Customer Reviews

Overload: Attention Deficit Disorder and the Addictive Brain

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I have found an either/or philosophy amongst my colleagues regarding the treatment of these disorders. While Substance Abuse Clinicians treat symptoms of ADHD as Relapse Symptoms AND ADHD Clinicians treat the ADHD assuming the substance abuse problem will automatically disappear, this book shows why those illusions are not only inacurate but dangerous treatment approaches. This book bridges that gap more thoroughly than any other text I have seen on the subject. ALL clinicians dealing with clients from either realm need to add this very well written and researched book to their library! In short, I HEARTILY Recomend this book!

Overload: Attention Deficit Disorder and the Addictive Brain allows readers to "listen" to the overstimulated, chaos occurring inside the brain of David Miller, coauthor of the book. We are also provided an enlightening, revealing look at the chaos, other Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder sufferers are confronted with. Alcohol helped David Miller become more focused and calm, initially correcting low dopamine and GABA neurotransmitter levels, but eventually created more problems than it solved. Mr. Miller provides an excellent description of the heightened anxiety and overstimulation occurring in the newly abstinent alcoholic.

The special gifts and strengths attention deficits convey are also discussed along with the importance of using these gifts. Niches where individuals thrive and excel, after years of inappropriate, ineffective compulsory public education are described. The ordeal of intense emotional pain, failure and rejection students endure in our public schools, receives a voice in this book. Overload increases empathetic understanding and admiration for our fellow journeyers, who live with the disabilities and gifts, which attention deficits bestow.

If public school students and teachers comprehended this book, they might treat Attention Deficit Disordered students more kindly. As Bill Gates (widely considered to have an Attention Deficit Disorder)advised, "Be nice to nerds-You might end up working for one." Overload mentions some famous Attention Deficit sufferers, including Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Edison who became very successful, despite their failures in public schools. Our most successful patients, at Florida Detox, are generally Attention Deficit Disorder Hyperactivity sufferers.
Their creativity, innovative ideas, people reading skills and ability to "think out of the box," often helps them become very successful inventors, business owners or sales people.

Dr. Blum discusses the neurochemistry of attention deficits and alcoholism, with less depth than he did in Alcohol and the Addicted Brain, but effectively communicates the evidence for Reward Deficiency Syndrome, dopamine type 2 receptor deficiency, and their connection to Attention Deficit Disorders. Discussions of neurofeedback, cranial electrical stimulation, neuronutrient supplementation, psychostimulant medication, acupuncture and other treatments for attention deficits provide a brief overview of treatment possibilities.

Steven Sponaugle

It was sad for me to see that this book is currently out of print.

I am researching the connection between alcoholism and ADD. This book is revolutionary but due to the fact that it was published several years ago - I feel that it did not recieve the attention that it deserved. There is much new research regarding this disorder especially concerning the adult population that this book if had been published now would fly off of the shelves.
Most books on ADD (I've read over twelve) merely suggest that there is a link between ADD and addiction - this book focuses on that connection!!

I was hoping to pick up a copy for myself and a friend but I guess that I will have keep looking for a copy of my own and incur library fines until I do!!

If you are just contemplating your possible addictions, please buy this book. It changed my life. After reading it, I was able to quit drinking without withdrawal or cravings. It made me realize that the basis for my habit was more than any 12 step AA meeting will even admit exists. THe fact that genetics and the brains nero chemistry is the root cause was enlightening and gave me the strenght to quit. I am a true believer and user of the amino acid therapy that the book presents. I read several other books after this book, and they all were in alignment with this facinating area of the human body.