Summary
A new understanding of ADD, along with practical information on how to recognize and treat the disorder
Myths about Attention Deficit Disorder/Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder(ADD/ADHD) abound. This disorder frequently goes unrecognized, and even when diagnosed may be inadequately treated. In this up-to-date and clearly written book, a leading expert offers a new way of understanding ADD. Drawing on recent findings in neuroscience and a rich variety of case histories from his own clinical practice, Dr. Thomas E. Brown describes what ADD syndrome is, how it can be recognized at different ages, and how it can best be treated.
This is the first book to address the perplexing question about ADD: how can individuals, some very bright, be chronically unable to “pay attention,” yet be able to focus very well on specific tasks that strongly interest them? Dr. Brown disputes the “willpower” explanation and explains how inherited malfunctions of the brain’s management system prevent some people from being able to deal adequately with challenging tasks of childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. His book is an authoritative and practical guide for physicians and psychologists, parents and teachers, and the 7 to 9 percent of persons who suffer from ADD/ADHD.
Reviews
“Tom Brown has lived and breathed—and researched and pondered—ADD for years, so it comes as no surprise that his new book is both reliable and innovative; tested and testing; authoritative and ground-breaking. This is a superb book. I recommend it highly!”—Edward Hallowell, M.D., author of Delivered from Distraction: Getting the Most Out of Life with ADD"Authoritative and ground-breaking. This is a superb book. I recommend it highly!"
—Edward Hallowell, M.D., author of Delivered from Distraction: Getting the Most Out of Life with ADD (approved edit)
"Dr. Brown has written an attractive and accessible account of the way that some findings from psychological science can be applied to understanding ADHD and its impact. People struggling with problems of organising themselves and concentrating will find much here to help them know and overcome their difficulties."
—Professor Eric Taylor, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London
"While rooted in science, this book goes far beyond the typical clinical explanations to get to the heart of the matter: living with AD/HD. Real people living with AD/HD will understand and embrace Dr. Brown’s "AD/HD Syndrome" and identify themselves and their loved ones on every page."
—Evelyn Polk Green, Attention Deficit Disorder Association
"Dr. Brown gives us valuable glimpses into the lives of people suffering from ADHD and explains the theory and science behind this complex disorder and the impact it can have on the lives of children, adolescents and adults. Readers will come away with new insights and a treasure trove of essential strategies to effectively manage ADHD and related conditions."
—Harvey C. Parker, Ph.D., Co-founder of CHADD and author of Problem Solver Guide for Students with ADHD
"A timely, practical and much-needed text on a medical problem of enormous importance heretofore clouded by public misconception, scientific uncertainty and uninformed political debate. Brown provides us with a welcome entry into a lucid empirical discussion of the subject. His clinical rationale is exquisitely attuned to both the critical assessment of statistical fact and the unique human situation of each patient."
—Joaquín M. Fuster, University of California, Los Angeles
"I think this book makes a very useful contribution. I find the way that you have combined Neuroscientific information with clinical practice and very good examples of ADD bring together the essentials of our knowledge. This book will be very useful for ADD patients at all ages in giving them insight into their disorder. It will be very useful for students and clinicians entering the field to see the connection between basic science and clinical phenomena."
—Joseph Sergeant, Free University, Amsterdam
"Dr. Brown has combined contemporary neuroscience with very good clinical examples. He brings together the essentials of what is currently known about ADD/ADHD in a way that will be very useful for patients, for students and clinicians."
—Joseph Sergeant, Free University, Amsterdam
"Attention Deficit Disorders documents Tom Brown's thirty years of listening to patients of all ages who tried, but could not ‘pay attention.’ Patients will recognize the quality of the deficits that have hampered them, and meet others with similar difficulties. Tom Brown's approach is not that of the DSM-IV and he does not shy away from controversy. This is the first book to take ‘focus’ itself as its primary focus, both clinically and in its summary of current science. This is in itself an important beginning."
—Margaret Weiss, author of ADHD in Adulthood
"Dr. Brown's book clearly describes Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and its treatment. Through many stories, it clarifies what is known and what are myths and misinformation."
—Mark Wolraich, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
"This book provides a vivid and lucid description of the many and varied signs and symptoms of ADHD across the lifespan; as a clinical resource, it will be useful to mental health professionals and lay readers."
—Martha Bridge Denckla, The Kennedy Krieger Institute, Johns Hopkins University
"In this book, Dr. Brown provides a compassionate understanding and rich clinical description of individuals who experience persistent and impairing problems with inattention and self-regulation in their daily lives—individuals who manifest Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). In so doing, he casts a fresh perspective on the symptoms of ADHD provided by the medical system (DSM-IV), by highlighting the marked cognitive dysfunctions and revealing how both the behavioral and cognitive manifestations of ADHD impact on daily life and change across childhood, adolescence and adulthood. In essence, this book advises clinicians to pay attention to inattention."
—Rosemary Tannock, PhD, The Hospital for Sick Children & University of Toronto, Canada
"Dr. Brown has written a fine book, rich with clinical anecdotes that provide great insight into the manner in which ADD/ADHD can disrupt cognitive, behavioral, social, educational, and occupational domains of daily life activities. His explanations of the executive system of the brain and how ADHD may interfere with this crucial aspect of human self-regulation nicely demonstrates why ADHD is a far more profound disorder of cognitive development than many people believe. Dispelling many myths about the disorder and its treatment, this book provides scientifically based recommendations for the management of the disorder and its associated impairments. Well done and well worth reading."
—Russell A. Barkley, SUNY Upstate Medical School
“A fine book, rich with clinical anecdotes that provide great insight into ADD/ADHD. . . . It demonstrates why ADHD is a far more profound disorder of cognitive development than many people believe. Dispelling many myths about the disorder and its treatment, this book provides scientifically based recommendations for the management of the disorder. . . . Well done and well worth reading.”
—Russell A. Barkley, Ph.D., SUNY Upstate Medical School
