Scattered Minds: The Origins and Healing of Attention Deficit Disorder

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • The breakthrough guide to understanding, treating, and healing attention deficit disorder, from renowned mental health expert and speaker, Dr. Gabor Maté.

With a new preface by the author.

From the bestselling author of When the Body Says No and The Myth of Normal, Scattered Minds explodes the myth of attention deficit disorder (ADD/ADHD) as genetically based—and offers real hope and advice for children and adults who live with the condition. In it, Maté, who himself is diagnosed with ADD:

• Demonstrates that the condition is not a genetic "illness" but a response to environmental stress, and how "distractibility" is the psychological product of life experience;
• Explains how ADD/ADHD can arise when circuits in the brain whose job is emotional self-regulation and attention control can fail to develop in infancy—and why;
• Allows parents to understand what makes their children with ADD/ADHD tick, and helps adults with ADD/ADHD gain insights into their emotions and behaviours;
• Expresses optimism about neurological development even in adulthood;
• Presents a program of how to promote this development in both children and adults

…and much more.

Maté gives voice to the painful realities of ADD/ADHD and its effect on children as well as on careers and social paths in adults. Moving beyond "genetic risk," he focuses on the things we can control: changes in environment, family dynamics, and parenting choices. He draws heavily on his own experience with the disorder, as someone diagnosed with ADD and as the parent of three diagnosed children.

Providing a thorough overview of ADD/ADHD and its treatments, Scattered Minds is essential and life-changing reading for parents and the millions of diagnosed adults in North America today.