A review by dorothy_gale
Taking Charge of Adult ADHD: Proven Strategies to Succeed at Work, at Home, and in Relationships by Russell A. Barkley

5.0

5★: TOTALLY NEEDED THIS BOOK 8+ YEARS AGO!!! This is the first ADHD book I've read that actually discusses safety risks and statistics! And Dr. Russell Barkley is the most has-their-sh*t-together person with ADHD I've ever heard. At first I thought, well if he has ADHD himself, it's probably not 'daily impairment' bad. THEN he shared his own stories and the tragic story of his brother who also had ADHD and sounded a lot like MY brother. He talked about how people with untreated ADHD can get fired from jobs repeatedly and end-up in jail or abusing alcohol and drugs or all of the above. How some people with ADHD can be seriously bad drivers, and can have on-again off-again friendships. I will likely have to buy a physical copy of this book (1st Edition = 2000, 2nd Edition = Sept 2021), as it has a couple of very long symptom lists and some web and video addresses he spells out in the audiobook. He also listed a couple of medications that I hadn't heard of before.

I started my formal ADHD learning journey with Dr. Hallowell's books and resources in 2019 because I needed to know there was light at the end of the tunnel, and his stuff seemed popular. Most of his material was kind of fluffy and repetitive. In hindsight, I would've been better off to have gone with Dr. Barkley from the start. Science-based research and data! He had a 43-year+ career in ADHD before retiring in 2021.

Highly recommend this book to anyone who has ADHD or who has someone with ADHD in their life!