Delivered from distraction
"In 1994, Driven to Distraction sparked a revolution in our understanding of attention deficit disorder. Now a second revolution is under way in the approach to ADD, and the news is great. Drug therapies, our awareness of the role of diet and exercise, even the way we define the disorder-all are changing radically. In this new book, Drs. Edward M. Hallowell and John J. Ratey build on the breakthroughs of Driven to Distraction to offer a comprehensive and entirely up-to-date guide to living a rich and productive life with ADD." "Tailored expressly to ADD learning styles and attention spans, Delivered from Distraction provides accessible, engaging discussions of every aspect of the condition, including new diagnostic procedures; whether ADD runs in families; links between ADD and other conditions; ways people with ADD can free up their inner talents; the truth about the new drugs and how they work; exciting advances in nonpharmaceutical therapies; sexual problems associated with ADD and how to resolve them; and strategies for dealing with procrastination, clutter, and chronic forgetfulness. Delivered from Distraction is a wise, nurturing guide to releasing the positive energy that all people with ADD hold inside. Book jacket."--Jacket.
Stats for nerds
18recommend
27mentions
24people
2010–2026years
74% recommend26% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- I found several Dr. Ned Hallowell's books helpful, see https://drhallowell.com/read/books-by-ned/ in particular "Delivered from Distraction" and "Answers to Distraction."
The Amen Clinics use PET scans of the brain to differentiate between seven types of ADD: https://www.amenclinics.com/conditions/adhd-add/ You may find these write-ups helpful in refining your understanding. Dr. Amen has a book that I found helpful https://www.amazon.com/Healing-ADD-Revised-Breakthrough-Prog...
I don't take stimulants beyond caffeine, I meditate most days at least once a day, which I find helpful, as well as not stay up too late. I keep a pad of paper by my bed to capture ideas. Working to music seems to help.
If you get a lot of ideas, you should reconcile yourself to only acting on a small fraction of them and worry less about all of the possibilities.
I try to take care to keep the commitments that I make, writing them down and tracking them. And here it is important to keep a close track.
I may be less impaired than you are, although many people have noticed I seem to get a lot of ideas. I collaborated with a partner on a book once, and at one point, about halfway through, he was frustrated with me and said, "You are a geyser of ideas. We don't need more ideas, we need to complete what we set out to do."
- For ADD I recommend "Delivered from Distraction" by Edward Hallowell, it has a lot of advice about finding ADD specific strategies for learning things and developing habits. I can't really think of a way to summarize, I strongly recommend just reading it.
- I’d recommend the book “Delivered From Distraction”. It’s written in a relatively ADHD friendly way and the first chapter or two explains a bit more about the condition and will likely give you enough of a feeling as to whether it would be worth pursuing a diagnosis. (“ADHD 2.0” is also good and is a more recent book by the same author).
I get the concern about the NHS (private support options are available too if that’s an option for you) but I would definitely try to move past any stigma concerns - no one cares (in a good way) :) personally I don’t think it’s a big deal and that shouldn’t get in your way of pursuing answers if that’s the right path for you to take.
- I built up pretty good ADHD for schoolwork tasks after years of practice, and I was good at schoolwork, so if I wasted hours of time, I could still get things done quickly. Working in tech, many of these habits carried over - like spending a day daydreaming, then leveraging adrenaline and all-nighters to catch up on work.
For me, the bigger struggle came late-college/post-college when I had to manage boring and diverse real-life tasks, like acquiring the right documentation to go to the DMV for a new license. I paid crazy numbers of late fees and came close to some serious real-world consequences here. Getting treatment, reading Delivered from Distraction, and leaning on friends/partners made a really big difference. I'm now in my 40s and life things are very safe, stable, and happy (though I'm still constantly distracted).
I guess I'm writing this (from a throwaway) to say - don't feel like your problems are invalid just because you coped ok until your 20s!
- Your post tells me you may be suffering from ADHD. Consider reading this book: Delivered from Distraction: Getting the Most Out of Life with Attention Deficit Disorder Paperback – 27 Dec. 2005 by M D Edward M Hallowell M D (Author), John J Ratey (Author)
If it strikes a chord, think of seeing your doctor about this.
- Not the gp, but:
The book Delivered From Distraction has helped a few people I know understand that they are not neurotypical.
This podcast opened my eyes: https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2020/nov/13/adrian-ch...
Related
Driven to distraction
34 recommend · 58
ADHD 2. 0
11 recommend · 17
The distracted mind
3 recommend · 9
Focusing
9 recommend · 19
2011–2018
Recognizing and Coping with Attention Deficit Disorder from Childhood Through Adulthood
2 recommend · 2
Stolen Focus
28 recommend · 55
Attached
recommend · 12
