Attention Deficit Disorder: The Unfocused Mind in Children and Adults (Yale University Press Health & Wellness) [Hardcover]

"an attractive and accessible account... People struggling with problems of organising themselves and concentrating will find much here to help them know and overcome their difficulties." - Professor Eric Taylor, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London

Myths about Attention Deficit Disorder/Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADD/ADHD) abound. This disorder frequently goes unrecognised, and even when diagnosed may be inadequately treated. In this up-to-date and clearly written book, a leading expert offers a new way of understanding ADD. Drawing on recent findings in neuroscience and a rich variety of case histories from his own clinical practice, Dr. Thomas E. Brown describes what ADD syndrome is, how it can be recognised at different ages and how it can best be treated. This is the first book to address the perplexing question about ADD - how can individuals, some very bright, be chronically unable to 'pay attention', yet be able to focus very well on specific tasks that strongly interest them? Dr. Brown disputes the 'willpower' explanation and explains how inherited malfunctions of the brain's management system prevent some people from being able to deal adequately with challenging tasks of childhood, adolescence and adulthood. His book is an authoritative and practical guide for physicians and psychologists, parents and teachers, and the 7 to 9 percent of persons who suffer from ADD/ADHD.

Thomas E. Brown, Ph.D., is assistant clinical professor of psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, and associate director of the Yale Clinic for Attention and Related Disorders. He is author of the Brown Attention Deficit Disorder Scales for Children, Adolescents and Adults and editor of a textbook, Attention Deficit Disorders and Comorbidities in Children, Adolescents and Adults.