What do you think?
Rate this book
Taking Charge of Adult ADHD
A treasured resource, this book empowers parents by arming them with the knowledge, expert guidance, and confidence they need to ensure that their child with ADHD receives the best care possible. Dr. Barkley explains what the latest research reveals about the nature of ADHD, its causes, and the most effective treatment strategies. Described are the problems that children with the disorder typically face as they grow from toddlerhood through adolescence, and associated challenges facing the whole family. Drawing on decades of influential clinical work and research, the book provides concrete suggestions for improving children's behavior and school performance, enhancing their self-esteem, and restoring harmony to the home.
Audible Audio
First published January 1, 2000
About the author
Russell A. Barkley
34 books381 followersRussell A. Barkley (born 1949) is a clinical psychologist who is a clinical professor of psychiatry at the Medical University of South Carolina and an author of books on ADHD. Involved in research since 1973 and a licensed psychologist since 1977, he is an expert on attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and has devoted much of his scientific career to studying ADHD and related problems in children. His research interests include childhood defiance.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 313 reviews
Read
September 1, 2016I wasn't so keen on this book. There were a few helpful suggestions and I liked the breakdown of medications and explanation of how they work, but a lot of the book just wasn't relevant to my experience. There was a huge portion dedicated to "do you have adhd" and how to be diagnosed, which is a stage I am already past, and then there was a significant amount of time spent on much more severe effects of impulsiveness such as drug use, criminality, being unable to manage your temper/speak to others with respect, and dangerous and deadly driving. It just didn't apply to my experience and was significantly more "tough love" than I want or need to read. I feel like this book was written with the classic male hyperactive/impulsive/disruptive ADHD person in mind. Maybe it would be helpful to him, but it certainly missed the mark for me at most times.
For the things I really do have serious issues with such as overspending, disorganization, inattentiveness to people I love, and issues controlling my weight, I didn't feel like any terribly useful suggestions were put forward. I remember rolling my eyes at being told I'm "not important enough" to need a smartphone, which is patently ridiculous because my smartphone's calendar function that syncs across all my devices and allows me to input multiple reminder alerts is the only way I really cope with my ADHD on a day to day basis at all, and the suggestion that I tape a picture of a hot/thin celebrity to my fridge to keep me from impulse eating is just absolutely laughable to me.
I just didn't find this book helpful to my particular experience with ADHD. If you're an impulsive/hyperactive man who moves from job to job and drives fast and furious and gets on the wrong side of the law, maybe this book will be more relevant to you and your experience.
For the things I really do have serious issues with such as overspending, disorganization, inattentiveness to people I love, and issues controlling my weight, I didn't feel like any terribly useful suggestions were put forward. I remember rolling my eyes at being told I'm "not important enough" to need a smartphone, which is patently ridiculous because my smartphone's calendar function that syncs across all my devices and allows me to input multiple reminder alerts is the only way I really cope with my ADHD on a day to day basis at all, and the suggestion that I tape a picture of a hot/thin celebrity to my fridge to keep me from impulse eating is just absolutely laughable to me.
I just didn't find this book helpful to my particular experience with ADHD. If you're an impulsive/hyperactive man who moves from job to job and drives fast and furious and gets on the wrong side of the law, maybe this book will be more relevant to you and your experience.
January 22, 2021
Ehhh. I could see this being helpful to some people, but the focus is so firmly on impulsive/hyperactive symptoms that if you have inattentive type you probably won't get much from it. Being told to "stop the action" when you haven't initiated a task in months and don't move unless poked with a sharp stick isn't hugely helpful.
I also wasn't a huge fan of Barkley's tone, I found it a little condescending, but maybe that's because this book is aimed at a general audience and I'm used to books about neurodiversity being more academic.
One minor nitpick I had is that a few times Barkley refers to ADHD as a mental health condition rather than a neurodevelopmental disorder. Just a matter of terminology, but it did bug me.
I also wasn't a huge fan of Barkley's tone, I found it a little condescending, but maybe that's because this book is aimed at a general audience and I'm used to books about neurodiversity being more academic.
One minor nitpick I had is that a few times Barkley refers to ADHD as a mental health condition rather than a neurodevelopmental disorder. Just a matter of terminology, but it did bug me.
Read
April 2, 2021I was relieved that the top review for this book said that it didn't apply to their own experience of ADHD. There were times when I was flipping through this that I started to doubt my own recent diagnosis because it sounded so unlike anything I could even imagine doing. Angry outbursts? Insulting remarks? Dangerous driving? Dropping everything to move to a new city? The book is definitely focused on hyperactive/impulsive symptoms, and, yes, seems to be focused more on men's ADHD (or the symptoms more commonly found in men) than women's. I don't have a problem with impulse shopping; I do have a problem with forgetting to return items or pay bills. Relationships don't end because I blurt out thoughtless comments or break promises; they never begin because I'm too disorganized to reply to messages or arrange get-togethers. I'm also pretty high-functioning, so a lot of the commentary focused on dramatic consequences in work or school - dropping out, getting fired - didn't apply.
That said, there's still a lot of good information in here. The descriptions of various medications and what to expect when starting a regimen was really useful. I found the "rules" potentially helpful as well - I can see how it could interrupt some of the procrastination that plagues me in my personal life. And the charts that compared ADHD-ers' impairments with the general population actually, genuinely almost made me start crying in my car. Seeing symptoms that I thought were so universal, that it was my own fault for not being able to cope with, listed next to an itty-bitty number - 8% of the general population does this, 2% does that, 1% (one percent!!) has this experience ... It just drove home in a stark way that my normal is not normal and has never been normal. Even if my grades are good. Even if my performance reviews are fine. That's not the bare minimum, that's the result of an unbelievable, agonizing effort that most of my fellow students and employees do not have to put in. And all the stuff I don't manage to do? That's not my fault. And it can get better.
That said, there's still a lot of good information in here. The descriptions of various medications and what to expect when starting a regimen was really useful. I found the "rules" potentially helpful as well - I can see how it could interrupt some of the procrastination that plagues me in my personal life. And the charts that compared ADHD-ers' impairments with the general population actually, genuinely almost made me start crying in my car. Seeing symptoms that I thought were so universal, that it was my own fault for not being able to cope with, listed next to an itty-bitty number - 8% of the general population does this, 2% does that, 1% (one percent!!) has this experience ... It just drove home in a stark way that my normal is not normal and has never been normal. Even if my grades are good. Even if my performance reviews are fine. That's not the bare minimum, that's the result of an unbelievable, agonizing effort that most of my fellow students and employees do not have to put in. And all the stuff I don't manage to do? That's not my fault. And it can get better.
February 27, 2013
This took me way too long to get through, considering I borrowed it in November and it's almost March. Ah, ADHD, don't you just love it?
June 15, 2016
This is so far the most useful book I've read on ADHD. I should have started with this one. The chapters were short, which was nice.
July 6, 2023
Easy to absorb explanations of complex neurological processes, practical tips, and so much insight - a must read for any adult with ADHD!
Video review of four popular books on ADHD: https://youtu.be/O5i0b9CcpeU
You can find me on...
Youtube | Instagram | TikTok
You can join our book club over on Patreon...
PBB Book Club
Video review of four popular books on ADHD: https://youtu.be/O5i0b9CcpeU
You can find me on...
Youtube | Instagram | TikTok
You can join our book club over on Patreon...
PBB Book Club
April 2, 2019
What a depressing book it was.
Basically it says: “OK, so you have ADHD. Sucks to be you. Go through this huge laundry list of these and those things to do, don’t forget to take your medication, find a mentor — assuming anybody will want to deal with you, and who could blame them? — and if you are extremely lucky, and with heavy effort, maybe you can become half a normal man or woman who runs through all of this effortlessly, which you’ll never be. What a burden to society!”
All of this is true perhaps, but now I just want to die.
Basically it says: “OK, so you have ADHD. Sucks to be you. Go through this huge laundry list of these and those things to do, don’t forget to take your medication, find a mentor — assuming anybody will want to deal with you, and who could blame them? — and if you are extremely lucky, and with heavy effort, maybe you can become half a normal man or woman who runs through all of this effortlessly, which you’ll never be. What a burden to society!”
All of this is true perhaps, but now I just want to die.
July 2, 2021
This book was clearly written for men with hyperactive presentation of ADHD. It had a few helpful tips here and there, but ultimately it didn’t adequately address inattentive presentation, which is more common in women. I found some parts to be condescending as it felt like the author sees people with ADHD as being perpetual fuck-ups who can’t behave themselves. Not a fan.
June 15, 2021
This book is an odd one, being written by a notable ADHD researcher who nonetheless manages to miss the mark in many important ways. I found a great deal of information in the first half of the book that was useful and worth highlighting for future reference. This part of the book would be useful for newcomers to the diagnosis of adult ADHD to read.
The second half of the book, however, is nothing more than a diatribe filled with anecdotal personal advice from the author on a wide variety of situations that readers may or may not be going through in their own lives. No attempt is made to generalize anything into a workable plan—instead, the author offers up a variation on the same tired advice to think about things before doing them. After explaining this, the remaining chapters of the book focus on different potential areas of difficulty, but are filled with strangely specific and often out-of-touch suggestions that are woefully inadequate in the context of a person’s actual life. Folksy wisdom is not the way to address this disorder, and some of the writing in this section is actually very insulting, as it makes a number of negative assumptions about people with adult ADHD that could only serve to further lower the reader’s self-esteem. By the end of the book, the so-called advice devolves into ludicrous suggestions that are completely out of touch with the realities of modern life.
Although I’ve rated this book two stars for the informative nature of the first half, I recommend that people wanting help for adult ADHD stay far away from this guide. There are many other books on this subject by writers who are realistic about the struggles of ADHD, yet also embrace a strengths-based perspective that Dr. Barkley completely ignores in this volume.
The second half of the book, however, is nothing more than a diatribe filled with anecdotal personal advice from the author on a wide variety of situations that readers may or may not be going through in their own lives. No attempt is made to generalize anything into a workable plan—instead, the author offers up a variation on the same tired advice to think about things before doing them. After explaining this, the remaining chapters of the book focus on different potential areas of difficulty, but are filled with strangely specific and often out-of-touch suggestions that are woefully inadequate in the context of a person’s actual life. Folksy wisdom is not the way to address this disorder, and some of the writing in this section is actually very insulting, as it makes a number of negative assumptions about people with adult ADHD that could only serve to further lower the reader’s self-esteem. By the end of the book, the so-called advice devolves into ludicrous suggestions that are completely out of touch with the realities of modern life.
Although I’ve rated this book two stars for the informative nature of the first half, I recommend that people wanting help for adult ADHD stay far away from this guide. There are many other books on this subject by writers who are realistic about the struggles of ADHD, yet also embrace a strengths-based perspective that Dr. Barkley completely ignores in this volume.
January 9, 2023
Even though Barkley is a prominent ADHD researcher, this book has frustrating deficits. It is HEAVILY focused on hyperactive/impulsive ADHD, and it offers few practical strategies for managing inattentive ADHD beyond “use a planner” and “make a budget.”
February 19, 2022
I hated listening to this book. I immediately felt defensive and stigmatized, stereotyped, and spoken down to, othered and belittled. It's like going to see a plastic surgeon to remove a mole, and having your entire self esteem eroded so they can upsell you lipo and a face lift. Don't bother reading this book unless you're an older conservative cis het man who wants to lose any ounce of hope he has left. Even then...I'm not sure what you'd get from this ableist fat phobic shaming capitalist nonsense.
The main lesson in the book after his 8 rules to cope with adhd besides medicine: 1 stop the action, 2 see the past and future, 3 analyze past future to create rules for the future, 4 externalize key info and rely on prothetics (like lists and notes) for memory, 5 feel the future by imagining the emotions you will experience once a task is complete in order to stay motivated, 6 break tasks down to make a goal matter, bring the future closer for long term tasks, 7 make problems external physical and manual, and simplify your problem solving strategies, 8 maintain a sense of humour about your adhd, laugh at yourself. Because you are a silly incompetent child destined to fail. So you might as well laugh. Ha /s
The author calls adults with adhd defiant children. He is patronizing and cruel. He proposes outdated cishet misogynistic paternalistic judgmental stigmatizing views on sex, parenting, savings, education. The classist suggestions he makes to cope are not helpful. Doesn't even acknowledge systemic oppression. Suggests doctors, dentist, meds, sports, hobbies, psychiatry...
The job suggestions are stereotypical and limiting. Military, physical labour. Or impossible jobs. Frustrating. Gross. This man has no imagination. What is his agenda?
This book is stigmatizing to low income, fat, disabled, drug users, single parents, and just about anyone you can imagine who isn't a white married cishet sober PhD man.
Don't bother with this one. It'll just make you mad without even providing the rare gem of insight that sometimes makes these library quality self help books useful.
The main lesson in the book after his 8 rules to cope with adhd besides medicine: 1 stop the action, 2 see the past and future, 3 analyze past future to create rules for the future, 4 externalize key info and rely on prothetics (like lists and notes) for memory, 5 feel the future by imagining the emotions you will experience once a task is complete in order to stay motivated, 6 break tasks down to make a goal matter, bring the future closer for long term tasks, 7 make problems external physical and manual, and simplify your problem solving strategies, 8 maintain a sense of humour about your adhd, laugh at yourself. Because you are a silly incompetent child destined to fail. So you might as well laugh. Ha /s
The author calls adults with adhd defiant children. He is patronizing and cruel. He proposes outdated cishet misogynistic paternalistic judgmental stigmatizing views on sex, parenting, savings, education. The classist suggestions he makes to cope are not helpful. Doesn't even acknowledge systemic oppression. Suggests doctors, dentist, meds, sports, hobbies, psychiatry...
The job suggestions are stereotypical and limiting. Military, physical labour. Or impossible jobs. Frustrating. Gross. This man has no imagination. What is his agenda?
This book is stigmatizing to low income, fat, disabled, drug users, single parents, and just about anyone you can imagine who isn't a white married cishet sober PhD man.
Don't bother with this one. It'll just make you mad without even providing the rare gem of insight that sometimes makes these library quality self help books useful.
April 21, 2022
I am doing some ADHD coaching at my tutoring center, so I wanted to do some reading on the topic.
The good: this book is pretty comprehensive, and I guess that someone who has just recently found out that they may need a diagnosis would benefit from reading it.
The bad: this book is so out of date (smartphones = bad!!!) and generic it is pretty useless for anyone who has any background knowledge of ADHD whatsoever.
In addition, this book is extremely evangelical about medication. As a person with ADHD who does not medicate, the book gives you the impression that I’m really digging my own grave. It gives some half-assed acknowledgement that perhaps someone would not want to take ADHD medication on days when they want to be creative, as medication often dampens emotions. Uh… yeah, not having access to emotions might be a reason someone might not want to medicate at all, buddy.
There was very little discussion into coping mechanisms other than some very odd advice like to tape a photo of a slim woman on my fridge (fuck off) or to ask a manager to agree to a five minute daily check in to talk about tasks. I cannot imagine any employee wanting to do something that humiliating. A colleague or family member or friend to act as an accountability buddy, sure. Expecting my boss to be in charge of meeting with me every day to remind me of what work I’m going to do? Ridiculous.
To me, the biggest downfall of this book is that it doesn’t acknowledge any benefits whatsoever of having ADHD. There are benefits. As with any difficulty in life, the fact that we have had to come up with coping mechanisms means that we have some compensating strength and abilities. We are not just deficient. Because the book infantilizes people like us, some of the advice comes off as absolutely moronic. Just don’t do crime! Just stop eating and drinking compulsively! What about not being friends with bad people! Have you thought about JOINING THE MILITARY??? (That one made me guffaw.)
I hate to say it but I learned way more about ADHD that has proven to be backed up with research from TikTok than I did from this book.
The good: this book is pretty comprehensive, and I guess that someone who has just recently found out that they may need a diagnosis would benefit from reading it.
The bad: this book is so out of date (smartphones = bad!!!) and generic it is pretty useless for anyone who has any background knowledge of ADHD whatsoever.
In addition, this book is extremely evangelical about medication. As a person with ADHD who does not medicate, the book gives you the impression that I’m really digging my own grave. It gives some half-assed acknowledgement that perhaps someone would not want to take ADHD medication on days when they want to be creative, as medication often dampens emotions. Uh… yeah, not having access to emotions might be a reason someone might not want to medicate at all, buddy.
There was very little discussion into coping mechanisms other than some very odd advice like to tape a photo of a slim woman on my fridge (fuck off) or to ask a manager to agree to a five minute daily check in to talk about tasks. I cannot imagine any employee wanting to do something that humiliating. A colleague or family member or friend to act as an accountability buddy, sure. Expecting my boss to be in charge of meeting with me every day to remind me of what work I’m going to do? Ridiculous.
To me, the biggest downfall of this book is that it doesn’t acknowledge any benefits whatsoever of having ADHD. There are benefits. As with any difficulty in life, the fact that we have had to come up with coping mechanisms means that we have some compensating strength and abilities. We are not just deficient. Because the book infantilizes people like us, some of the advice comes off as absolutely moronic. Just don’t do crime! Just stop eating and drinking compulsively! What about not being friends with bad people! Have you thought about JOINING THE MILITARY??? (That one made me guffaw.)
I hate to say it but I learned way more about ADHD that has proven to be backed up with research from TikTok than I did from this book.
August 1, 2020
به سوالات زیر پاسخ دهید
آیا در تمرکز کردن مشکل دارید؟
آیا حواستان به راحتی پرت می شود ؟
آیا خودتان را بسیار تکانشی در نظر می گیرید ؟
آیا در نظم دادن و منظم پیش بردن کارها مشکل دارید؟
آیا خودتان را از ذقیق و درست فکر کردن ناتوان می یابید؟
آیا همیشه تصور می کنید مجبور به انجام کارهای زیادی هستید اما اغلب آنها را تمام نمی کنید؟
آیا مردم به شما می گویند زیاد حرف می زنید؟
آیا برای شما گوش کردنِ دقیق و کامل به دیگران دشوار است؟
آیا میان صحبت دیگران می پرید یا کارِ آنها را قطع می کنید سپس پیش خود می گویید که ای کاش ابتدا فکر می کردید؟
آیا صدای شما هنگام صحبت کردن از بقیه بلندتر است؟
آیا در بیان آنچه ی خواهید بگویید مشکل دارید؟
آیا اغلب از درون، احساس بی قراری می کنید؟
آیا کارهای لازم ولی غیرفوری را فراموش می کنید؟
فقط ارزیابی تخصصی است که با اطمینان به شما می گوید آیا اختلال نقص توجه-بیش فعالی دارید یا نه و اما اگر پاسخ بیشتر سوالات بالا مثبت باشند به احتمال زیاد، این اختلال را دارید.
علائم شما شامل چیست؟
فقط یک متخصص می تواند به شما پاسخ کامل این سؤال را بدهد. اما بررسی سؤالات ذیل کا احتمالا پاسخ ( مثبت) خواهید داد، کمک خواهد کرد که
ارزیابی تشخیصی را دنبال کنید یا نکنید. در تحقیق ما که هدفش به ظور خاص ( شناخت اختلال نقص توجه-بیش فعالی در بزرگسالان)بود، 9 معیار ذیل را یافتیم که در تشخیص این اختلال بسیار دقیق است.
...آیا اغلب
حواستان با محرک های خارجی یا افکار نامربوط پرت می شود؟
به طور ناگهانی و آنی تصمیم می گیرید؟
وقتی که باید فعالیتها یا رفتاری را متوقف کنید، در متوقف ساختن آنها مشکل دارید؟
آیا پروژه یا کاری را بدون مطالعه یا گوش دادن دقیق به دستورات، شروع می کنید؟
در تعهدات و قول هایی که به دیگران می دهید با شکست مواجه می شوید؟
آیا در اجرای کارها بر اساس نظم و ترتیب اصلی مشکل دارید؟
آیا سریعتر از دیگران رانندگی می کنید – یا اگر رانندگی نمیکنید، آیا در اجرای آرام فعالیتهای تفریحی و تفننی مشکل دارید؟
آیا در حفظ تداوم و توجه در کارها یا فعالیتهای تفریحی مشکل دارید؟
آیا در نظم و ساماندهی کارها و فعالیتها مشکل دارید؟
آیا در نظم و ساماندهی کارها و فعالیتها مشکل دارید؟
آیا شما چهار تا از هفت علامت نخست بالا را یا 6 تا ازهمه 9 علامت بالا را تیک زدید؟ اگر این گونه باشد، به احتمال زیاد اختلال نقص توجه-بیش فعالی دارید. در این صورت، بایستی از یک متخصصِ با تجربهی سلامت روات بخواهید شما را ارزیابی نماید، اگر تا به این کا را نکردید.
...درآخر
:)).اگر به اکثر سوالات جواب مثبت دادید، می تونید کتاب و بخونید در غیره اینصورت خوشحال باشید که وقتتون و روی این کتاب نگذاشتید
متاسفانه این این اختلال در ایران خیلی نا شناخته یا کم شناخته شده است، مقالات تالیف شده یا ترجمه شده در این حوزه به حدی کم هست که شاید به اندازه انگشتان یک دست هم نمی رسد.تنها کتاب و باز هم تاکید می کنم تنها کتاب در مورد شناخت و درمان اختلال نقص توجه-بیش فعالی در بزرگسالان در ایران همین کتاب هست، براساس جستجو های من 2 یا 3 کتاب دیگر بسیار سطحی و گذرا به این مشکل پرداخته اند.
ولی باید خوشحال بود که یکی از بروزترین و بهترین کتابها در این حوزه ترجمه شده است. این کتاب بطور کامل تمام ابعاد این مشکل بررسی می کند و باعث می شود شناخت کاملی به خود داشته باشید و بجای سرزنش کردن خود به حل یا کنترل اون به پردازید.
آیا در تمرکز کردن مشکل دارید؟
آیا حواستان به راحتی پرت می شود ؟
آیا خودتان را بسیار تکانشی در نظر می گیرید ؟
آیا در نظم دادن و منظم پیش بردن کارها مشکل دارید؟
آیا خودتان را از ذقیق و درست فکر کردن ناتوان می یابید؟
آیا همیشه تصور می کنید مجبور به انجام کارهای زیادی هستید اما اغلب آنها را تمام نمی کنید؟
آیا مردم به شما می گویند زیاد حرف می زنید؟
آیا برای شما گوش کردنِ دقیق و کامل به دیگران دشوار است؟
آیا میان صحبت دیگران می پرید یا کارِ آنها را قطع می کنید سپس پیش خود می گویید که ای کاش ابتدا فکر می کردید؟
آیا صدای شما هنگام صحبت کردن از بقیه بلندتر است؟
آیا در بیان آنچه ی خواهید بگویید مشکل دارید؟
آیا اغلب از درون، احساس بی قراری می کنید؟
آیا کارهای لازم ولی غیرفوری را فراموش می کنید؟
فقط ارزیابی تخصصی است که با اطمینان به شما می گوید آیا اختلال نقص توجه-بیش فعالی دارید یا نه و اما اگر پاسخ بیشتر سوالات بالا مثبت باشند به احتمال زیاد، این اختلال را دارید.
علائم شما شامل چیست؟
فقط یک متخصص می تواند به شما پاسخ کامل این سؤال را بدهد. اما بررسی سؤالات ذیل کا احتمالا پاسخ ( مثبت) خواهید داد، کمک خواهد کرد که
ارزیابی تشخیصی را دنبال کنید یا نکنید. در تحقیق ما که هدفش به ظور خاص ( شناخت اختلال نقص توجه-بیش فعالی در بزرگسالان)بود، 9 معیار ذیل را یافتیم که در تشخیص این اختلال بسیار دقیق است.
...آیا اغلب
حواستان با محرک های خارجی یا افکار نامربوط پرت می شود؟
به طور ناگهانی و آنی تصمیم می گیرید؟
وقتی که باید فعالیتها یا رفتاری را متوقف کنید، در متوقف ساختن آنها مشکل دارید؟
آیا پروژه یا کاری را بدون مطالعه یا گوش دادن دقیق به دستورات، شروع می کنید؟
در تعهدات و قول هایی که به دیگران می دهید با شکست مواجه می شوید؟
آیا در اجرای کارها بر اساس نظم و ترتیب اصلی مشکل دارید؟
آیا سریعتر از دیگران رانندگی می کنید – یا اگر رانندگی نمیکنید، آیا در اجرای آرام فعالیتهای تفریحی و تفننی مشکل دارید؟
آیا در حفظ تداوم و توجه در کارها یا فعالیتهای تفریحی مشکل دارید؟
آیا در نظم و ساماندهی کارها و فعالیتها مشکل دارید؟
آیا در نظم و ساماندهی کارها و فعالیتها مشکل دارید؟
آیا شما چهار تا از هفت علامت نخست بالا را یا 6 تا ازهمه 9 علامت بالا را تیک زدید؟ اگر این گونه باشد، به احتمال زیاد اختلال نقص توجه-بیش فعالی دارید. در این صورت، بایستی از یک متخصصِ با تجربهی سلامت روات بخواهید شما را ارزیابی نماید، اگر تا به این کا را نکردید.
...درآخر
:)).اگر به اکثر سوالات جواب مثبت دادید، می تونید کتاب و بخونید در غیره اینصورت خوشحال باشید که وقتتون و روی این کتاب نگذاشتید
متاسفانه این این اختلال در ایران خیلی نا شناخته یا کم شناخته شده است، مقالات تالیف شده یا ترجمه شده در این حوزه به حدی کم هست که شاید به اندازه انگشتان یک دست هم نمی رسد.تنها کتاب و باز هم تاکید می کنم تنها کتاب در مورد شناخت و درمان اختلال نقص توجه-بیش فعالی در بزرگسالان در ایران همین کتاب هست، براساس جستجو های من 2 یا 3 کتاب دیگر بسیار سطحی و گذرا به این مشکل پرداخته اند.
ولی باید خوشحال بود که یکی از بروزترین و بهترین کتابها در این حوزه ترجمه شده است. این کتاب بطور کامل تمام ابعاد این مشکل بررسی می کند و باعث می شود شناخت کاملی به خود داشته باشید و بجای سرزنش کردن خود به حل یا کنترل اون به پردازید.
December 18, 2010
Best book I've read on Adult ADHD so far.
October 17, 2020
This is good. It has lots of good ideas about where to start and how to improve things. BUT if you don't see yourself in Barkley's discription of what it means to be an adult with ADHD, I THINK it is because his descriptions of it tend masculine and leave out the unique ways ADHD presents for many women.
September 16, 2022
Barkley lists 7 aspects of executive function, but not my own personal Waterloo: task initiation.
Also, hyperfocus is a huge problem for me (I can easily sit for 8 -10 hours at my desk at work and not move. By the end of the day my bladder is screaming and my muscles have locked up.) Strategies for this were not mentioned.
I didn't find this book particularly useful for me.
Also, hyperfocus is a huge problem for me (I can easily sit for 8 -10 hours at my desk at work and not move. By the end of the day my bladder is screaming and my muscles have locked up.) Strategies for this were not mentioned.
I didn't find this book particularly useful for me.
August 12, 2016
This book is a good example of lying with statistics. The author ignores the known obvious causes of ADHD and comes up with unproven claims that ADHD is caused by brain development problems or general chemical unbalances. At the same time he's a big fan of diagnosing ADHD with the "evaluation process", but he fails to mention that these questionnaires claim over 85% of people have ADHD. So by his logic over 85% of people have a chemical imbalance or an underdeveloped brain. He doesn't put these facts together of course.
The author mentions nothing of the fact that creating a diagnosis for ADHD was put forth by the marketing department of Eli Lilly. He glosses over the addictive nature of amphetamines and the risk of heart damage these drugs cause. The clear point to this book is to sell drugs, and to do so by creating a storyline for ADHD that isn't backed up by the facts.
The author mentions nothing of the fact that creating a diagnosis for ADHD was put forth by the marketing department of Eli Lilly. He glosses over the addictive nature of amphetamines and the risk of heart damage these drugs cause. The clear point to this book is to sell drugs, and to do so by creating a storyline for ADHD that isn't backed up by the facts.
August 21, 2021
Written with an extreme deficit lens. Very negative. I recommended books by Edward Hallowell or John Ratey instead.
July 5, 2023
Wow I first read this five years ago. This was a year into my adult ADHD journey. I wish I had more notes from then and now.
The first half of the book is very intense. It shows the extremes of ADHD. I realized that many of my beliefs and feelings about ADHD come from this book, which has its pluses and minuses.
The second half is toned down and offers practical solutions. I love the two halves. It covers all of the major topics of ADHD; meds, comorbidities, work, school, executive functions, relationships, driving, etc. It runs the gamut.
When you get to the driving section and he talks about his brother, it puts the book into perspective. He seems to be writing the entire book for his brother or because of his brother, his twin.
I have been told that he has toned down some of his rhetoric because of a near fatal car accident that he was in a few years ago.
This book remains one of the most important books in all of ADHD literature, written by the most important ADHD researcher. This is a definitive book, written by the godfather of ADHD. We all owe Dr. Barkley, deep gratitude and appreciation, for his lifetime of work. This last edition was the last work that he published before he rode off into the sunset of retirement.
Thank you Dr. Barkley
________________________________________________
As someone with Adult ADHD I found this book very helpful. If your looking to learn more, are newly diagnosed, or have it all your life, this is the book for you.
It gives a detailed description of ADHD, the problems it causes, treatment options, and management strategies. There are sections that you can write in and put in your thoughts and experiences. In this way it acts as a work book.
I picked up this book because it and the author are widely cited in much ADHD work. It supported those citations and I highly recommend this book.
My criticism is that in sections in comes down hard on ADHD and uses some extreme examples of untreated ADHD. Those examples seem outrageous and people that have milder forms or managed ADHD may find them hard to relate to or comparison that would diminish their own ADHD.
-2018
The first half of the book is very intense. It shows the extremes of ADHD. I realized that many of my beliefs and feelings about ADHD come from this book, which has its pluses and minuses.
The second half is toned down and offers practical solutions. I love the two halves. It covers all of the major topics of ADHD; meds, comorbidities, work, school, executive functions, relationships, driving, etc. It runs the gamut.
When you get to the driving section and he talks about his brother, it puts the book into perspective. He seems to be writing the entire book for his brother or because of his brother, his twin.
I have been told that he has toned down some of his rhetoric because of a near fatal car accident that he was in a few years ago.
This book remains one of the most important books in all of ADHD literature, written by the most important ADHD researcher. This is a definitive book, written by the godfather of ADHD. We all owe Dr. Barkley, deep gratitude and appreciation, for his lifetime of work. This last edition was the last work that he published before he rode off into the sunset of retirement.
Thank you Dr. Barkley
________________________________________________
As someone with Adult ADHD I found this book very helpful. If your looking to learn more, are newly diagnosed, or have it all your life, this is the book for you.
It gives a detailed description of ADHD, the problems it causes, treatment options, and management strategies. There are sections that you can write in and put in your thoughts and experiences. In this way it acts as a work book.
I picked up this book because it and the author are widely cited in much ADHD work. It supported those citations and I highly recommend this book.
My criticism is that in sections in comes down hard on ADHD and uses some extreme examples of untreated ADHD. Those examples seem outrageous and people that have milder forms or managed ADHD may find them hard to relate to or comparison that would diminish their own ADHD.
-2018
February 2, 2021
(Ian Brown voice) THIS IS THE ONE!
Contains the line ‘You haven’t developed the self-awareness to realise that for you walking into an antique store is like opening the gates of hell’ in the chapter about money management so YES I would say this was relevant to me.
Barkley breaks everything down in a way that doesn’t feel condescending or like sorry you’re incompetent! we’ll put this into many little bullet points because you’re just too dumb! but like hey you won’t want to do this! it will be annoying! but it will be possible and you can do it!
And I really responded to that! Even the parts about the diagnostic criteria I could have skipped were super interesting (most people just do stuff they find boring? not everyone completely loses track of what they were saying as they’re saying it? it’s uncommon to spend tons of time daydreaming?!) and gave me a lot of insight into what people wanted from me all those years my high intelligence was obscuring a pressing need for diagnosis (I’m paraphrasing, but the book preeeetty much said that).
As my genius was never able to be recognised on a large scale as a pop star/professional bon vivant, I found the book’s practical illustrations of difficulties I encounter and tips for tackling them super helpful. Organisation (and that most elusive of concepts, ‘goals’) has never seemed so possible!
Contains the line ‘You haven’t developed the self-awareness to realise that for you walking into an antique store is like opening the gates of hell’ in the chapter about money management so YES I would say this was relevant to me.
Barkley breaks everything down in a way that doesn’t feel condescending or like sorry you’re incompetent! we’ll put this into many little bullet points because you’re just too dumb! but like hey you won’t want to do this! it will be annoying! but it will be possible and you can do it!
And I really responded to that! Even the parts about the diagnostic criteria I could have skipped were super interesting (most people just do stuff they find boring? not everyone completely loses track of what they were saying as they’re saying it? it’s uncommon to spend tons of time daydreaming?!) and gave me a lot of insight into what people wanted from me all those years my high intelligence was obscuring a pressing need for diagnosis (I’m paraphrasing, but the book preeeetty much said that).
As my genius was never able to be recognised on a large scale as a pop star/professional bon vivant, I found the book’s practical illustrations of difficulties I encounter and tips for tackling them super helpful. Organisation (and that most elusive of concepts, ‘goals’) has never seemed so possible!
May 15, 2019
Written by an actual medical specialist and not some dweeb that talks about "toxins" in their mental health clickbait article. It's a very relatable and helpful book with tons of good advice and strategies. Basically the ADHD Bible. Don't treat this like a textbook. If you put it down, come back to it after a while. Skip the chapters that don't apply to you. Do the activities and reflections and then reflect on your progress when you go back to the book after accidentally forgetting about it for months. It's probably the best book out there.
May 24, 2022
Last month I was diagnosed with ADHD and started down a rabbit hole reading about ADHD and this book was a truly awful read. The author paints a terrible picture of life with ADHD. According to him we are unsafe drivers, impulse spenders, cheaters, and incapable workers. Sure, there are some things you can do to help, but this disease is TERRIBLE.
For some people I'm sure this description is right but when I look at my life and the lives of most of the people I know with ADHD, it just doesn't match my experience. If you're turned off by the judgemental tone of this book, I recommend ADHD 2.0 : New Science and Essential Strategies for Thriving with Distraction—From Childhood Through Adulthood, which has more recent and relevant information. It's also written by someone with ADHD who celebrates the condition for the advantages it brings as well as the difficulties it comes with.
For some people I'm sure this description is right but when I look at my life and the lives of most of the people I know with ADHD, it just doesn't match my experience. If you're turned off by the judgemental tone of this book, I recommend ADHD 2.0 : New Science and Essential Strategies for Thriving with Distraction—From Childhood Through Adulthood, which has more recent and relevant information. It's also written by someone with ADHD who celebrates the condition for the advantages it brings as well as the difficulties it comes with.
July 19, 2023
If I had seen the publishing date before reading this, I may have skipped it. This book was clearly for someone with the more classic “male” adult adhd: talks and acts impulsively, quick to temper/fight, hyperactive, always fidgeting, etc. The best part of the book was the chapter with rules for ADHD, mainly the advice to keep a notebook with you at all times to everything down. Sure a phone could do the same thing, but having an analog journal can help getting distracted by other apps. The other bit of advice that I found helpful was the people with adhd have a hard time making big decisions or thinking through big projects in our head and he says you have to get it out of your head and in a physical form. As a writer, I think this could be very useful for thinking through plots and scenes. I could also see myself doing this for big life decisions. Those were the best pieces of advice from the book. I did find the chapter towards the end explaining the comorbidities that can accompany adhd interesting as well. Overall, I might recommend it for a man with adhd, but it was not super helpful for the more mild/masked female version of the disorder.
June 27, 2022
Fits the pattern of almost all ADHD books being awful, boring, and with ridiculous strategies. I was done with this book when it said people with ADHD would not benefit from insight oriented therapy or attend therapeutic groups where people complain. WTF? Everyone can benefit from gaining insight into themselves and what therapeutic groups are designed to let clients complain? He also advised ADHD folks put a hand over their mouths to stop them from being impulsive. I will never advise an ADHD client to do this. I am beyond tired of ADHD books with stupid strategies that don't work for neurodiverse brains.
May 27, 2021
با توجه به اینکه این اختلال در ایران خیلی ناشناخته ست و متاسفانه اکثر روانپزشکان بنام هم اونو بخوبی تشخیص نمیدند، برای شناخت اولیه خیلی خیلی کتاب مناسبیه، البته فکر کنم تنها کتابی در زمینه اختلال نقص توجه و بیش فعالی در بزرگسالان هست که ترجمه شده و من خوش شانس بودم که تونستم پیداش کنم
Read
January 13, 2022I genuinely don't think this book was written in a very ADHD-friendly way. Also most of this book was about brain science re: ADHD and much less about actually "taking charge" of it. Overall not the most helpful and difficult for me to finish.
March 27, 2018
While this was very informative and helpful, it does push medication very heavily
November 1, 2021
Clear, accessible, practical guide particularly helpful if you got your diagnosis as an adult and are still unpacking how your adhd impacts your life.
October 24, 2022
This book started off okay and then went downhill for me. I believe it could possibly be helpful for some people, but it was not particularly helpful for me. I think part of the problem I had with it is that it focused primarily on a very stereotypical hyperactive manifestation of ADHD from the male perspective and I cannot relate to that lived experience, so much of it was just not relevant for me. However, I had some other issues with it as well.
The author sometimes comes across as patronizing. At one point, I found myself thinking, “Does he really believe we are all so severely incapacitated that we cannot even ___?” It also seemed like he equates having ADHD with a lack of character and integrity and in his examples of women with ADHD, it started to feel like he was painting them all as floozies with zero self-control. He definitely broad-brushes people throughout the book. For example, on page 253, he says, “Because you have ADHD symptoms in place of innate conscientiousness, you’re…” I had a major problem with this because when tested by a psychologist with a Big 5 personality test, my trait conscientiousness tested notably above average. I have very high trait conscientiousness. To assume that I don’t just because I have an ADHD diagnosis is, honestly, kind of offensive.
Further, some of his recommendations seemed unrealistic. For example, one of his suggestions is to ask your supervisor at work if you can meet with them “several times a day” to keep you on track with getting your work done and reaching your goals. This kind of having to “report in” to someone multiple times each day, while perhaps a good strategy for some people, would drive me nuts and make me feel like I was being micromanaged. I can’t imagine a request to do so going over well with a supervisor who just wants me to get my work done, not babysit me. He also recommends having a parent manage your money for you. Keep in mind this book is directed to adults. Learning to manage your money well and responsibly is part of being a functioning adult and you are capable of doing it even if you have ADHD. It might take a little more effort and more frequent reminders to keep on top of it, but most people do not need to rely on their parents to do it for them. There are many resources Barkley could have recommended to help someone learn money management instead of recommending handing finances off to a parent. What about when one doesn’t have a living parent or a parent dies or gets sick and the responsibility falls back on you? Let’s not forget, too, that if you don’t want to learn do it yourself, you can hire a professional.
He definitely seems to paint people with ADHD quite negatively and stereotypically, i.e. not being able to pay bills on time, always speeding and driving recklessly, incapable of discipline or self-control, frequently overspending, addicted to substances, etc. I’m not saying these characteristics never describe anyone with ADHD, but neither I nor anyone I know with ADHD presents this way, so I think it is far from the stereotypical norm he seems to place on everyone.
Lastly, the author emphasizes evaluating sources of information and looking for citations when reading about ADHD, which is great, except that he doesn’t follow his own advice. He frequently makes claims that are not cited and in the back of the book where citations should be, he basically says the book is based on thousands of studies (none of which he bothers to cite), then recommends another of his books.
The section on medications is helpful if you have not yet become familiar with the different options currently available for treatment. The author definitely prefers this method of treatment and does not go into much detail on alternative methods for managing symptoms.
The author sometimes comes across as patronizing. At one point, I found myself thinking, “Does he really believe we are all so severely incapacitated that we cannot even ___?” It also seemed like he equates having ADHD with a lack of character and integrity and in his examples of women with ADHD, it started to feel like he was painting them all as floozies with zero self-control. He definitely broad-brushes people throughout the book. For example, on page 253, he says, “Because you have ADHD symptoms in place of innate conscientiousness, you’re…” I had a major problem with this because when tested by a psychologist with a Big 5 personality test, my trait conscientiousness tested notably above average. I have very high trait conscientiousness. To assume that I don’t just because I have an ADHD diagnosis is, honestly, kind of offensive.
Further, some of his recommendations seemed unrealistic. For example, one of his suggestions is to ask your supervisor at work if you can meet with them “several times a day” to keep you on track with getting your work done and reaching your goals. This kind of having to “report in” to someone multiple times each day, while perhaps a good strategy for some people, would drive me nuts and make me feel like I was being micromanaged. I can’t imagine a request to do so going over well with a supervisor who just wants me to get my work done, not babysit me. He also recommends having a parent manage your money for you. Keep in mind this book is directed to adults. Learning to manage your money well and responsibly is part of being a functioning adult and you are capable of doing it even if you have ADHD. It might take a little more effort and more frequent reminders to keep on top of it, but most people do not need to rely on their parents to do it for them. There are many resources Barkley could have recommended to help someone learn money management instead of recommending handing finances off to a parent. What about when one doesn’t have a living parent or a parent dies or gets sick and the responsibility falls back on you? Let’s not forget, too, that if you don’t want to learn do it yourself, you can hire a professional.
He definitely seems to paint people with ADHD quite negatively and stereotypically, i.e. not being able to pay bills on time, always speeding and driving recklessly, incapable of discipline or self-control, frequently overspending, addicted to substances, etc. I’m not saying these characteristics never describe anyone with ADHD, but neither I nor anyone I know with ADHD presents this way, so I think it is far from the stereotypical norm he seems to place on everyone.
Lastly, the author emphasizes evaluating sources of information and looking for citations when reading about ADHD, which is great, except that he doesn’t follow his own advice. He frequently makes claims that are not cited and in the back of the book where citations should be, he basically says the book is based on thousands of studies (none of which he bothers to cite), then recommends another of his books.
The section on medications is helpful if you have not yet become familiar with the different options currently available for treatment. The author definitely prefers this method of treatment and does not go into much detail on alternative methods for managing symptoms.
October 18, 2021
Would definitely not recommend, whether for people with ADHD or for people seeking to understand people with ADHD.
The author is certainly an eminent researcher, but the book sometimes uses pretty stigmatizing language; the examples given are often of really intense presentations of ADHD (so a great way to reinforce your stereotypes if you're trying to educate yourself about ADHD, and not very helpful for making sure people who have less obvious ADHD get successfully diagnosed and treated); and the strategies in the book are nothing special, particularly if impulsivity isn't the main way your ADHD manifests.
The book also doesn't do a great job of covering the internal experience of ADHD, and consequently doesn't do a great job of looking at the ways in which ADHD may manifest differently in people who aren't white men (from what I've read, women of all races, and men of colour, are more likely to have a presentation of ADHD that's more about internal distress and chaos than external distress and chaos).
Barkley talks a lot about "the life you deserve" and I'm here to tell you that the life you deserve involves a life in which you don't read this book ;)
(For those looking for something better: I don't have another book recommendation, but try How To ADHD on YouTube for something a bit more cheerful.)
The author is certainly an eminent researcher, but the book sometimes uses pretty stigmatizing language; the examples given are often of really intense presentations of ADHD (so a great way to reinforce your stereotypes if you're trying to educate yourself about ADHD, and not very helpful for making sure people who have less obvious ADHD get successfully diagnosed and treated); and the strategies in the book are nothing special, particularly if impulsivity isn't the main way your ADHD manifests.
The book also doesn't do a great job of covering the internal experience of ADHD, and consequently doesn't do a great job of looking at the ways in which ADHD may manifest differently in people who aren't white men (from what I've read, women of all races, and men of colour, are more likely to have a presentation of ADHD that's more about internal distress and chaos than external distress and chaos).
Barkley talks a lot about "the life you deserve" and I'm here to tell you that the life you deserve involves a life in which you don't read this book ;)
(For those looking for something better: I don't have another book recommendation, but try How To ADHD on YouTube for something a bit more cheerful.)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 313 reviews