Reddit reviews Scattered: How Attention Deficit Disorder Originates and What You Can Do About It
We found 11 Reddit comments about Scattered: How Attention Deficit Disorder Originates and What You Can Do About It. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Plume Books
Scattered Minds by Gabor Mate
Thorough, engaging background information w/ an underappreciated view on the origins behind ADHD and, most importantly, comprehensive 'what to do' chapters at the end.
One of Maté's main and least known points is that our bodies remember our early childhood experiences much better than our conscious awareness in the present-day. He was an early pioneer of the idea that ADHD is strongly related to attachment during infancy, back when most MD's thought it was predominantly genetic.
Anyway, hope that helps and best of luck with whatever resource(s) you go with.
Hey dude.
I can relate quite a bit.
I have the attention span of a gnat on cocaine, so I can definitely relate to the overall tone of your post.
I am going to give you a different perspective than all the other commenters...
Here are my initial impressions:
1.) I am guessing your job is not 100% predictable and there's a decent amount of unpredictability in the day to day activities? That's probably why you are doing fine in that role. Also, since you also run the risk of losing your paycheck (i.e: loss aversion) if you don't perform provides you with a decent incentive to keep showing up and producing results.
2.) Regarding your difficulty of learning and motivation: This provides more evidence about your ADD tendencies. It's not that you are not motivated or don't want to learn, it's just that your brain is wired to chase shiny objects. If you are not stimulated in conversation, work, or any other task at hand - no matter how important others deem it to be, you simply TUNE OUT.
3.) Based on everything you've said thus far, I am going to put forth the following theory:
You grew up in a very dysfunctional / precarious family environment and your relationship with your parents aren't the best. If anything, this was certainly the case in the first few years after you were born. ADD/ADHD is not a disorder, rather, it is a phenotype.
Actually, it's more accurate to say attunement deficit disorder than attention deficit disorder because one of the biggest factors of it is from your mother not giving you proper attention as a baby.
I am also going to guess that you have underdeveloped emotional circuitry as a result of emotional neglect as a child.
This is all related to ADD/ADHD. The area of your brain (pre-frontal cortex and orbitofrontal cortex) that deals with emotional regulation is heavily underdeveloped.
How do I know all of this shit? Because I've spent a decent amount of time trying to understand my own characteristics and it sounds quite similar to yours.
To confirm these theories, I highly recommend that you read or listen to the audiobook version(s) of these books:
..Especially Running on Empty by Jonice Webb.
Here's why: Unlike physical or sexual abuse, it is extremely difficult and subtle to know if you've been emotionally neglected as a child. The reason is that the former is an event that happened (i.e: my dad spanked me) and the latter is an event that didn't happen.
Since you have no reference or experience of what emotional assurance feels like, you don't know if you've been neglected emotionally as a child AFTER you are an adult.
Rather, the symptoms show up as being distracted, ADD, depression, alienation, loneliness etc..
Take this test and if any of the above books confirm my theories, look into the work of Alice Miller and listen to everything she says.
With that said, DON'T GIVE INTO THE UNREALISTIC PRESSURE OF WANTING TO BE AN ENTREPRENEUR.
Because, in the grand scheme of things, it's not a big deal. Not only that, when you read /r/Entrepreneur and see a 23-year-old making half a million dollars from a business he started 6-months ago, you are going to feel even shittier if you are so attached to being an entrepreneur.
Remember:
On and on....
Take care of your mental health first.
And remember, ADD or being distracted is NOT a disorder, it's a phenotype. (or as I like to call it: Multifocus) -- What you need to do is figure out how to use your tendencies to your benefit and design your life around it.
We have sensationalized the idea of being an Entrepreneur so much so that, all we hear about are successes (i.e: Survivorship bias).
What no one talks about is the psychological toll and the number of suicides that happen as a result of the unrealistic (self-imposed) pressure of wanting to succeed as an Entrepreneur. For example, Austen Heinz was running an incredibly successful startup and abruptly killed himself.
Your happiness and sense of self should be 100% derived from within.
The moment you start basing that on external factors, you are likely going to go down the wrong road.
RELAX.
You got plenty of time.
This ain't a sprint.
It turns out parents are people that can be wrong, sometimes horribly wrong.
Keep pursuing it on your own despite their protest. What is the appointment for? ADHD testing? Psych eval? other?
Good for you for pursuing this on your own.
I like passages from this book: https://www.amazon.com/Scattered-Attention-Deficit-Disorder-Originates/dp/0452279631 It's an old book, so you might be able to get it from your local public library.
This book was an awesome read on ADHD and general relationship formation/detachment.
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The link isn't working for me when embedded in the reddit frames. Also, in the future, you can strip off all the extra encoding after the dp/#'s like this http://www.amazon.com/Scattered-Attention-Deficit-Disorder-Originates/dp/0452279631
The book IS 12 years old...and a lot of advancement has been made since then...but the book is solid.
I saw Gabor Mate speak at an ADHD conference a couple years ago. His view is ADHD is caused by nurture, typically a stressful experience or event while growing up. When he said this I saw a lot of nods (surprisingly) in the crowd.
His background is dealing with addicts in Vancouver BC so this might have influenced him. He has ADHD himself as well.
I'm glad I could help. Sounds like you're attacking the problem from all angles, which is great. I found this book "Scattered"
by Gabor Mate (https://www.amazon.com/Scattered-Attention-Deficit-Disorder-Originates/dp/0452279631) a helpful supplement to my therapy. It examines ADHD from an emotional and developmental perspective, rather than a chemical perspective, so it was useful to me in better understanding my own behaviors and reactions to events.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0452279631/qid%253D962679148/sr%253D1-2/scatteredmind-20
Sorry, I'm Canadian -- looks like the American title is different. That Amazon page says it's in stock. There are lots of good books out there, but I found that this one covers a lot of aspects that others don't get into much.
I think it was probably this one by Dr. mate: http://www.amazon.com/Scattered-Attention-Deficit-Disorder-Originates/dp/0452279631. I didn't really agree with everything Dr. Mate said, but it was still very interesting. His theory is that we're all victims of stress or something like that. I think stress is relevant, but I'm not sure it's the root cause really the way he thinks. I'm pretty sure though that he is the one who really emphasized how sensitive we are. I also watched some videos by him. Another very short, interesting read is an article about "orchid children" I read somewhere .... it's based on some studies that suggest that we have genes that make us unusually vulnerable to our environment, which in a way is kind of similar to what Dr. Mate is saying (but is much more scientific). I've also read some stuff by Ned Hallowell and Russell Barkley. I am fairly certain Dr. Barkley does NOT emphasize the "sensitive" nature thing, but Dr. Hallowell might have.
I am coming to this thread really late - but everything you describe matches ADD closer than you think. I highly recommend this book (not self-help, dont worry ;)
http://www.amazon.com/Scattered-Attention-Deficit-Disorder-Originates/dp/0452279631
Anyone reading this who relates will be floored by reading this.
Don't forget that www.yourbrainonporn.com is very popular because it shows WHAT, but not why. We know "what" as far as the interaction of a superstimulous, but not why people medicate. The addiction part. The trauma part. That's what's important,
The origin is trauma.
Check out this amazing theme...on attention defecit disorder:
http://www.amazon.com/Scattered-Attention-Deficit-Disorder-Originates/dp/0452279631
I just read an awesome book by a Doctor who is an ADHD father with ADHD kids. It is Scattered:How Attention Deficit Disorder Originates and What You Can Do About It by Gabor Mate He talks a lot about the various ways to help beyond just "get them organized" and medication (which he discusses briefly at the end of the book). The main point is to be there for them and love them unconditionally. But you may want to read the book to see what he means by that. I found it in my local library.