, teachers, educators, and psychotherapists... (Anthony LaBruzza, M.D. )

About the Author

H. Joseph Horacek, Jr., M.D. , is president and medical director of the Center for Neurological Health in Learning in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 258 pages
• Publisher: Jason Aronson, Inc.; 1 edition (January 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765700808
• ISBN-13: 978-0765700803
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,252,683 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars concise yet thorough discussion of ADHD and its management, August 4, 1999

By 

"metallictwist" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Brainstorms: Understanding and Treating Emotional Storms of ADHD from Childhood through Adulthood (Hardcover)

I read a borrowed copy and was ordering my own book within 24 hours. Both as a professional working with "at risk" children and as the mother of a child with a psychobiological disorder, I whole-heartedly recommend Dr. Horacek's book. In a spare 211 pages he gives perhaps the clearest most readable discussion of neuroanatomy and neurotransmitters I have encountered. He covers medical management and includes a fascinating glimpse of drug manufacture and marketing, the FDA, and the quandry faced by medical practitioners (hence insurance companies and consumers) in labeling a collection of behavioral symptoms. This book's cost might give some pause, but in my experience one would have to combine 2 or 3 other less readable texts to approximate the content of this single volume. It's an ideal purchase for those who want to know "why".

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Resource!, January 3, 2001

By 

Penny James (Charlotte, NC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Brainstorms: Understanding and Treating Emotional Storms of ADHD from Childhood through Adulthood (Paperback)

This book cover all aspects of the ADD / ADHD child. Good recommendations on meds. for different types of ADHD and why.