Customer Reviews

Living With ADD: A Workbook for Adults With Attention Deficit Disorder

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

A MD suggested that I might have adult ADD. I complained of having some of the symptoms - I become bored easily, have a hard time with repetitive tasks, like to start things more than finish them. I had never considered ADD before, and thought it would help to read more about it.

So, 160 pages later, I now know I don't have have ADD. This alone was worth the read. As a bonus, the workbook had exercises that addressed the behaviors I told the doctor about. I particularly like a "weekly plan" worksheet that breaks out an entire week into hour increments - from 7:00 am through 10:00 pm. The exercise is to fill this out once a week, including transportation times and preparation and clean-up times for everything that needs to get done that week. Here I learned I underestimated the amount of time things took, so I ran out of time during the preparation or the clean up. Also, I did not factor in recreational time, so would chisel these out of times I was doing things I didn't like. Not that I had ADD. Ah. I also liked a mood moniter chart they provided, that tracks to see if there is a pattern between a mood, the time of day, the day of the week, the person you are with, and/or the task you are performing. This one is easier than I just made it sound, and has been really enlightening.

In a nutshell, if you think you have some of the symptoms of ADD, you will be better informed and will have received practical advice by the end of the workbook. The writing is good and moves along smoothly.

I count myself lucky for having stumbled across this helpful title a couple of months ago. This highly readable book can benefit anyone who has ever struggled with his or her own behavior patterns --and who hasn't? Many of the problems encountered by people with ADD are non-specific and afflict a large percentage of "non-ADD" people as well, even if to a lesser degree. For this reason, "Living with ADD" deserves a closer look from a wider audience. Such headings as "Conquering the Internal Critic" --"Handling Criticism from Others" --"Ten Fallacies of Thinking" including catastrophizing, personalizing, and polarized thinking address most of us whether or not we fit into the diagnostic boundaries of ADD. The eminently practical advice given by the authors is offered in short paragraphs that even most ADD readers will find manageable; more imporantly yet, the advice is do-able!
Since ADD (and Life) are not monolithic conditions, you may be able to skip an occasional exercise that does not apply to you, but rest assured: the moment you turn the page, the authors will be looking you straight in the eye again. Clearly Roberts and Jansen know whereof they speak. Their PHDs notwithstanding, they have succeeded in communicating their insights without getting tangled in academic jargon. I thank them.

This is an excellent workbook for ADDers.
It helps you to analyze your behaviors, thoughts, and feelings in different situations; understand why your behaving/feeling the way you do; how to cultivate change; and why the change is important and beneficial to you.
I can't express enough my delight in this book, 12 chapters: 3 informative and 9 subjects of potential challenge in an ADDer's day to day life. Especially for recently diagnosed adult college students such as myself.
A must read!!!

I have ADD and thought I could use this "workbook" to help me in my daily life without having to go to a psychologist or specialist in ADD. Unfortunately, I have ADD. I am saying this because I can't focus long enough to make this workbook work for me. Read all this and then do this exercise that I am suppose to remember. This book is so un-ADD it's not even funny. As an adult who has dealt with ADD my entire life, I cannot read several pages and then do some exercises. It just doesn't work. While I did see myself in several of the examples, I just couldn't complete the exercises.

This workbook has proven to be helpful in that it calls attention to various ADD-related problems I face and offers practical solutions to fix them. A lot of ADD books out there seem to be full of fluff and, if you have attentional problems, fluff is the last thing you want to suffer scanning through to find help. This book gets to the point and focuses more on finding and recognizing proven solutions than on building confidence. In my case at least, I know that some of the ADD characteristics I tend to perceive as weaknesses can also be perceived as strengths. The problem is that I typically repeat the same behavior and fail to apply those characteristics in positive or helpful ways. I like that this book helps me prevent repeating bad habits.

After I read Driven to Distraction, I was recommended this book. But the writing is very sloppy, including lots of little mistakes (repeated questions etc), bad logic, and incredibly broad feel good brush strokes with which you'd have a tough time finding someone who is not ADD. Statistics are thrown around casually from different sources but with no footnotes or endnotes defining how those statistics were derived.

1. I can't finish the projects I start because I have ADD.
2. I realize I can't go on like this.
3. I make reading this book and finishing the exercises my new project.
4. goto 1.

Don't waste your money see a doctor.

If I hadn't figured out most of what was in this book instictvely I would not have survived medical school. Only the last couple chapters of this book were useful to me.

This would have been an excellent resource for me 20 years ago as I struggled to figure out while I was always angry and frustrated. I have come at the problem from the opposite direction as probably intended in this book.

My instincts say most persons suffering from the disorder is not ready to internalize most of the contents of this book. Kind of like instructions on shampoo. If you need to read them to know how to use shampoo, chances are you are also illiterate.

Change the title. Educators should use this workbook to assist in guiding adolescence and young adults in whom this disorder is suspected. It can also be used as a guide for ADHD groups that have lost their direction.