Delivered from Distraction: Getting the Most Out of Life with Attention Deficit Disorder Paperback – 30 Dec. 2005

This is a great book written by two medical experts (both with ADD) that goes a long way to explain what AD(H)D is and how it can affect you or those you love. It is unceasingly positive, and leaves you with a strong sense that ADHD is not a 'disability' but a simply a feature, and in many ways a gift.ADHD stands for 'Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder'. The authors dislike both the Hyperactivity and the Disorder terms, since many people with it are not hyperactive, and once you are aware of the strengths and weaknesses it has, it can be a gift not a disorder. When explaining ADHD to young patients, they describe it as like having a 'racing car brain'. It's a powerful, fast, fantastically creative brain. it is a brain that is great at solving problems or creating wonderful new ideas or works of art. It has exceptional potential. It also gets bored and distracted very easily precisely because it is so powerful, so it needs to be kept challenged and given some steering and guidance to avoid crashing and get the best from it. And that sums up ADHD very nicely.Many children, and indeed adults, with ADHD go undiagnosed or misdiagnosed for many years. The 'H' in ADHD doesn't help, as hyperactivity may not occur at all in those with ADHD-Inattentive Type. Correct diagnosis is a huge help as you can then understand the factors that make the most of the gift of ADHD, and those that can hinder it. Once you know that, you can shape schooling and careers to make the most of this particular facet.It you think someone you know may have ADD/ADHD, do a bit of Googling to get a feel for what typical signs and symptoms are, and if it looks worth investigating then this book is an excellent next step. As you go through it, you will be able to undertake a good initial assessment, and again if that indicates ADHD may be a factor, you can approach your GP with grounds for why a more detailed expert assessment is worthwhile. A DIY diagnosis is ok as far as it goes, but if there is a significant issue you definitely need an expert assessment as human psychology is incredibly complex, and there are other similar or related conditions that may require completely different treatment.It is still not a well understood condition, with many myths and misunderstandings, and this book cuts through the fog and allows you to assess the situation confidently. If ADHD looks likely, it tells you a great deal about what it is like to have or live with someone with the condition, good and bad. It also provides a lot of anecdotes and information on self-help/coaching/structure to deal with it as best as possible. If ADHD is present but not causing significant impact for extended periods (6 months or more) it may not need medical treatment. However if it is having a significant long-term detrimental affect on study or work, then professional help could make a huge difference.There's no single sign that will identify ADHD as an issue - it is a combination of many factors, all of which feature in everyday 'normal' behaviour. It is when they disrupt the ability to study, work or live 'normally', that they become an issue and potentially the condition known as ADHD. Some signs might be someone who is falling a long way below their potential, who appears lazy and procrastinates excessively, isn't engaged with study or work when they are perfectly capable of tackling it, who may be disruptive / impulsive / unresponsive / careless, who has an addictive / pleasure seeking personality (sweets, booze, fags drugs), and is excessively untidy or disorganised. Much of this behaviour is entirely normal and something most people experience to varying degrees from day to day or for particular phases of their life. If the signs have existed to varying degrees over many years, and are impacting ability to function properly for extended periods (6 months+), it is worth exploring and this book will clear things up one way or another.If it looks likely, then professional help is strongly recommended - a wrong diagnosis means wrong treatment and things getting worse not better. Few GPs fully understand the condition, and the nature of it is such that few people with it will approach a GP unless and until things have got really out of hand. By that stage, they are likely to be quite depressed too, and that may present as the most obvious symptom and become the focus of treatment. Apart from anything else, GPs are far more familiar with depression than ADHD. Unfortunately the treatment for depression is unlikely to help the ADHD (though the 2 conditions may need parallel treatment), whereas if ADHD is correctly identified and treated, normal function will return and the cause of the depression will go.Nothing in psychology is clear cut, but this book will really help you understand what ADHD is, what the signs,symptoms and treatments are, and it also goes on to look at the changes one can make to one's schooling or work life to make the most of this mixed blessing. Is it a disaster? Anything but. Some authors have studied the lives and behaviour of talented people and concluded that quite a few of them exhibited signs of ADHD, including: Alexander Graham Bell, Beethoven, Lewis Carroll, Winston Churchill, Cher, Agatha Christie, Leonardo da Vinci, Salvador Dali, Walt Disney, Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Ernest Hemingway, John and Robert Kennedy, Abraham Lincoln, Mozart, the Wright brothers, Robin Williams, Whoopi Goldberg, Dustin Hoffman, Michael Jordan, Will Smith, Ozzy Osbourne and recently even Rory Bremner. I make no claims to that being true, but if that's what having ADHD is like, you're certainly in good company.

This book appears to be just what I wanted

bought to understand my adhd child. easy and fun reading yet so deep and helpful.

This is very evident that it is 18 years old. It’s very male-centric and the author shows his age and culture throughout.His insistence that each ADHD person have a partner that functions as a parent to keep them on track and functional because you cannot expect a person with ADHD to change is frankly insulting.There are better books out there, written this decade. Don’t bother with this one.

Not anything that I don’t know but a good introduction for newly diagnosed or curious peeps.

So, I had a revelation a few months ago. I was having a conversation about my struggles in life, as you do. but then it finally hit me, Maybe I should research my symptoms. It turned out that the closest to what I found was connecting to ADD/ADHD. It felt like a new lease of life had jumped out of me. That day, I ordered this book after hearing so many good things about it, it just so happened that the article I read that actually convinced me that I may have been suffering from ADD all my life, mentioned Edward M Hallowell. I did a bit of reasearch and immediatly bouught this book. Was completely hooked. I felt like this book was describing my life.THIS BOOK CHANGED MY LIFE.... It made me go to the doctors, get a referral and I got diagnosed with ADD/ADHD after a few weeks. I'm 27 now. This book was the answer to all my lifes struggles and worries.If you think you may have ADD or ADHD .... Buy this book. It honestly hope it will change your life as much as it did mine.Best book I have ever read.

Book is great but just as impressive was the costumer service: prompt answer to queries and they have done everything possible to correct that the book was late and keep me a satisfied costumer.I will highly recommend them just because of their costumer service: polite, helpful and prompt. I will definately buy from them.

This is an excellent book if you have ADD/ADHD. It will help you to understand what to do. You still have to do all those things to improve your life. Developing insight is the main hurdle in ADD/ADHD. After insight, changing life style is the next biggest challenge. This book will give you some idea, however, you will still need a life coach to help you.In my opinion, Audio version is the best as you can hear it during driving which will give you some sense of achievement while driving. You can also repeat it as necessary by just pressing one button. I think it is important for people with ADD to listen something repeatedly to grab it. So, please listen this book as many times as possible even if it is boring. Just run it like a background music in your car. Believe me, you will catch new things everyday.I have already recommended this book to many people.