Scattered Minds

Even though it's twenty five years old now, Gabor Maté's Scattered Minds remains a clear and compelling explanation of ADHD and a useful guide to what to do about it. I have a vested interest in this topic because my family has informally diagnosed my husband with (mild, manageable) ADHD tendencies. Maté himself and all his children have been diagnosed with ADD and he is breathtakingly honest about his own shortcomings as a parent as a result of the disorder.

Maté's thesis is that ADHD is the result of the infant brain failing to fully develop self-regulation, leading to the distractability, impulsivity and restlessness that are characteristic of the disorder (Maté doesn't like the term 'disorder.') A good portion of the book is devoted to exploring the concepts of attunement and attachment in parenting, which Maté believes lies at the root of the hyper-sensitivity and failure to develop self-regulation. This is familiar territory, thanks to our long-ago family therapist who was very keen on attachment. There doesn't have to be dramatic trauma for parent-child attachment to be insecure; there are all kinds of reasons why a parent might be unable to respond completely to their baby (depression, illness, instability in their lives).

Scattered Minds is highly readable and packed with good advice for parents of ADHD kids, and adults with ADHD who are now able to parent themselves and fill that gap that formed in childhood. Maté also includes an even-handed discussion of medication and what it can and cannot do; though he has taken medication himself and supported his children doing the same, he is no Ritalin cheerleader and advises caution before prescribing.