Scattered Minds: The Origins And Healing Of Attention Deficit Disorder

Scattered Minds explodes the myth of attention deficit disorder as genetically based – and offers real hope and advice for children and adults who live with the condition. Gabor Maté is a revered physician who specializes in neurology, psychiatry and psychology – and himself has ADD. With wisdom gained through years of medical practice and research, Scattered Minds is a must-read for parents – and for anyone interested how experiences in infancy shape the biology and psychology of the human brain. This book demonstrates that ADD is not an inherited illness, but a reversible impairment and developmental delay. It explains that in ADD, circuits in the brain whose job is emotional self-regulation and attention control fail to develop in infancy – and why. It shows how ‘distractibility’ is the psychological product of life experience. It allows parents to understand what makes their ADD children tick, and adults with ADD to gain insights into their emotions and behaviours. It expresses optimism about neurological development even in adulthood. It presents a programme of how to promote this development in both children and adults.