Scattered Minds: The Origins and Healing of Attention Deficit Disorder

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But what if this input is absent – what if this infant spends her early life in an emotional black box? Gabor Mate spells out how developmental trauma causes symptoms that are aggregated under the banner of ADHD, and does so with the sensitivity and understanding of someone with skin in the game. While he acknowledges the effect of the cultural situation, Maté focuses primarily on the imprint of the family - the closest unit of culture. De-pathologizes the diagnosis of ADD and puts in into the profoundly meaningful and useful context of the new understandings of the neurobiology of attachment. He dives into reductionist frameworks by exploring the neuroscience and neurochemistry of ADD, traverses the common ground of relationship dynamics that either foster growth or produce oppositionality/counterwill, and then expands his scope to cultural influences––a refreshingly broad and interdisciplinary journey.

Attunement, the emotional bond between child and caregiver, plays a critical role in cognitive development. Next it would be great to see a switch back away from detached parenting from babies (controlled crying , cry it out etc ) which has snowballed in the west with the pressures of the working parent .

I finished the book in less than 24 hours, ravenously, and i am left impressed and hungry for more of his words. Despite their best intentions, these stresses interfere with their ability to sustain attuned relationships with their children.

Those things are challenges for everyone, but they are excruciating for someone who has the misfortune of a certain set of developmental sensitivities and brain function challenges. And angry, I think, that mothers are once again (and let's be really clear here, he actively uses the word "mother" claimed as a placeholder for primary carer while also saying that anything other than the mother is a trauma. Dr Maté has written several bestselling books including When the Body Says No, Scattered Minds and co-authored Hold on to Your Kids.

We can start answering that question by clearing up a common misconception – that there’s a specific gene coding for ADD. Maté weaves brain science, case studies, personal testimony, and social critique into a powerful and kaleidoscopic look at one of our culture’s most perplexing epidemics. He says that ADHD reflects biological malfunctions in certain brain areas but many of its features are connected to a person’ physical and emotional experiences of the world. In 1935, the average worker had 40 hours of free time a week; by 1990, free time was down to just 17 hours.

Implied in the illness model is the presence of a pathological entity in the brain, analogous to, say, inflammation of joints in rheumatoid arthritis or bacterial invasion of the lungs in pneumonia. In some ways it is a shame that this was his first book, because the subject matter is shrouded in controversy and desperately needs mainstream clarification from someone like Gabor. Recognizing that time sense, self-regulation and self-motivation are nature driven and necessary developmental tasks, we ask the following: What conditions are needed for human physiological and psychological maturation? I had no idea when I started reading this book that it would open up Pandora’s box of sorts, helping me make sense of many things that of happened in my family life and in friendships.His medical background and lucid writing style make complex biological processes accessible to non-scientific readers.

This highlights the strongest theme in the book: he suggests that while there is a genetic element it is upbringing that really ‘triggers’ ADHD. Combine that with the meteoric rise of social media and its attendant mental health risks; the capitalistic incentives of pharmaceutical companies that produce drugs like Ritalin, Adderall, and Dexedrine; and the profit margins of insurance companies that act as gatekeepers to “legitimate” treatment; and you’ve got a real mess on your hands. In an earlier chapter, he speaks on how poverty and lack of proper nutrition affects an infant's ability to properly develop, which creates ADD - which he states doesn't happen in North America as children are not starving and poverty isn't an issue.I don't have ADD, as far as anyone can tell, but share enough of the challenges related to it that this book helped a lot.