100 Questions & Answers About Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in Women and Girls

by Patricia O. Quinn

If You Are A Woman Who Has Been Diagnosed With Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Or The Parent Of A Girl With The Condition, This Book Offers Help. 100 Questions & Answers About Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) In Women And Girls Provides Authoritative, Practical Answers To Common Questions About This Disorder. Written By A Renowned ADHD Specialist, This Book Presents Important Information About Common Symptoms, The Diagnosis Process, Management, And Sources Of Support For Women And Girls With ADHD. An Invaluable Resource, This Book Provides The Necessary Tools For Anyone Coping With The Emotional Turmoil Caused By ADHD.

Genres: Adhd, Nonfiction, Self Help, Psychology, Mental Health, Health

242 pages, Paperback

First published October 12, 2010

About the author

Patricia Quinn, MD, is a developmental pediatrician in Washington, D.C., and a clinical assistant professor of Pediatrics at the Georgetown University Medical Center. Dr. Quinn specializes in child development and psychopharmacology and has worked for over 30 years in the areas of AD/HD and learning disabilities. She gives workshops nationwide and has published widely in these fields.

Dr. Quinn is the author of several books on AD/HD and is currently the director of the National Center for Girls and Women with ADHD. In 2000, Dr. Quinn received the CHADD Hall of Fame Award.

Reviews

[EMMA · Rating 4 out of 5]

ADHD
اختلال بیش فعالی توام با نارسایی توجه و تمرکز که یک عارضه مادام العمری است که نشانه های آن به بیش فعالی، پر تحرکی، حواس پرتی، رفتارهای آنی و فقدان تمرکز نرمال اشاره کرد. این مشکل ناشی از عدم تعادل مواد شیمایی مغز یعنی دوپامین ناشی میشود.
در صورت ابتلای زن به علت کج اندیشی جامع در قیاس مردان زنان باید بهای مضاعفی پرداخت کنند چون از عوارض و نشانه های این اختلال پرتحرکی، بیش فعالی، رقابت جویی، ریسک پذیری، پرخاشگری و مخاطره جویی است. در حالیکه انتظارات جنسیتی از زنان میخواهد آدم های منظم، قانون گرا و بردبار باشند. در حالیکه جامعه در برابر این ویژگی های مردان انعطاف بیشتری نشان میدهد.
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کتاب به این میپردازه که این اختلال دقیقا به چه معناست و چه تاثیراتی روی زندگی فرد میذاره و این اختلال در زنان در مقایسه با مردان چه عوارض بیشتری به همراه داره.
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نقص توجه منشا عصبی، بیولوژیکی و ژنتیکی دارد پس اشخاص نباید هرگز مسئولیت این محدودیت های ذاتیشان را بپذیرند و بدین وسیله درگیر ناخود پذیری زندگی سوز شوند. با اتخاذ راهکارهای مناسب تا سر حد امکان مشکل آفرینی این عوارض را در زندگیشان مهار کنند و این دستاوردهای بزرگ تنها با نگاه متفاوت به این مشکل پدید میاید.
فرد باید از طریق خودشناسی بر روی توانایی ها و قابلیتهایی دست بگذارد که به سرعت شکوفا شده و در عین حال با بیشترین بازتاب روحی و خودباورانه همراه باشد تا بتواند ناتوانایی های دیگرش را بی رنگ کند.
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با پیشرفت تکنولوژی بسیاری از بیماری های روحی و جسمی قابل تشخیص هستند اما در مورد این اختلال صدق نمیکنند یعنی این اختلال بر اساسنشانه های گویایی که در کارکرد طبیعی و روزانه فرد اختلال ایجاد کرده قابل تشخیص است.
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اگه حس میکنید دچار این اختلال هستید حتما به درمانگر مراجعه کنید و تا با دارو درمانی و مشاوره سطح زندگی خودتونو بالا ببرید. بهترین اتفاقی واسه کسی که دچار این اختلال هست اینکه بدونه واقعا دچار این اختلال بوده تو طول زندگیش و اون یه شخص ضعیف یا ناتوان نیست و بالاخره بعد سالها داشتن اعتماد به نفش و عزت نفس را تجربه کنه.

[Daphne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Helpful, non-judgmental book. A few recommendation miss the mark for me personally but those moments are far outweighed by the emotional resonance with so much spot-on info. I like the format which enables and encourages skipping around and over non-relevant information. This statement from the preface is important to me: “ADHD is, to say the least, a very heterogeneous disorder. Its presentations vary from individual to individual and can change over time depending on life circumstances. High IQ, extraordinary coping skills, and a supportive environment can mitigate its impact.”

[Arthaey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book read like an extended blog FAQ. Which you should probably expect from the title! It's a good introduction to a wide range of topics related to girls/women and ADHD, but you will have to go elsewhere for anything in-depth.

Brief Summary

ADHD affects distractibility, poor sense of time, forgetting important things, difficulty starting (scary) and stopping (fun) tasks, and even habits like interrupting.

Women are often diagnosed much later in life because they don't look like the old stereotype of hyper school boys. Their ADHD becomes apparent as adult responsibilities become more demanding. Because they are diagnosed after years of thinking they were just "lazy" (despite how hard and sincerely they tried), they often carry a lot of shame and tend to give up easily.

Medication makes a huge difference in being able to focus attention; executive function skills can then be practiced effectively to work around all the various issues caused by ADHD. ADHD is an explanation but not an excuse; the suffering can be dealt with but it requires lifelong treatment and commitment.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tons of information specifically for women and girls with ADHD that you only run across in bits and pieces elsewhere. Considers different ages and different ADHD subtypes, and even has a bit on potential upcoming changes to diagnostic criteria. Emphasizes symptoms over treatments, and can be a bit of a downer because of that. I don't think each and every female with ADHD has all of the symptoms to extreme, and you just have to keep that in mind as you read along.

[Darren Standar · Rating 5 out of 5]

This should be required reading for all women with ADHD—and their loved ones.

Dr. Patricia Quinn is a pioneer in ADHD, especially in women.

I also love this type of Q&A book. Makes it so much easier to focus on that specific topic and ignore those that don't apply to me.

[Alaina Cyr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great format to skim through to read questions you're most interested in. Has a straight bias in the "relationships" section, though I suppose that's not surprising for a book that conflates "women" and "female".
A good introductory explainer on a variety of challenges and traits of adhd.

[jennifer mcdaniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this was very helpful after my recent ADHD diagnosis, it was not exactly what I was looking for. But with that said, it is still a great quick resource to get quick answers for common questions and I’ll be keeping this in my shelf for quick reference.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dommage qu'il ne soit pas traduit en français. J'ai sauté les parties sur le couple et la parentalité.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful, informative, clear, and user-friendly. Great for people with ADHD and their parents. Includes lengthy lists of resources and references. Well-researched.

[Rachel Smalter Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a useful book, if not a very in-depth book. Which, maybe that should have been obvious from the title.

What I really wanted was a book with a lot of insight into the female ADHD mind, but the short Q&A format of 100 Questions & Answers... offered more of a brief overview of lots of things I had already been able to easily find on the Internet from resources like ADDitude and CHADD. Brief articles abound on the web, and now that I've read those, my hyper-focused brain is hungry for longer, deeper answers. The Q&A in this book also felt a bit repetitive and pedantic, honestly.

The other thing I didn't love about 100 Questions & Answers... is that it's tinged with conservative values and traditional gender role expectations that go unchallenged. It assumes that women are in heterosexual nuclear families and that they are the primary housekeepers, event planners, and childrearers in the home — roles that are especially challenging for ADHD women. I was kind of annoyed by the "well, maybe just ask your hubbie to chip in even though it's not his job?" attitude that I seemed to be picking up on in the book.

Lest I seem too harsh or critical, this did cover a lot of good ground and it was a fast, approachable read. I would recommend it to other ADHD women and their families who aren't as familiar or comfortable with researching issues on the Internet and would prefer to get a quick & dirty overview from one print resource at their fingertips.

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just recently I learned my daughter has ADD, we have been using behavior modification but sadly not much sucess. We are now looking at mediciation. Her therapist told me ADD shows in girls much differently than boys. So I read this book with high hopes of some answers. Instead I got a lot of insight into why/how my daughter behaves in her world. I have a new understanding of this disorder and new things to try that are bringing some success. At least I can relate to what she is expericing and how she reacts to it.