Another Book Review

[NotAChevy]

I'm currently working my way through the book, Taking Charge of Adult ADHD by: Russell A. Barkley, PHD., and wanted to see if your my observations are the same as yours. I'm doing the Audiobook so our experiences might be different, but i find the book full of great detail about ADHD- as one would expect from a neuroscientist. He does a great job explaining all of the scientific and psychological aspects of ADHD, which might be of interest, and need, to someone who's recently been diagnosed; however, I look for the practical daily things 'tricks" I can use to make my life better. He does offer up suggestions but I find them childish and impractical, like visualizing a bad thought and telling it to go away. To me, that's something you'd tell a child, not an adult- maybe it's just me. Now, I'm only 1/2 way through the book, and plan on finishing it, but right now it isn't helping me.

Are there others out there who review this book similarly? Or, have you found this book to be very useful?

[Cat00]

I haven't read the book, but if it tells you things like visualising a bad thought and then telling it to go away I'm not going too!What I would desperately like from a book is something that would suggest real-world practical solutions to enabling an ADHD brain. Apparently I am intelligent, according to others and things, but if I can't remember anything what is the point?

[natherly]

I bought this on audiobook and didn't make it as far as the advice section - he was just describing ADHD which was not useful for me.

His 'trick' is 'thought stopping' which has been discredited as ineffective, and is actually counterproductive for some people. It was probably thought to be effective when he published this book in 2010.

[Goodtrouble]

I listened to the audiobook too, for me it was at the beginning of being diagnosed and found it useful regarding facts. I did not particularly found helpful regarding practicalities, but maybe at that point I was not in the mind space to apply them. Also I find some advise from some books not necessarily useful for the stage in life, for example reading ADHD A to Z It was obvious that the author was young and did not have the experience of joggling parenting , work and other responsibilities other than a young adult which I am no longer.

[Artsy12]

Hi NotAChevy,

I read this book just a few weeks ago. When I first took it out from the library, I leafed through it, and my initial reaction was much the same as yours - it initially struck me as simplistic and not very useful.

Because I'm trying to break my habit of not reading through books to the end, I pushed myself to read it carefully and finish it. And I'm glad I did.

The practical advice that you are looking for starts in the latter half of the book, after Dr. Barkley carefully explains ADHD symptoms; the connection between inhibition, self-control, and executive functions, and then what to expect from an assessment and medical treatment.

Is his advice the best? Personally, I found his suggestions for school, work, and relationships the most useful. Not all of it is practical in every situation. For example, there are many types of workplaces (particularly offices) where finding a "mentor" to keep you on track will not work - or it will be viewed quite unfavorably.

Overall, my recommendation is to finish the book, and take from it what you can. It likely won't be the last ADHD management book you read (and maybe not the best for you), but I surmise that it will provide you with at least a few practical tips and tricks that you will find useful.

Best of luck!

[Queen_of_Tara]

I am reading "smart but Scattered, how to use your brain's executive skills to keep up, stay calm and get organized" by Peg Dawson and Richard Guare. They have versions for teens but this one is for adults. I am following the suggestions which are practical. Also have templates you can use to work on executive skills. I am reading it with my therapist. We both find it useful. I recommend it and feel it works best if you are willing to use it as a workbook of sorts with the templates. There is a web page they give you print the templates if you don't want to write in the ones in the book.

[LoveFeelsBest]

you know I totally get where you’re coming from. It felt silly when I first heard an expert describe identifying a harmful useless thought and conquering it by reminding yourself why it is trash or getting busy if you can’t think it away.

Once you start to learn about how the brain actually works it becomes apparent that this can be an effective tactic.

I wanna peep this book sounds interesting. Been doing tons of audio books as I art lately. Never crossed my mind to delve into this subject.

I could go on for quite a while about how the brain works as it pertains to this subject but I’m not sure you’d wanna hear it.

[FocusAndFlow]

I have that book. It was recommended to me very early on in my diagnosis and, while it did help me learn about what this Adult ADHD diagnosis entails and how complex the constellation of symptoms can be/get, I also found it a bit condescending.

I have been told my entire life that I am very intelligent. I succeeded at everything I tried for decades until in the last decade things started falling apart and I could not understand why. All the while, the symptoms kept getting worse.

Well, now I read these books and I must say that I agree with you, and more than that, it seems flat out condescending at times.

That said, I do realize that I've also become slightly more aggressive and impatient with the ritalin, which I unfortunately need to function better, so I'd call it fair to say that it gives me an opportunity to work on myself and bring it down from condescending to simply not applicable nor practicable for me. Subtle, yet big difference, as I start applying that to everything throughout my day.

So, in closing, I've said it before and I'll say it again: You can't beat the devil on the dance floor, no matter how hard you work at it. You beat him by simply refusing the invitation to dance.

I agree that telling the bad thought to 'go away' is completely stupid and counterproductive, but what I do focus on is redirecting my mental energy to something else that is EDIFYING. That is my key word: If it's not edifying, stop doing it and do something more edifying than what you were doing, thinking, writing, etc. at that moment.

This has led me to research other things and I now take cold plunges, for example. I also exercise more regularly than I ever did over the last 30 years. I'm finally eating a bit better every day, and really cutting down on carbs over all and limiting it to only very good, nutritious carbs.

The fact is that there are so many things we need to work on as a society, not just ourselves as adult ADHDers that we are all in a massive fight for our sanity at this point. I'm discovering now how entrenched the 'food' industry (chemical manufacturing, period) is with big pharma and the FDA, as well as insurance carriers in making us all as sick, yet alive, as possible from the earliest age on. Aside from reading better books on how to manage ADHD, taking the time to actually research in depth a lot of the subjects that come up, is actually very rewarding and empowering.

It took months, but I'm finally no longer addicted to sugar, and THAT, will, in and of itself, slow down metabolic conditions that would later lead to dementia, Alzheimers, etc. Spending time reinforcing negative thought patterns about how condescending a bad piece of advice is in a book pales in comparison with incremental changes I've made in my daily, physical and behavioral life.

I've flipped over to reading Stoicsism like Seneca and Marcus Aurelius, and books like Can't Hurt Me by David Goggins, and frankly, I find them much more applicable to making huge improvements in ADHD management than these so-called experts. Once I understood that all those things that other people simply have the 'willpower' to do will be impossible or near impossible for me in the beginning, helps me to focus on bigger and better things, and builds resilience and patience, knowing that it will take me as long as it takes me BECAUSE I have ADHD. Again, redirecting and simply going right around negative thoughts. I don' t challenge them anymore; I just let them fall at my side, per se. As the days wear on, something will happen that will remind me of that bad thought, and I rather appreciate the fact that a week, ten days, etc. has gone by without giving that negative factor a second thought. Meanwhile, my brain gets stronger, healthier and increasingly resilient.

I do wish we had more focused, driven Adult ADHD literature. I fully understand how important it is to not judge and be super patient, learn self-compassion and also compassion for others, but I do feel the literature stops short of real improvement and does nothing for learning to excel again. That's where my focus lies. I'll get there, but it sure is a gradual process!

Read good things, have good thoughts, build on good habits.

Be well. Godspeed.