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Driven to Distraction: Recognizing and Coping with Attention Deficit Disorder from Childhood Through Adulthood Paperback – March 2, 1995
Purchase options and add-ons
- Print length319 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherTouchstone
- Publication dateMarch 2, 1995
- Dimensions5.75 x 1 x 8.5 inches
- ISBN-100684801280
- ISBN-13978-0684801285
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Review
Judith L. Rapoport, M.D. Chief, Child Psychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, author of The Boy Who Couldn't Stop Washing A wonderfully readable and, most important, practical and useful book on ADD.
Peter D. Kramer, M.D. author of Listening to Prozac Conversational in tone, encyclopedic in content, and, best of all, utterly convincing because of its grounding in clinical experience, Driven to Distraction should make Attention Deficit Disorder comprehensible even to the most distractible reader.
Sandra Freed Thomas, R.N. former president of CH.A.D.D. (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder) This rich resource has it all -- education, family perspectives, diagnosis and treatment, subtypes -- but throughout there is a joyful and pervading sense of hope. One cannot read this book without developing a great sense of how it feels to live with ADD -- to compensate for, even to benefit from, its characteristics.
Priscilla L. Vail author of Smart Kids with School Problems The highest order of helping and healing glows through this book. Informative, compassionate, practical, and -- yes -- funny, it draws the reader in as it throws confusion out.
Jane M. Healy, Ph.D. author of Endangered Lives This is an important and much-needed book! Wise, practical, and reassuring....A must-read for anyone who knows, treats, or is an "underachiever" -- in school or in life.
About the Author
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
What Is Attention Deficit Disorder?
Once you catch on to what this syndrome is all about, you'll see it everywhere. People you used to think of as disorganized or manic or hyper or creative but unpredictable, people who you know could do more if they could just "get it together," people who have bounced around in school or in their professional lives, people who have made it to the top but who still feel driven or disorganized, these may be people who in fact have attention deficit disorder. You may even recognize some of the symptoms in your own behavior. Many of the symptoms of ADD are so common to us all that for the term ADD to have specific meaning, rather than just be a scientific-sounding label for the complex lives we lead, we need to define the syndrome carefully. The best way to understand what ADD is -- and what it is not -- is to see how it affects the lives of people who have it.
In the cases that follow, and in the many case illustrations that appear in this book, one can wimess the struggles individuals faced to break through inaccurate labels and unfair judgments. As their stories unfold, a definition of ADD emerges.
Case 1: Jim
It was eleven o'clock at night and Jim Finnegan was up pacing in his study. This was where he often found himself at night: alone, pacing, trying to get things together. Now approaching the halfway point of life, Jim was getting desperate. He looked around the room and took in the disorder. The room looked as if the contents of a bag lady's shopping cart had been dumped into it. Books, papers, odd socks, old letters, a few half-smoked packages of Marlboros, and other loose ends lay scattered about, much like the bits and pieces of cognition that were strewn about in his mind.
Jim looked up at the to do list that was tacked to the corkboard above his desk. There were seventeen items, the final one circled several times in black ink and marked with exclamation points: "Reorganization proposal due Tues., 3/19!!!" This was Mon., 3/18. Jim hadn't started on the proposal. He'd been thinking about it for weeks, ever since he told his boss that he had a plan that would increase productivity, as well as morale, in the office. His boss had said fine, come up with a written proposal and we'll see how it looks. His boss had also added a remark about how he hoped Jim would have enough "follow-through" to actually get something done this time.
Jim knew what he wanted to say. He'd known for months what he wanted to say. The office needed a new computer system, and the men and women out front needed more authority so they could make decisions on the spot so everybody's time wouldn't be wasted in unnecessary meetings. Efficiency would go up and morale would definitely improve. It was simple. Obvious. All the ideas were detailed on the various scraps of paper that dotted the floor of his room.
But all Jim could do was pace. Where do I start? he thought to himself. If it doesn't come out right, I'll look stupid, probably get fired. So what else is new? Why should this job be any different? Great ideas, no follow through. That's me, good old Jim. He kicked the trash basket and added to the mess on the floor. OK, breathe in, breathe out, he told himself.
He sat down at his word processor and stared at the screen. Then he went over to his desk and began to straighten things up. The telephone rang and he barked at it, "Can't you see I'm busy?" When the answering machine came on, he heard Pauline's voice: "Jim, I'm going to sleep now. I just wanted to see how your proposal is coming. Good luck with it tomorrow." He didn't have the heart to pick up the phone.
The night went on agonizingly. One minor distraction after another would knock Jim off-line as he tried to clutch onto the task at hand. A cat would meow outside. He'd think of something someone had said three days ago and wonder what they really meant by that. He'd want a new pencil because the one he had felt heavy in his hand. Finally, he got down the words "A Proposal for Office Reorganization at Unger Laboratories." Then nothing. "Just say what you want to say," a friend had told him. OK, say what you want to say. But nothing came. He thought of a new job he wanted to apply for. Maybe I should just bag this and go to bed. Can't do that. No matter how bad it is, I've got to finish this proposal.
By 4 A.M. he was beat. But not beaten. The words began to come. Somehow his extreme fatigue had lifted the censor in his mind and he found himself explaining his ideas simply and efficiently. By six he was in bed, hoping to get a little sleep before his meeting with his boss at nine.
The only trouble was that at nine he was still in bed, having forgotten to set the alarm before he went to sleep. When he arrived in a panic at the office at noon, he knew from the look on his boss's face that no matter how good the proposal was, his days at Unger were over. "Why don't you find a place with a little bit more flexibility?" his boss said, and thanked him for his proposal. "You're an idea man, Jim. Find a place that can accommodate to your style."
"I don't get it," he said to Pauline over drinks several weeks later. "I know I have more to offer than getting myself fired every six months. But it's always the same old story. Great ideas, but can't get it done. Even in high school, can you believe that? The guidance counselor, she was this really nice lady, she told me that I had the highest IQ in the class, and so she just couldn't figure out why I had such a hard time living up to my potential."
"You know what's not fair?" Pauline said, turning the stem of her Manhattan glass between her thumb and forefinger. "They took the ideas in your proposal and used them. Dramatic improvement. Everybody's happier and work is up. Those were your ideas, Jim, and you got fired. It's not fair."
"I don't know what's wrong with me," Jim said. "I don't know what to do."
Jim had attention deficit disorder. When he came to see me at the age of thirty-two, he had been living a life of chronic underachievement, falling short of his goals both at work and in relationships because of an underlying neurological problem that made it difficult for him to pay attention, sustain effort, and complete tasks.
ADD is a neurological syndrome whose classic defining triad of symptoms include impulsivity, distractibility, and hyperactivity or excess energy. About 15 million Americans have it today; most of them do not know that they have it. The condition occurs in children and adults, men and women, boys and gifts, and it cuts across all ethnic groups, socioeconomic strata, levels of education, and degrees of intelligence. It used to be thought that this was a disorder of childhood alone, and that one outgrew it during adolescence. We now know that only about a third of the ADD population outgrows it; two-thirds have it throughout adulthood. ADD is not a learning disability or a language disability or dyslexia, and it is not associated with low intelligence. In fact, many people who have ADD are very smart. It's just that their smartness gets tangled up inside. Undoing the tangle to get a smooth run on the line can take more patience and perseverance than they can consistently bring to bear.
Where does the syndrome begin and normal behavior leave off? What is impulsivity? What is distractibility? How much energy is excess? These are the questions we will explore throughout this book, mainly in the context of individual cases, like Jim's. Considering the symptoms, can't we all recoguize parts of ourselves? Yes. However, one bases the diagnosis of ADD not on the mere presence of these symptoms, but on their severity and duration, and the extent to which they interfere with everyday life.
When Jim came for consultation, he was at wit's end. He came into my office, sat down in one of the easy chairs, and began to run his fingers through his curly hair. He leaned forward, alternately looking at me or staring at the floor. "I don't know where to begin. I don't even know what I'm doing here," he said, shaking his head as if to say no, this won't help either.
"Did you have any trouble finding your way here?" I asked. He was twenty minutes late, so I figured he might have gotten lost.
"Yes, yes, I did," he said. "Your directions were fine, it wasn't your fault. I just turned left where I should have turned right and then I was gonzo, school was out. It's a miracle I got here at all. I ended up at some gas station in Somerville."
"Well, it can be pretty confusing," I said, hoping to let him relax a bit. Of the people who consult with me for problems related to ADD, probably about a half are either late for their first appointment or miss it altogether. I have come to expect it. It comes with the territory. My patients, however, usually feel very bad about it and so begin the session thinking that I am going to reprimand them in some way. "You certainly aren't the first person to get lost coming here," I said.
"Really?" he asked. "That's good to hear." He took a deep breath to say something, but paused, as if the words had crowded in his throat, then let his breath out in a long sigh, the words apparently dispersed. He went through the same cycle a second time before I asked him if maybe he could use a few moments just to collect his thoughts while I wrote down some bits of information about him like his name, address, and telephone number. That seemed to help. "OK," Jim said. "Let's start."
"OK," I responded, leaning back in my chair, folding my hands behind my head. There was another long pause, and another sigh from Jim. "I can see that it's hard for you to get started," I said. "Maybe we could focus on what the problem is that brought you here."
"Yes," he said, "OK." With that little bit of prodding from me, Jim began to fill in most of his history. A normal childhood, or so it seemed to him. But when I pressed for more detail, Jim acknowledged that he was quite rambunctious in grade school and enjoyed getting into mischief. He got good grades even though he never really...
Product details
- Publisher : Touchstone; Reprint edition (March 2, 1995)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 319 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0684801280
- ISBN-13 : 978-0684801285
- Item Weight : 11.1 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.75 x 1 x 8.5 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #64,770 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #123 in Popular Neuropsychology
- #185 in Medical General Psychology
- #2,319 in Mental Health (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

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Edward (Ned) Hallowell, M.D. is a board-certified child and adult psychiatrist and world authority on ADHD. He is a graduate of Harvard College and Tulane Medical School, and was a Harvard Medical School faculty member for 21 years. He is the Founder of The Hallowell ADHD Centers in Boston MetroWest, New York City, San Francisco, Palo Alto and Seattle.
He has spent the past four decades helping thousands of adults and children live happy and productive lives through his strength-based approach to neurodiversity, and has ADHD and dyslexia himself.
Dr Hallowell is a New York Times bestselling author and has written 20 books on multiple psychological topics. The groundbreaking Distraction series, which began with Driven to Distraction, co-authored with Dr John Ratey in 1994, sparked a revolution in understanding of ADHD.
Having successfully managed both ADHD and dyslexia himself, he has famously said, “I don’t treat disabilities; I help unwrap gift!” When “disabilities” are seen instead by their mirror traits, these attributes can be channeled toward turbo-charged success. His Hallowell Centers offer comprehensive mental health diagnostic and treatment services to patients and their families.
Dr. Hallowell is the host of his new podcast called Dr. Hallowell’s Wonderful World of different where he celebrates the world of different in its many and varied forms. In celebrating the many differences that adorn humanity, he hopes to break down barriers of stigma and misunderstanding and show how all of us benefit from the differences between us.
Dr Hallowell has been featured on 20/20, 60 Minutes, Oprah, PBS, CNN, The Today Show, Dateline, Good Morning America, The New York Times, USA Today, Newsweek, Time Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe and many more. He is a regular columnist for ADDitude Magazine.
Dr. Hallowell’s practices his trademark strength-based approach and always comes across as genuine, humorous, transparent and passionate whether he is practicing working with clients in the Hallowell Centers or addressing a wide range of topics in his writings and public appearances.
He's married to Sue Hallowell and they have 3 children.
He loves to hear from readers. You can visit his website at www.drhallowell.com
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Top reviews from the United States
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I ordered this book as a somewhat disinterested bystander. I was intending it as a sourcebook to pass along to a family of my acquaintance who suspect that they are raising a child who has this disorder. After having read Driven to Distraction, I recognize that there are no "disinterested bystanders" when it comes to ADD. My life is impacted by the syndrome whether or not I am the person hearing the diagnosis being pronounced. You may be the neighbor, relative, employer, friend, or co-worker of someone who is living with this disorder, either aware or unaware of what is happening in his/her life. The symptoms are various and occur in almost limitless combinations.
The effect on the lives of those coping (or not coping) with the fallout from ADD is almost impossible to gauge. It is probably accurate to say that there are hundreds of times as many people who have undiagnosed attention deficit disorder as there are those aware of their condition. If you have a family member undergoing testing for ADD, take heed to the implications for your own life. Dr. Hallowell repeatedly stresses that having an official diagnosis by a qualified professional is essential. The positive diagnosis is a huge relief for many with ADD, but it is only the beginning in terms of finding workable solutions for very real life problems in the lives of patients.
That is when the information gleaned from Dr. Hallowell's book becomes invaluable. Wherever we find ourselves in the scheme of things with regard to ADD, we can be uninformed and unwittingly contribute to the difficulties ADD patients face or choose to arm ourselves with knowledge about the condition and become a force of encouragement and compassion toward those courageously confronting their ADD challenges. What will it be?
I found myself picking up the phone to call close relatives and grabbing friends to lecture them on what was going on...mostly reading straight from the book. My mother wondered if my father and older brother had ADHD. Dad is dead now, but this can help me put some of the dysfunction in our relationship together. Yes, I have been persecuted for having untreated, undiagnosed ADHD. Yes, this book explained an awful lot to me, gave me real solutions, and encouraged me knowing that the two authors are also blessed / victims of this malady / mental enhancement! I subsequently have bought copies for my aged mother in another state, and for my fiance. I have to say, my fiance read it through and studied it like a how to manual for fixing me! (She's a little scary, sometimes!) And of course I sent a copy to my brother, the doctor, who has added it to his trusted library of resources and textbooks.
I am now on one of the medications for the neurotransmitter stimulus. I have opted out of the antidepressants, because of their scary side effect warnings. But the stimulant works to calm me and flush me with something I don't have without the medication. It makes a difference. I feel better and more confident, more able to concentrate and more up to meeting all the challenges of life. What more can I say? Their attention to all facets including proper medication and case history is fascinating, intriguing, and extremely useful. Hope is out there.
The authors are neutral on medication; they present case histories of successful outcomes both with and without meds. If your mind is already made up (either for or against meds), this book probably won't sway you.
The tone is informative without being clinical, often in the first person, so it feels like sitting down for a good chat with a doctor who's not trying to rush off to the next patient. Also, I appreciated the emphasis on, "it's not entirely a disorder, but simply a variation in perception" (my paraphrase.) Children and adults with ADD may struggle in some areas of their lives, but the authors point out how they can excel in other areas. This is _so_ important to emphasise, especially for children.
This is the book I recommend to people when they ask me for a good "first book" on ADD. If you've had a family member recently diagnosed with ADD, you're probably going to want to do a lot of research; this is an excellent starting point. I also recommend "ADD: A Different Perception" by Thom Hartmann.
Top reviews from other countries
18 months ago I met my partner and we fell in love.
12 months ago we moved in together.
9 weeks ago I ended it as I couldn't cope with his behaviour anymore. Why does he treat me like this? Why doesn't her care? Why doesn't he show emotion? Why can't he love me the way a normal person does?
Due to the nature of my work i'd always felt he was very similar to the children and I would joke about it... I did however feel like i was constantly at work. We had some of the best times together, the highs were amazing, the lows were terrible.
It was only when i stepped away from the relationship i really felt "he's not just a horrible person, he's got ADHD"
I looked through his school reports to find "scatty, can't concentrate, can't sit still, naughty, hyperactive, unable to focus" and my heart stopped for him, he'd been missed, but in the 80's children wern't diagnosed with adhd, they were labelled naughty and hyperactive.
I sat down with him and told him what i felt and he agreed to see the GP. We went together and got a referral to adult ADHD services.
Last week we got a cancellation appointment and within the hour the psychiatrist had diagnosed him; I feel immense relief, he feels indifferent.
He commences on a trial of Ritalin next week and I truly hope his next 37 years will be better than the last. For us, i'm not sure what the future holds?
Why have I written the above? As a partner of an adult with ADHD i felt like i was going crazy, I searched for books, answers and there wern't many, adult adhd services need to be improved.
This books gave me better insight into the adult world of ADHD and I learnt some new things and answers as to why he did the things he did.
Hyper-foccusing was something i can now identify with and understand why after feeling so special and loved by him for the first 6 months, it was like one day he'd been abducted by aliens!? He hadn't stopped loving me, I just wasn't his obsession anymore. I have felt rejected by him for a long time, unloved and now understand why. It doesn't make the feelings of rejection any easier but understanding it helps.
For anyone else in my position, stay strong, read this book, look at the checklist of symptoms and go to the GP if you think it is ADHD.
I started out thinking he was just the 'B' word, then i thought he may be a sociopath but now I know that I fell in love with someone with ADHD!
Hope this has helped someone x













