Driven to Distraction: Recognizing and Coping with Attention Deficit Disorder

by Edward M. Hallowell

management have been very helpful in keeping me on track. I reread them every so often. I have been thinking more about the issue of my father: the last I wrote to you was that I couldn’t imagine wanting a relationship with a father. Since then I have noticed that I have a desire to relate to some of the older “father figures” in my life, ones that are somewhat of a kindred spirit to me. And, probably, as I rethink it, my father, his sister, and my sister have ADD or something like it. A while back I dreamed I was in the house I grew up in. I was furiously angry at a woman who has been somewhat like an older sister to me. She is a very efficient person who can keep track of ten things at once. I think that she represented my mother, who cared for me but didn’t understand me. Perhaps the greatest benefit that has come since discovering that my husband and I have ADD is that we can understand each other. Previously, I felt that my friends understood me much more than he did. Since finding out about ADD and getting treatment, he is much happier, more productive, more accepting of himself, and easier to talk to. He used to be like a machine that tried to give answers; now I feel that he is the person who understands me the most. As in children, ADD in adults occurs on a wide spectrum. There are severe