Thanks! I have a fortnight off coming up shortly and have added it to my queue. An area I spent a long time discussing in multiple consultations was the tension between genetic predisposition and environment.
Interesting for a few reasons: firstly there’s some limited evidence that early treatment with medication can have a permanent positive impact on the condition in children. Which to my pea sized brain is suggestive of the possibility that we have sufficient elasticity during our brain’s formative years to consider this, sometimes, an illness not a condition.
Secondly there is some evidence to suggest that other disregulations such as dyspraxia and dyslexia are linked to ADHD. A common question in diagnosis is about family history of those conditions.
I was also concerned when my doctor and two psychiatrists told me that therapy was certainly an option but highly unlikely to be successful for me. It seems like this book may paint a different picture.
Thanks for the recommendation! If you suffer from ADHD, do you mind sharing if the book changed your approach to treatment?
While Scattered Minds does a good job describing the “experience” of ADHD and will likely resonate with people who have the condition, a lot of its conclusions are not scientifically supported.
ADHD is a nuerodevelopmental disorder, it has strong genetic components and the only strongly supported intervention that improves life outcome is stimulant medication. Unfortunately medication doesn’t work or cannot be taken by all of those with the condition.
That said, Scattered may help someone work through other common comorbidities of ADHD (depression, low self esteem, etc). It may shine light on the complex interactions between ADHD, the family and society in a way that’s helpful for understanding ones own experience.
It didn't change my approach to treatment, no (I continue to take vyvanse)
However, the description of behavior of people with ADHD, made me say "oh, shit, that's 100% me". So, it was nice to know that I am not alone. It's comforting to know that some of my weirdness is from ADHD, and not inherently "me"
