A review by arachan
Delivered from Distraction: Getting the Most Out of Life with Attention Deficit Disorder by John J. Ratey, Edward M. Hallowell
3.5
This is the ADHD 'bible'. The book that everyone recommends for those who suspect they have ADHD and the book that made so many people realize they needed support and help.
I am very aware of that history and, in the interests of fairness, I think this book was probably a great resource. Hallowell writes as a man with ADHD who has spent a lot of time fighting to get people to take the disorder seriously and that is important and valid work.
However this book was published in 2004.
And it really, really shows. There are a lot of things that seem uncomfortably dated in 2022. Start with Hallowell's refusal to use ADHD because he doesn't like the focus on hyperactivity. He was writing this (again) in 2004 where the distinction was freshly being made. Eighteen years later, ADD is the 'Asperger's Syndrome' of names.
This dated approach shows a lot in the book. Hallowell repeats that ADHD is a disorder that boys and men suffer from. Women, he says with some very, very unwarranted confidence, make up less than a quarter of cases. This is flat-out not true. We now know that female-identifying people make up at least half the cases and the discrepancy is down to misconceptions about symptoms.
Hallowell also has a lot of ....dated ideas about how important it is for the patient (who is assumed to be a cisgender man) to have a wife who will carry the weight of the areas in his life that the disorder makes difficult. Honestly, this part was genuinely hard to read as Hallowell is full of advice on how much having a partner who will correct for your deficiencies and how much the rightwife partner can help.
He has some useful advice for potential therapies that can help with some of the less-acknowledged symptoms but he also has three pages on the benefits of a MLM supplement that he uses himself...with no scientific basis for that decision and cheerfully telling you to make up your own mind about the benefits of using it.
There is also a lot of ableism.
Hallowell doesn't like to call 'ADD' a 'disorder' because he doesn't feel like he has a disability. His brain just works differently, you guys! Also, he blames a lot of the rise of the disorder on TV and too much screen time which is an outlook that really, really stinks. ADHD is classed as a disability for a reason. That reason is that it will impair your ability to function if you don't have the right treatment/support. Acting like it is not a disorder downplays the very real struggle it brings to your life and sets individuals up to refuse to get help before they push themselves into burnout and potentially worse outcomes.
The power of positive thinking is a big thing, ignoring the fact that positive thinking is not an actual treatment and is not effective with neurological or mood disorders. Chapters 32 and 33 ("Don't SPIN" & "And Don't SLIDE") are the therapeutic equivalent of "You just need to apply yourself!" I had to grit my teeth through those chapters.
The understandings of ADHD have evolved a lot since 2004 and it's a little unfair to expect this book to have predicted so much of what we now know. That being said, this book is probably not nearly as useful as its reputation suggests and I think giving it to someone who is just coming to the realization that they might have ADHD would be doing them a disservice.
I am very aware of that history and, in the interests of fairness, I think this book was probably a great resource. Hallowell writes as a man with ADHD who has spent a lot of time fighting to get people to take the disorder seriously and that is important and valid work.
However this book was published in 2004.
And it really, really shows. There are a lot of things that seem uncomfortably dated in 2022. Start with Hallowell's refusal to use ADHD because he doesn't like the focus on hyperactivity. He was writing this (again) in 2004 where the distinction was freshly being made. Eighteen years later, ADD is the 'Asperger's Syndrome' of names.
This dated approach shows a lot in the book. Hallowell repeats that ADHD is a disorder that boys and men suffer from. Women, he says with some very, very unwarranted confidence, make up less than a quarter of cases. This is flat-out not true. We now know that female-identifying people make up at least half the cases and the discrepancy is down to misconceptions about symptoms.
Hallowell also has a lot of ....dated ideas about how important it is for the patient (who is assumed to be a cisgender man) to have a wife who will carry the weight of the areas in his life that the disorder makes difficult. Honestly, this part was genuinely hard to read as Hallowell is full of advice on how much having a partner who will correct for your deficiencies and how much the right
He has some useful advice for potential therapies that can help with some of the less-acknowledged symptoms but he also has three pages on the benefits of a MLM supplement that he uses himself...with no scientific basis for that decision and cheerfully telling you to make up your own mind about the benefits of using it.
There is also a lot of ableism.
Hallowell doesn't like to call 'ADD' a 'disorder' because he doesn't feel like he has a disability. His brain just works differently, you guys! Also, he blames a lot of the rise of the disorder on TV and too much screen time which is an outlook that really, really stinks. ADHD is classed as a disability for a reason. That reason is that it will impair your ability to function if you don't have the right treatment/support. Acting like it is not a disorder downplays the very real struggle it brings to your life and sets individuals up to refuse to get help before they push themselves into burnout and potentially worse outcomes.
The power of positive thinking is a big thing, ignoring the fact that positive thinking is not an actual treatment and is not effective with neurological or mood disorders. Chapters 32 and 33 ("Don't SPIN" & "And Don't SLIDE") are the therapeutic equivalent of "You just need to apply yourself!" I had to grit my teeth through those chapters.
The understandings of ADHD have evolved a lot since 2004 and it's a little unfair to expect this book to have predicted so much of what we now know. That being said, this book is probably not nearly as useful as its reputation suggests and I think giving it to someone who is just coming to the realization that they might have ADHD would be doing them a disservice.