ADHD 2.0: New Science and Essential Strategies for Thriving with Distraction--from Childhood through Adulthood - book cover
  • Publisher : Ballantine Books
  • Published : 04 Jan 2022
  • Pages : 208
  • ISBN-10 : 0399178740
  • ISBN-13 : 9780399178740
  • Language : English

ADHD 2.0: New Science and Essential Strategies for Thriving with Distraction--from Childhood through Adulthood

A revolutionary new approach to ADD/ADHD featuring cutting-edge research and strategies to help readers thrive, by the bestselling authors of the seminal books Driven to Distraction and Delivered from Distraction

"An inspired road map for living with a distractible brain . . . If you or your child suffer from ADHD, this book should be on your shelf. It will give you courage and hope."-Michael Thompson, Ph.D., New York Times bestselling co-author of Raising Cain

World-renowned authors Dr. Edward M. Hallowell and Dr. John J. Ratey literally "wrote the book" on ADD/ADHD more than two decades ago. Their bestseller, Driven to Distraction, largely introduced this diagnosis to the public and sold more than a million copies along the way.

Now, most people have heard of ADHD and know someone who may have it. But lost in the discussion of both childhood and adult diagnosis of ADHD is the potential upside: Many hugely successful entrepreneurs and highly creative people attribute their achievements to ADHD. Also unknown to most are the recent research developments, including innovations that give a clearer understanding of the ADHD brain in action. In ADHD 2.0, Drs. Hallowell and Ratey, both of whom have this "variable attention trait," draw on the latest science to provide both parents and adults with ADHD a plan for minimizing the downside and maximizing the benefits of ADHD at any age. They offer an arsenal of new strategies and lifestyle hacks for thriving with ADHD, including

Find the right kind of difficult. Use these behavior assessments to discover the work, activity, or creative outlet best suited to an individual's unique strengths.
Reimagine environment. What specific elements to look for-at home, at school, or in the workplace-to enhance the creativity and entrepreneurial spirit inherent in the ADHD mind.
• Embrace innate neurological tendencies. Take advantage of new findings about the brain's default mode network and cerebellum, which confer major benefits for people with ADHD.
• Tap into the healing power of connection. Tips for establishing and maintaining positive connection "the other Vitamind C" and the best antidote to the negativity that plagues so many people with ADHD.
• Consider medication. Gets the facts about the underlying chemistry, side effects, and proven benefits of all the pharmaceutical options.

As inspiring as it is practical, ADHD 2.0 will help you tap into the power of this mercurial condition and find the key that unlocks potential.

Editorial Reviews

"Hallowell writes with clarity and humanity. . . . [ADHD 2.0] is a message of hope . . . a remarkably clear, personable, digestible and useful book."-Dr. Lloyd Sederer, Psychology Today

"Beautifully written, ADHD 2.0 is an inspired road map for living with a distractible brain. Two psychiatrists who have ADHD themselves combine the most recent brain science with humor, stories, and deep wisdom about how to manage your fluctuating attention. If you or your child suffer from ADHD, this book should be on your shelf. It will give you courage and hope."-Michael Thompson, Ph.D., New York Times bestselling co-author of Raising Cain

"Infinitely validating, effortlessly funny, and staggeringly insightful . . . This book will save lives."-Jessica McCabe, creator/host of How to ADHD

"I love the optimism and hope this timely book offers.. . . . Drs. Hallowell and Ratey draw upon the latest neuroscience as well as other key research fields to offer a comprehensive and helpful approach to living fully and happily with ADHD. . . . Highly recommended."-Peter S. Jensen, M.D., founder, The REACH Institute

"As both a clinician and someone with ADHD, I found this book to be a reassuring masterpiece. Drs. Hallowell and Ratey combine evidence-based practice and research to help those with ADHD live a fulfilled and happy life. I will recommend it to my patients."-Kristin Seymour, M.S.N., R.N., ADHD coach

"With knowledge and empathy, Drs. Hallowell and Ratey have written a book that draws on the latest scientific advances and their decades of clinical experience. Most important, ADHD 2.0 provides hope; it is a must-read for anyone who has or loves a person with this very common condition."-Harold S. Koplewicz, M.D., president and medical director, Child Mind Institute, and author of The Scaffold Effect

"This information-packed guide is a must-have for anyone dealing with ADHD."-Publishers Weekly

Readers Top Reviews

Sarah ParkmanXenaver
Clearly written to give a good insight into ADHD
aVeryVeryLongTime H
I'm confused..... this book seems oddly different than authors' prior works....... :-( :-( :-( Now.... my bookmark is at 3/4ers and the authors say something like "go out and have a good life." What? I'm at the end of the book? YUP! The remaining 1/4 is fluff. AND THIS IS A THIN BOOK TO BEGIN WITH OF T-W-O AUTHORS' work. <([See pix])> Bless the doctors for their previous work which was profuse, in CONTRAST to this sparse 2.0. But.... "every brain has to find its own way in life," right? I'll conject their deadline was the 2020 elections.... and, so, their purpose????? Could their purpose be their chapter on E-N-V-I-R-O-N-M-E-N-T-S that the authors say either (1) exacerbates or (2) placates ADHD symptoms? And could such favorable environments uniquely and profusely manifest in upper-levels of caucasian heredity simply because of this heredity? Or are these more cultured peoples (heredity), in reality, be of pragmatically LEARNED sensitivities to experienced negative stimulus and so to stringently be avoided? It strikes me that the message the authors intend is that those who gain favor, in some way, like higher education, are labeled from putting the less fortunate in an arena of being described as offensive, despicable and deplorable. That when my hard work [or my ancesters or theirs'] achieves life's improvements then I simultaneously get awarded the negative title of "privileged." As if I don't deserve what I worked for? Should I be penalized for advancing myself? Climbing the proverbial ladder of success is, in reality, DESERVED damnation according to these authors?
Kari Gormley
Dr. Ned Hallowell and Dr. John Ratey have done it again and have written an empowering book! The "fathers" of Adult ADHD show how reframing a disorder to VAST, Variable Attention Sustainability Trait, can help you rewire your ADHD and make it a superpower. What is unique about this book is the doctors share new neuroscience research that shows how you can rewire your brain, even more research about the importance of exercise, and updated information about medication. There are many inspiring stories plus resources that can help you strengthen your bicycle breaks for your Ferrari mind. ADHD 2.0 is a concise, empowering, and entertaining book that I hope everyone would receive when getting an ADHD diagnosis.
H
This book will absolutely save lives. It’s the first book I have read to the very end in a decade. I think it is the beginning of changing my life. I learned so much about myself and how my brain works. By knowing how things really work, it makes living adhd so much less terrible. Lot of practice moving forward but this book has a lot of practical information for people with adhd.
TOTSUKA
With ADHD 2.0, Hallowell and Ratey did it again! If Driven to Distraction was the Old Testament that set up the story, ADHD 2.0 is the New Testament that offers the solution, one that includes minimizing the downside and maximizing the benefits of living with ADHD. It is now my #1 strength-focused ADHD resource. It's written for the ADHD brain so it's concise and to the point. No one page paragraphs here! The science (and there's plenty of exciting new research and innovations discussed) is presented in a way that is interesting and easy to understand. I loved learning new information about the brain, specifically on the task positive network and default mode network and how when we're in action it's when we feel best, the cerebellum connection and balance and the importance of connection for our ADHD brains. ADHD 2.0 left me inspired and full of optimism, hope and positive emotion which is exactly what our brains need to be wildly successful.

Short Excerpt Teaser

Chapter 1

A Spectrum of Traits

Who are we, the people who have ADHD?

We are the problem kid who drives his parents crazy by being totally disorganized, unable to follow through on anything, incapable of cleaning up a room, or washing dishes, or performing just about any assigned task; the one who is forever interrupting, making excuses for work not done, and generally functioning far below potential in most areas. We are the kid who gets daily lectures on how we're squandering our talent, wasting the golden opportunity that our innate ability gives us to do well, and failing to make good use of all that our parents have provided.

We are also sometimes the talented executive who keeps falling short due to missed deadlines, forgotten obligations, social faux pas, and blown opportunities. Too often we are the addicts, the misfits, the unemployed, and the criminals who are just one diagnosis and treatment plan away from turning it all around. We are the people Marlon Brando spoke for in the classic 1954 film On the Waterfront when he said, "I coulda been a contender." So many of us coulda been contenders, and shoulda been for sure.

But then, we can also make good. Can we ever! We are the seemingly tuned-out meeting participant who comes out of nowhere to provide the fresh idea that saves the day. Frequently, we are the "underachieving" child whose talent blooms with the right kind of help and finds incredible success after a checkered educational record. We are the contenders and the winners.

We are also imaginative and dynamic teachers, preachers, circus clowns, and stand-up comics, Navy SEALs or Army Rangers, inventors, tinkerers, and trend setters. Among us there are self-made millionaires and billionaires; Pulitzer and Nobel prize winners; Academy, Tony, Emmy, and Grammy award winners; topflight trial attorneys, brain surgeons, traders on the commodities exchange, and investment bankers. And we are often entrepreneurs. We are entrepreneurs ourselves, and the great majority of the adult patients we see for ADHD are or aspire to be entrepreneurs too. The owner and operator of an entrepreneurial support company called Strategic Coach, a man named Dan Sullivan (who also has ADHD!), estimates that at least 50 percent of his clients have ADHD as well.

Because people with ADHD don't look any different from everyone else, our condition is invisible. But if you were to climb up into our heads, you'd discover quite a different landscape. You'd find ideas firing around like kernels in a popcorn machine: ideas coming rat-a-tat fast, and on no discernable schedule. Ideas coming in spontaneous, erratic bursts. And because we can't turn this particular popcorn machine off, we are often unable to stop the idea generation at night; our minds never seem to rest.

Indeed, our minds are here and there and everywhere-all at once-which sometimes manifests as appearing to be somewhere else, in some dreamy state. And that means we often miss the proverbial (or literal!) boat. But then maybe we build an airplane or grab a pogo stick instead. We tune out in the middle of a job interview and don't get the job, but perhaps we see a poster hanging in the human resources waiting room that sparks a new idea that leads us to a patented invention. We offend people by forgetting names and promises, but we make good by understanding what nobody else has picked up on. We shoot ourselves in the foot, only, on the spot, to devise a painless method to remove the bullet. The great mathematician Alan Turing summed us up when he said, "Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of who do the things no one can imagine." That sums us up perfectly.

Which is to say that ADHD is a far richer, more complicated, paradoxical, dangerous, but also potentially advantageous state of being than the oversimplified version most of the general public takes it to be or than even the detailed diagnostic criteria would have you believe. "ADHD" is a term that describes a way of being in the world. It is neither entirely a disorder nor entirely an asset. It is an array of traits specific to a unique kind of mind. It can become a distinct advantage or an abiding curse, depending on how a person manages it.

The Lunatic, the Lover, and the Poet

As different as ADHD can be from person to person, there are several qualities that seem nearly universal to people with it. Distractibility, impulsivity, and hyperactivity are the classic descriptors, but they find what we think are richer and more apt counterparts in Shakespeare's musing about "the lunatic, the lover, and the poet."

Having ADHD doesn't mean you're crazy, so admittedly "lunatic" may be too strong a word. But risk taking and irrational thinking go h...