adanisan's review against another edition
2.0
Found some helpful tips, but struggled with the tone and general view that ADHD is horrible and offers no benefits.
samarakroeger's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
2.0
this would have been much more helpful to me within the first year of being diagnosed (at age 17, which was 7 years ago now). As of now, I didn’t need to hear about the diagnostic criteria, ways ADHD might be hindering my life (I know already…), or why medication might improve my symptoms (it does). However, before I was able to even accept that I really did have ADHD (and that it was not my personal failing), this may have been much more helpful.
I would still recommend this to adults (especially cis men with impulsivity problems, lol) who are potentially seeking a diagnosis or are newly diagnosed, those who are curious about ADHD, and for those who want to learn how to better accommodate people with ADHD. That said, I think there are better resources out there (i.e. How to ADHD on youtube, which Barkley does mention a few times. Jessica is hopeful and way more approachable and accessible than Barkley). However, I do not fit those categories despite being an adult with ADHD.
I also think that the author’s tone veered into condescension more times than could remotely be deemed necessary, especially when addressing a group of people who have probably spent a good chunk of their lives already feeling othered and/or different. He also seems to have a fat phobic viewpoint, especially when discussing the benefits of stimulants. Again, this is not helpful.
Barkley presents ADHD as almost exclusively the hyperactive (male) type, which anyone who isn’t a cis het white man probably doesn’t need to hear about more. Personally, I check every single box on the inattentive type list and next to none of the hyperactive one. The majority of those diagnosed as adults, regardless of race or gender, also probably have majority inattentive or combined type, because hyperactivity is seen as ~disruptive to others~ and thus something that needs immediate attention. He doesn’t address one of the main problems in ADHD research — that the diagnostic criteria is based off of young (disruptive) boys! The fact that a respected researcher in the field perpetuates the most common stereotype about ADHD is NOT HELPFUL.
I have a deep hatred of the self-help genre. However, I actually think that the self-helpy tips in here are by far the most useful aspect. So much of the self-help out there is incredibly useless and invalidating to neurodivergent people, and the incessant focus on productivity at all costs is not doing us any favors. Many undiagnosed ND folks get sucked into the self-help trap, where the tips don’t work for them and they blame themselves for being failures, leading to potentially more useless self-help advice. The steps in here are fairly ADHD friendly (as they freaking should be), but fall into the somewhat generic category.
Finally, I don’t think this book translated well into audiobook format. It constantly references different chapter and section numbers, which is great in a physical book where you might only read the relevant chapters, but is not helpful without a visual reminder of what was covered there. Also, the reading aloud of CHARTS (which typically rely on visual organization…) and URLS could have been relegated to a PDF appendix. There were anecdotes read like the author had experienced them, without saying who it was from. The narrator read in a dry tone and was very slow. That’s not the most engaging for someone with ADHD. I was left wishing that I could speed Libby up past 3x, but alas, that is the fastest available.
I would still recommend this to adults (especially cis men with impulsivity problems, lol) who are potentially seeking a diagnosis or are newly diagnosed, those who are curious about ADHD, and for those who want to learn how to better accommodate people with ADHD. That said, I think there are better resources out there (i.e. How to ADHD on youtube, which Barkley does mention a few times. Jessica is hopeful and way more approachable and accessible than Barkley). However, I do not fit those categories despite being an adult with ADHD.
I also think that the author’s tone veered into condescension more times than could remotely be deemed necessary, especially when addressing a group of people who have probably spent a good chunk of their lives already feeling othered and/or different. He also seems to have a fat phobic viewpoint, especially when discussing the benefits of stimulants. Again, this is not helpful.
Barkley presents ADHD as almost exclusively the hyperactive (male) type, which anyone who isn’t a cis het white man probably doesn’t need to hear about more. Personally, I check every single box on the inattentive type list and next to none of the hyperactive one. The majority of those diagnosed as adults, regardless of race or gender, also probably have majority inattentive or combined type, because hyperactivity is seen as ~disruptive to others~ and thus something that needs immediate attention. He doesn’t address one of the main problems in ADHD research — that the diagnostic criteria is based off of young (disruptive) boys! The fact that a respected researcher in the field perpetuates the most common stereotype about ADHD is NOT HELPFUL.
I have a deep hatred of the self-help genre. However, I actually think that the self-helpy tips in here are by far the most useful aspect. So much of the self-help out there is incredibly useless and invalidating to neurodivergent people, and the incessant focus on productivity at all costs is not doing us any favors. Many undiagnosed ND folks get sucked into the self-help trap, where the tips don’t work for them and they blame themselves for being failures, leading to potentially more useless self-help advice. The steps in here are fairly ADHD friendly (as they freaking should be), but fall into the somewhat generic category.
Finally, I don’t think this book translated well into audiobook format. It constantly references different chapter and section numbers, which is great in a physical book where you might only read the relevant chapters, but is not helpful without a visual reminder of what was covered there. Also, the reading aloud of CHARTS (which typically rely on visual organization…) and URLS could have been relegated to a PDF appendix. There were anecdotes read like the author had experienced them, without saying who it was from. The narrator read in a dry tone and was very slow. That’s not the most engaging for someone with ADHD. I was left wishing that I could speed Libby up past 3x, but alas, that is the fastest available.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Classism and Fatphobia
laklafehn's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
2.5
this book seems more geared toward men with adhd and those of which exhibit hyperactive type. As a woman with primarily inattentive type I didn't take away very much from this book that I didn't already know. However this book might be a good place to start if you are questioning adhd or just recently diagnosed or are wondering about medication.
loislois's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
4.5
kristaki's review against another edition
Wasn’t able to focus and didn’t find it helpful
adrizeuza's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
3.25
The content is as factual as it can get and the narration is good, although in some sections it becomes a bit tedious. However, for someone who has previously consumed other resources about ADHD it is not groundbreaking. Also, the author has many biases (namely, fatphobia) and views ADHD as a hinderance that we have to fight agianst so we can better fit in. I am currently more interested in liberation perspectives that problematize this assumption of neurodivergents having to adapt to society without demanding that society becomes less ableist. Also he inserts pretty outdated jokes that just made me cringe
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fatphobia
edgwareviabank's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
2.5
Whenever I see a list of symptoms that can help people work out whether they should seek an ADHD diagnosis, I find myself relating to quite a few. Many of the social media posts about executive function, impulse control, and rejection sensitivity from content creators with ADHD (especially Dani Donovan) hit very close to home, and it seems this sort of connection with things read or heard online can be a prompt for people to look into professional help. I've been long wondering whether any of this means I should take steps to get evaluated, too.
A friend sent me a digital copy of this book, saying they found it very useful to get their thoughts in order on the subject and pick up strategies to manage daily life. I saw it as the most convenient opportunity to start doing the same without the more time-consuming and bureaucracy-heavy steps I keep putting off (searching for the right doctor or therapist, for one). It's ironic, then, that the author's main piece of advice is exactly what I keep talking myself out of: getting diagnosed by a professional, and accepting medication as the most effective form of treatment. That advice left me with mixed feelings for a number of reasons. I'll try to outline them, with the caveat I'm not the most articulate of writers when it comes to discussing science and research.
First off: it is a lot of people's experience that seeking a diagnosis, never mind treatment, can be gruelling and time-consuming. The book seems to assume the best-case scenario: that the reader is able to easily find a professional who takes their symptoms seriously, and follows them through a thorough treatment plan over time. I doubt getting evaluated, diagnosed and treated is that straightforward. Speaking from personal experience, and knowing the experience of others close to me, the risk of not being believed by healthcare professionals is high enough with conditions that have visible physical symptoms; it seems to be even trickier to navigate when the issues that affect a patient's life in a significant way are rooted in the brain.
Multiplying that by a factor of ten, or perhaps a hundred, the author is American, and while the experience of ADHD is universal, some of the more practical advice is US-based. Much as I believe in getting professional help when possible, there's something tone-deaf about the way this particular book presents it as a blanket solution. I'm thinking about the prohibitive costs of healthcare in the US, and the privatised system that doesn't do the majority of people many favours. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a chunk of readers who feel excluded, and end up despairing even more as they read that none of the strategies for managing day-to-day life can really work unless medication is in place.
Moving beyond the emphasis on medical treatment, which does come with scientific backing despite my doubts on the delivery, I found some of the advice dated (the internet, smartphones and social media would take up a way bigger chunk if someone were to write this today), or at the very least, strangely worded. Some of the author's warnings about how ADHD can ruin lives and relationships sound overly stern: as a reader who picked up the book to feel more hopeful about symptoms I feel helpless about, I sometimes felt blamed rather than supported or understood. That happens especially in the sections about risks connected to crime and substance use, and even more so on the repeated occasions the author links ADHD with dangerous driving, which are puzzling in their frequency, until it becomes clear that's something that affected his personal life in a tragic way.
Ultimately, I must make an argument for taking this review with a pinch of salt. I don't feel well placed to say whether this book could be useful to someone who struggles with (severe) ADHD, because the way it's written suggests to me that it's unlikely I'm part of that group. I can still find quite a bit to identify with in a list of symptoms, but the author's point that adult ADHD is the evolution of symptoms already noticeable in childhood, and his description of impairments a lot more severe and harmful than what I experience, lead me to think that I wouldn't be able to access any form of treatment even if I tried. It was an interesting read, mainly because I'd never had the opportunity or the drive to read an entire book on the subject before. But there's a very real possibility I'm not its target audience.
A friend sent me a digital copy of this book, saying they found it very useful to get their thoughts in order on the subject and pick up strategies to manage daily life. I saw it as the most convenient opportunity to start doing the same without the more time-consuming and bureaucracy-heavy steps I keep putting off (searching for the right doctor or therapist, for one). It's ironic, then, that the author's main piece of advice is exactly what I keep talking myself out of: getting diagnosed by a professional, and accepting medication as the most effective form of treatment. That advice left me with mixed feelings for a number of reasons. I'll try to outline them, with the caveat I'm not the most articulate of writers when it comes to discussing science and research.
First off: it is a lot of people's experience that seeking a diagnosis, never mind treatment, can be gruelling and time-consuming. The book seems to assume the best-case scenario: that the reader is able to easily find a professional who takes their symptoms seriously, and follows them through a thorough treatment plan over time. I doubt getting evaluated, diagnosed and treated is that straightforward. Speaking from personal experience, and knowing the experience of others close to me, the risk of not being believed by healthcare professionals is high enough with conditions that have visible physical symptoms; it seems to be even trickier to navigate when the issues that affect a patient's life in a significant way are rooted in the brain.
Multiplying that by a factor of ten, or perhaps a hundred, the author is American, and while the experience of ADHD is universal, some of the more practical advice is US-based. Much as I believe in getting professional help when possible, there's something tone-deaf about the way this particular book presents it as a blanket solution. I'm thinking about the prohibitive costs of healthcare in the US, and the privatised system that doesn't do the majority of people many favours. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a chunk of readers who feel excluded, and end up despairing even more as they read that none of the strategies for managing day-to-day life can really work unless medication is in place.
Moving beyond the emphasis on medical treatment, which does come with scientific backing despite my doubts on the delivery, I found some of the advice dated (the internet, smartphones and social media would take up a way bigger chunk if someone were to write this today), or at the very least, strangely worded. Some of the author's warnings about how ADHD can ruin lives and relationships sound overly stern: as a reader who picked up the book to feel more hopeful about symptoms I feel helpless about, I sometimes felt blamed rather than supported or understood. That happens especially in the sections about risks connected to crime and substance use, and even more so on the repeated occasions the author links ADHD with dangerous driving, which are puzzling in their frequency, until it becomes clear that's something that affected his personal life in a tragic way.
Ultimately, I must make an argument for taking this review with a pinch of salt. I don't feel well placed to say whether this book could be useful to someone who struggles with (severe) ADHD, because the way it's written suggests to me that it's unlikely I'm part of that group. I can still find quite a bit to identify with in a list of symptoms, but the author's point that adult ADHD is the evolution of symptoms already noticeable in childhood, and his description of impairments a lot more severe and harmful than what I experience, lead me to think that I wouldn't be able to access any form of treatment even if I tried. It was an interesting read, mainly because I'd never had the opportunity or the drive to read an entire book on the subject before. But there's a very real possibility I'm not its target audience.
deathbotly's review against another edition
5.0
Quite useful! I found the chapters about medication and treatment especially helpful both for understanding the medication without the stigma and for giving it to family member with the fears it addresses in a sensible, fact-based way.
samiabaluch's review against another edition
Has to return it to the library, May purchase later date.