Book Review: ADD Trio

I went to my computer no fewer than 12 separate times to complete the reviews and summary that constitute this week's blog.  Working in 15-30 minute blocks, it came together over the course of a couple of weeks.  That is life with ADD.  While the reading may be endlessly interesting, writing the summaries and reviews can be a chore for me.  I will never be able to do a project like this from start to finish... never.  And I am OK with that now.  Thanks to these three wonderful authors and their five-star books, I no longer fight the way I am built to better fit someone else's idea of how I should be. 

My three page summary (one page each book) is available by clicking here.

Healing ADD: The Breakthrough Program That Allows You to See and Heal the 6 Types of ADD by Daniel G. Amen

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was diagnosed with ADD at the age of 39.  I resisted the idea for about a minute: "But that is just for young boys," I said.  "No," replied my doctor. "It's for everybody and I think it could explain a great deal about the problems you are describing. I'd like to refer you to a psychiatrist..."

So I got on the internet, did a self-test that convinced me, and made an appointment with the psychiatrist. She confirmed the diagnosis and asked if I wanted medicine.  I didn't.  "Just tell me what your favorite book is on this subject."

And that's when I got this one - and it turned out to be a life changer!

Part medical text and part real-life storytelling, Healing ADD explains so much, not just about my constant irritability and procrastination, but also about my financial debt, hatred for telephones and also for housework, and all those blown deadlines.  With understanding comes peace, rather than self-flagellation.  What a relief.

Then there are the strategies for healing.  Sleep, diet, exercise.  No surprises there. Tackle automatic negative thinking.  That makes sense.  Supplements and medications. Check.  Dr. Amen's breakthrough is using brain scan technology to identify six separate kinds of ADD and describing which treatments work best for which types.  A self-test in the book helped me identify my kind of ADD and choose strategies to address the specific dysfunction. 

One of the myths of ADD is that someone with the condition wouldn't be able to read a 400 page book on the subject.  Not true.  It's the mundane stuff we struggle with. If we find something interesting, we're good all day long.  Healing ADD is riveting from beginning to end.  I recommend this for anyone who may have ADD or who loves someone who does.


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Delivered from Distraction: Getting the Most out of Life with Attention Deficit Disorder by Edward M. Hallowell

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Cruising through TV channels one night, two seconds on each, I happened to hear an interviewer say "So if you could take away your son's ADD, would you?" The answer was immediate and unequivocal: No.  Shocked, I stayed on that channel for the balance of the hour.  That is how I was introduced to Dr. Edward Hallowell.  He was grateful for ADD - for himself and for his family.

Thank God for ADD?!  Whoever thought it would be possible to say that??  Well, with the right information and perspective, it's true. Dr. Hallowell teaches us that having ADD is like being left-handed in a right-handed world.  It is just another way to be.  Once a person can get that, really get it all the way through, then the positive side of this way of being can be embraced, cherished, and used as springboard to success.  Keep the focus there.  Mitigate against the things that other people don't like (being late, not finishing projects, etc.) - but organize your life around the up side.  Brilliant.  

In her last show, Oprah said that one of the things she'd learned over the years is that all people everywhere crave validation. This is exactly what Dr. Hallowell provides ADDers. Our way of being is not immoral, lazy, stupid, or bad. It's a brain thing, not a character thing.  He says it and he reiterates it.  The shame and stigma that has been heaped on us every time we miss a deadline or lose our keys compounds over the years, causing anxiety, depression, addiction and more.  It is never too late to recognize what is really going on, develop workable strategies for coping, seek appropriate treatment where needed... but mostly to embrace the positive. 

I wish Dr. Hallowell had been around to counsel me when I was 12.  If he is grateful for his own ADD, he'd be grateful for mine.  And now I am, too. 

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ADD-Friendly Ways to Organize Your Life by Judith Kolberg

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


For people with ADD, trying harder to do what others do easily is just not a workable strategy.  If it was, I would have never run up debt or ruined my credit rating.  I would have just paid my bills on time like most people do.  But I didn't - I couldn't. Month after month for 20 years I promised myself I would do better next time as I reviewed and paid bills a day or two late, cringed at the huge interest rates, and then packed it all away again for another month. I. Just. Could. Not. Do. Bills. On. Time.

Then came my ADD diagnosis, validation and understanding from Dr. Amen and Dr. Hallowell, and the recognition that late bill paying was not immoral.  It was a problem that needed to be solved, but "just do it" was never going to work.  I needed something else.  From the previous books I learned about ways to reduce the ADD down side: medical and natural interventions that have improved the quality of my life immeasurably. But I also needed tips and tricks - organizing strategies for my way of being. 

I love this book.  These authors - one a professional organizer, the other an experienced ADD clinician - tackle all the usual difficulties those of us with ADD face in the "attention surplus world." Paper, time, clutter, housework, all the things that may or may not bother us but absolutely always bother our loved ones and coworkers and credit card companies.  Once I came to see my struggle with bill-paying as a problem to be solved (rather than as a character flaw to be ashamed of) I could look for a realistic strategy.  Since I don't have a partner to rely on for this one, it is more about 1) doing money stuff first thing in the morning when my brain is fresh, 2) breaking it up into a series of small tasks, and 3) allowing myself the option of deciding something later and moving on with the rest.  With decisions no longer crossing me up, more gets done.  It's not trying harder... it's working with my brain instead of against it.

ADD-Friendly Ways to Organize Your Life is broken into easily-digestable sections that include a dozen or more suggestions for each topic. Try one that makes sense to you and leave the others.  One size does not fit all.  I keep this one on my shelf and use it for quick reference when I notice something cropping up. Highly recommended.



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