Scattered Minds: The Origins and Healing of Attention Deficit Disorder
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- Create Date：2022-09-17 10:53:19
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Gabor Maté
- ISBN：0676972594
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Reviews
PhebeAnn
，
This was an interesting read。 If you're familiar with other work of Mate's （e。g。 around addiction， parenting）， the line of argumentation will be familiar。 Although the psychiatric/medical model basically frames AD（H）D （Mate uses ADD） as a genetic disorder， in fact， as a neurodevelopmental disorder， both nature （genes） and nurture （environment） come into play。 Mate points out there are very few purely genetic disorders。 Generally， factors in the environment come into play to determine if and in w This was an interesting read。 If you're familiar with other work of Mate's （e。g。 around addiction， parenting）， the line of argumentation will be familiar。 Although the psychiatric/medical model basically frames AD（H）D （Mate uses ADD） as a genetic disorder， in fact， as a neurodevelopmental disorder， both nature （genes） and nurture （environment） come into play。 Mate points out there are very few purely genetic disorders。 Generally， factors in the environment come into play to determine if and in what way those genes get activated。 This is true of ADD， which is not a disease， but a condition。 Mate argues that the origin of and amelioration of ADD can both be found in attachment。 Disruptions to relationships with primary caregiver（s） in early life （having an absent or stressed caregiver）， combined with a genetic predisposition to sensitivity， results in ADD symptoms and lifelong impairment。 Mate thinks medications can help many people， and often recommends them， but medications alone will never improve things for people with ADD。The book's focus is on both the neurobiology and environmental causes of ADD。 It's also about how to change attachment patterns， either in how you parent your children， or in how you parent yourself as an adult with ADD。 My biggest criticism of the book is that I felt it was a bit skimpy in showing what it looks like to do things differently。 Mate tells us the broad strokes: develop self-compassion and curiosity about why we do what we do， learn to tolerate fluctuating feelings， learn to assert boundaries and value our own needs， go to therapy， learn to care for yourself as a parent would， and "re-establish a non-helpless image of the self。" With your kids， put a higher premium on establishing a strong connection and unconditional love， than on getting them to behave well。 Empathy with what the child is feeling and sacrificing things like being on time， getting good grades etc。 will actually be more successful than forcing these requirements at all costs。 This all seems pretty valid， and like good advice， but is pretty non-specific。 This isn't a self help book。 There are a few examples， including those from Mate's own life as a person with ADD and parent to 3 kids with ADD， but it doesn't walk you through things step-by-step， which would be perhaps more helpful to most people with ADD than the neurobiology （as interesting as I personally found that）。The biggest criticism that most people seem to have about this book is that it "blames parents。" I can see why people would feel that way。 It's really hard for people who love their kids and did their best to hear that things they did （or things beyond their control， like experiencing war， poverty， or post-partum depression） affected their child so adversely。 However， Mate very clearly iterates multiple times that it's not about blame， and that re-establishing attachment can benefit people of all ages。 It is never too late to heal ourselves and re-connect with significant others in a more positive way。There were a few things that I think were a bit dated about the book （it came out in 1999） like he calls autism a "more severe" disorder than ADD （this blanket statement is categorically not always true - we're understanding more and more they are both spectrums where strengths & deficits vary for each individual） and he does not say anything about the links between ADD， autism， and other neurodevelopmental （ND） disabilities。 I think this is because this research into neurodiversity is newer。 It would be interesting to hear what he would say about these same ideas about attachment and their applicability （or not） to other ND disabilities。 。。。more
a
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I’m still reading this but I have to say… I do see my symptoms the few times I actually manage to pick the book up and read。 Would love to finish the book one day… when my ADHD gets better！
Polly
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I would give it a million stars if I could。。。 So many truths spoken。 Gabor is writing with such delicacy when speaking of children， you can really see how it resembels in his work。 It was a pleasure to read what is going on in such beautiful minds。 Very relatable and helpful book。😊
Janet Berkman
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Anyone living with ADD， including as a parent， a spouse， or a sibling/friend， needs to read this。 I’m still processing a lot of what he covers， particularly around the impact of early life on mental health throughout life。 Highly recommended。
Jennifer
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[Audiobook] Required reading for anyone with ADHD in their family or inner circle， especially individuals and parents。 This isn’t the case for me （that I know of anyway） but I still learned a ton。 My only gripe， perhaps ironically， is that the book is a bit long and jumps around a bit。
Miriam
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It's a bit average。 Mate attempts to dispel the notion that ADHD is wholly biologically determined， since both nature and nurture play a part in the behaviour of a brain - which is great， but nothing that hadn't already been explored thousands and thousands of years ago。 I would've appreciated if he'd simply stated his premises from the start， saving me time from having to wade through lengthy anecdotes to finally identify his line of argument。 It's a bit average。 Mate attempts to dispel the notion that ADHD is wholly biologically determined， since both nature and nurture play a part in the behaviour of a brain - which is great， but nothing that hadn't already been explored thousands and thousands of years ago。 I would've appreciated if he'd simply stated his premises from the start， saving me time from having to wade through lengthy anecdotes to finally identify his line of argument。 。。。more
torque
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I most of what's in this book will be shown to be the case in the future。 Society would do good to take these lessons to heart。 I most of what's in this book will be shown to be the case in the future。 Society would do good to take these lessons to heart。 。。。more
Drew Davis
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As much a book about how to be present with oneself and those around you as it is a book about ADD。 I'm one of the many people who claims to have undiagnosed ADD but even so I resonated with many of the anecdotes throughout the book and they've helped my self actualisation process。 As much a book about how to be present with oneself and those around you as it is a book about ADD。 I'm one of the many people who claims to have undiagnosed ADD but even so I resonated with many of the anecdotes throughout the book and they've helped my self actualisation process。 。。。more
Pippa Moore
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Gabor Mate’s clear thinking and accessible writing result in a book that goes a long way in helping those of us who have family members with ADD more understanding of those we care about who have this diagnosis。
Cathy Vanderstappen
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Het was de eerste keer， dat ik een boek meermaals heb weggelegd， omdat de confrontatie soms té groot was。 De relevantie van hechting， de oorzaken en gevolgen van trauma m。b。t。 AD（H）D werd nooit eerder （in 'mijn' leven toch niet） aangehaald door een psycholoog en/of psychiater。 Diagnoses swingen de pan uit， maar vanwaar het komt en hoe je er als volwassene best mee omgaat， niet！ Daarom ben ik dankbaar voor de concrete tools die Dr。 Maté aanreikt， maar ook voor de achtergrond die mij eindelijk na Het was de eerste keer， dat ik een boek meermaals heb weggelegd， omdat de confrontatie soms té groot was。 De relevantie van hechting， de oorzaken en gevolgen van trauma m。b。t。 AD（H）D werd nooit eerder （in 'mijn' leven toch niet） aangehaald door een psycholoog en/of psychiater。 Diagnoses swingen de pan uit， maar vanwaar het komt en hoe je er als volwassene best mee omgaat， niet！ Daarom ben ik dankbaar voor de concrete tools die Dr。 Maté aanreikt， maar ook voor de achtergrond die mij eindelijk na 35 jaar duidelijk werd。 Het boek is eveneens een aanrader voor iedereen die in contact komt met mensen die ADD-kenmerken vertonen。 Geloof me， je zult hen door een andere bril bekijken en veel meer geduld kunnen opbrengen。 。。。more
Andrei
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I started to read this book randomly and not because any direct interest in ADD， so I rated it more as a self-discovery journey than as a “medical” book。 For me is a good introduction in the world of ADD and I appreciate the balanced view the author has on how to approach the affection （although maybe not enough supported by a lot of serious scientific data）。 What I didn’t enjoy was the second part of the book， which dragged for more than it should have。 I understand that it was intended as a ki I started to read this book randomly and not because any direct interest in ADD， so I rated it more as a self-discovery journey than as a “medical” book。 For me is a good introduction in the world of ADD and I appreciate the balanced view the author has on how to approach the affection （although maybe not enough supported by a lot of serious scientific data）。 What I didn’t enjoy was the second part of the book， which dragged for more than it should have。 I understand that it was intended as a kind of practical guide， but for me it was as the same ideas where repeated again and again with some minor variations。 In the end， I think the book constitutes a good introspection in our busy， fast-paced and complicated professional and family lives， addressing not just people with ADD， but everybody。 After all， probably almost all of us， display in some degree one or more ADD traits :） 。。。more
Kristi
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 I really appreciated the author's other book - In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts and was eager to give this a read。 I didn't love this one。 This book identifies the origins of ADHD as parental attachment disruption。 Or more specifically that the individual with ADHD did not experience parental attachment sufficient enough to promote development through this developmental stage to a more adult， stable stage with better executive functioning and impulse control。I just don't buy it。 Parents are tired。 I really appreciated the author's other book - In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts and was eager to give this a read。 I didn't love this one。 This book identifies the origins of ADHD as parental attachment disruption。 Or more specifically that the individual with ADHD did not experience parental attachment sufficient enough to promote development through this developmental stage to a more adult， stable stage with better executive functioning and impulse control。I just don't buy it。 Parents are tired。 Kids are demanding。 And they always have been。 Parents today pay so much more attention to these attachment theories than any former generation， yet AHDH persists。 There has got to be more to the story。 。。。more
Crokicker
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God placed this book in my hands。 It is a falling together of the pieces of my life and the discovery of even a few missing pieces。 Those from troubled families must read this with an open mind to understand why they are the way they are。 This book is like a torch that lets you look into the dark corners of your mind ; but be warned ， it is just that ， a torch that illuminates ， nothing more。 You have to do the leg-work of sorting out the mess of your mind and push on in changing yourself。
_books_with_jen
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I wanted to like this but i just couldn’t。 Moving on。
Sarah
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3。75 （to be precise）。 A rather white， middle-class exploration of the causes of - and possible treatments for - ADD/ADHD （coming from a white， middle-class person）， and for the love of god don’t tell my parents how badly they fucked me up， regardless of how unconscious it was。
Little House
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Don’t read if you are a parent， the author will convince you that all of your child’s problems are your fault。
Stefan Schalkwyk
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A great launchpad to your understanding of self as someone with ADHD。This book helped me a lot with my understanding of myself with ADHD and ability to understand papers about ADHD。 but before I go through what is good let me first criticise the book。WARNING this book is both 20 years old and talks about the social science part of ADHD。 within science anything older than 10 years is seen as ancient and quite outdated as science develops super fast。 this means that this science within the book ha A great launchpad to your understanding of self as someone with ADHD。This book helped me a lot with my understanding of myself with ADHD and ability to understand papers about ADHD。 but before I go through what is good let me first criticise the book。WARNING this book is both 20 years old and talks about the social science part of ADHD。 within science anything older than 10 years is seen as ancient and quite outdated as science develops super fast。 this means that this science within the book has both been developed and improved on even though much of what he sais should still be quite aplicable。This book is also a social science as the field of psychology is and a lot of people have this Idea that "Theory" is this bad word。 The whole field of social science exists because humans are way more complex than just biology and having a field that is free the "hard sciences" is the best way to better understand humans。 ADHD as we all with it and most likely those with children with it know， is not as simple as "give ritelin am better now"。 so don't be afraid to listen to what he sais because it is a "Theory"When it comes to the book I Found the author to say quite outlandish things that are usually way more nuanced then when he originally describes them and only at the end of the chapter does he really get to explain what he really means。 this means sometimes he can say hurtful or upsetting things and you have to read for quite a while before understanding what he really means and is actually quite insightful。 For example at a point he states being at a conference where the speaker calls ADHD a superpower。 he then immediately procides to call that statement bulshit and then at the end of the chapter agreeds with the statement。 his agrees at the end with her after he has stated how he thinks it is not If you aren't mentally healthy as and ADHD person， but then how he thinks it is under a more mentally healthy ADHD person。My last criticism is that he can sometimes repeat the same thing over and over when not necessarily especially as you pass the halfway mark。 even though still interesting he drags on a bit hear at the end。 If you are an adult as soon as you hit the healing chapter listen too it then you can almost skip too chapter 25 I think when he starts talking about adults again。 the rest of the chapters where interesting but draged on but good if you want to know why you did what you did as a kid。Overall this book helped a lot in my understanding of ADHD and how it has affected me。 understanding more tools I can use to get to a healthy point in life as someone with ADHD。 I found it very useful but we with ADHD are all different humans and what works for one might not work for the outher。Side note。too anyone complaining he cites too little。 this book is for the laymen。 all his citations are at the end of the book he doesn't bombard us with them during。 some of you haven't had the displeasure of reading a proper scientific book and it shows having to piece together a fractured sentence inbetween 20 different citations。 aslo having to deal with the fact that scientists cannot for the life of them write in a way which is interesting to read。 I think this book was saved by the fact that it had 2 editors making it readeble for us。As someone that has lurnt the skill of reading academic papers through years at university reading scientific books are worse than papers。 dont give these idiots and more words than they need because they will repeat themselves in 100 different ways if they can。 。。。more
Margrethe Rhiger
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Et perspektiv på opmærksomhedsforstyrrelser， hvor de tidlige relationer， bonding og følelsesmæssig afstemning samt barnets sensitivitet， neurologiske tilpasning til dets specifikke opvækstmiljø， præsenteres som centrale for forståelsen af baggrunden for opmærksomhedsforstyrrelsers opståen， dynamikker og vedligeholdende faktorer samt muligheder for udvikling， måske skridt i retning af mere fleksibel funktion。Forfatterens indefraperspektiv （GM er selv diagnosticeret med ADD）， de mange caseeksemple Et perspektiv på opmærksomhedsforstyrrelser， hvor de tidlige relationer， bonding og følelsesmæssig afstemning samt barnets sensitivitet， neurologiske tilpasning til dets specifikke opvækstmiljø， præsenteres som centrale for forståelsen af baggrunden for opmærksomhedsforstyrrelsers opståen， dynamikker og vedligeholdende faktorer samt muligheder for udvikling， måske skridt i retning af mere fleksibel funktion。Forfatterens indefraperspektiv （GM er selv diagnosticeret med ADD）， de mange caseeksempler og et forholdsvis tilgængeligt og pædagogisk sprog for sammenhængene mellem ydre påvirkninger， hjerneprocesser， emotioner og adfærd， bidrager til en behagelig læseoplevelse。 Forfatteren formidler sin forståelse klart og tydeligt， men bliver aldrig firkantet。 Velskrevet， intetessant og livsbekræftende læsning！ 。。。more
Alexandria
，
Wow this was a great read and very eye opening for someone with ADHD。 I really enjoyed Gabor Mate’s perspective on ADHD and how it’s not a “disease” or “inability” you are born with but rather a brain development problem due to your environmental settings， pressures， instabilities。 This really holds true for me and provided me with a lot of “ah ha” moments。 Understanding your environment and changing your environment holds true to helping with your adhd symptoms。
Kristien
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This is a wonderfully insightful book。 It stretches far broader than the ADD child/adult。 The author also writes in a very personal manner about a topic very close to him and his family。 I will definitely reread this book while raising my ADD son and healing my own ADD。
horselover
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A lot of the developmental psychology stuff gabor does so well felt rehashed after reading 2 of his other books and i an more on the culture/environment side of the argument than gabor is when it comes to the somewhat vague concept of adhd so i enjoyed this one less and felt i gained significantly less than from his others - which to be fair， was a lot lot lot
Lauratug
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My mind exploded with this book！The only negative， is that I would have liked to see the compelling arguments more backed with research at times。 But what a ride nonetheless。
Rachel Tatomir
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Very informative， with practical tips。 I would recommend this as a great place to start for any parent or partner of someone with ADD。
Richard Sanders
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I love Gabor Mate， I love his insights and brutal honesty about his own life experiences that he weaves to this book。I wish I had read this book before my kids were born。 Reminds you how important all your interactions are， especially with regard to a delicate， expanding mind of a child。The only reason I dropped a star was because I preferred In The Realm of the Hungry Ghosts
Jorinde
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A must-read for those who deal with ADHD in their lives， whether as someone who has it，as a parent， teacher， partner or friend。 So many great insights and tips。 I'll definitely read it again！ A must-read for those who deal with ADHD in their lives， whether as someone who has it，as a parent， teacher， partner or friend。 So many great insights and tips。 I'll definitely read it again！ 。。。more
Christopher
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Amazing。 Gabor Maté has instantly become one of my favorite authors。 My only complaint about this book is that I wish he put more emphasis on the fact that different people can have dramatically different experiences of ADD。 I’m afraid that some people might not be able to see ADD in themselves upon reading this book because Maté is not careful enough to clarify that not every example of ADD that he uses applies to everyone。
Abhinaya Anandamurugan
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 In short， this is an eye-opening book into the correlations of AD（H）D and childhood trauma。 Author Gabor Matte a physician and who has been practicing in the palliative care for many years pours his wisdom about the above said correlations and possible causation in this book。The patterns he has observed in contributing towards negative imprints in the brain and the restriction in childhood development he argues are main factors in contributing towards attention deficit disorders。He illustrates m In short， this is an eye-opening book into the correlations of AD（H）D and childhood trauma。 Author Gabor Matte a physician and who has been practicing in the palliative care for many years pours his wisdom about the above said correlations and possible causation in this book。The patterns he has observed in contributing towards negative imprints in the brain and the restriction in childhood development he argues are main factors in contributing towards attention deficit disorders。He illustrates many case studies from his personal practice and how he was able to solve many childhood cases， which otherwise would have gone under the classification of ADHD by patient parenting methods。 It is in general a widespread knowledge that parenting and childhood trauma has a lot of effects on child's brain neural wiring however the proof is still far fetched。The author's wide experience from his own personal life and that of his patients he has treated and studied have given a coherent links to possible correlations。 He also puts forth some recommendations of solving these attention deficit problems both for children and adults although for adults the solutions seem to be not well defined。But knowing this connection hopefully helps those who have been struggling with this issue for either their child or themselves can sort the right kind of help and help re-parent themselves in better ways for better manage themselves and others。I personally liked the concept of children's differentiation and their relation to emotional dependencies of the parents。 This was in particular very hard pill to swallow。 Also interesting to understand was the idea of counter-will developed in ADHD children as a result of incomplete differentiation。This book is a must read for anyone， especially young parents or those who want to re-parent themselves and people searching for answers to their condition。 Definitely a book for healing。 。。。more
Cléo Vermeer
，
Received this book as a gift from my sister， because I wanted to read more about ADHD， having fairly recently been diagnosed with it。I certainly was intrigued by the chapter about the author's family history during and after WW2。 And while some other parts were interesting and enlightening， the majority of the book just irked me。 Something about the tone of it all， and for me， a lot of information just felt somewhat outdated。Mainly I think it's the heavy emphasis the author places on the origin Received this book as a gift from my sister， because I wanted to read more about ADHD， having fairly recently been diagnosed with it。I certainly was intrigued by the chapter about the author's family history during and after WW2。 And while some other parts were interesting and enlightening， the majority of the book just irked me。 Something about the tone of it all， and for me， a lot of information just felt somewhat outdated。Mainly I think it's the heavy emphasis the author places on the origins of ADHD; according to him it all starts in early childhood。 I won't delve into it too much since so many reviewers have done this before me。 It was my understanding that ADHD is at least partially hereditary and I feel this component is much overlooked in this book。 I know the man is not explicitly blaming parents and their actions for ADHD in their children but I couldn't help feeling as if though he did， when something about it was mentioned for the gazillionth time。 When you're not really interested so much in where your ADHD comes from， but mainly in learning how to live with it， this just becomes an annoying read imo。So to conclude， I was hoping to gain some new insights， and I did gain some， but I was mostly looking for new strategies to use in my daily life。 Those I felt were lacking in Scattered Minds。 。。。more
Samuel Farnsworth
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This changed the way I look at and treat myself， and also made me a more patient and loving father to my ADHD child。 I try to read it again every year just fine-tune things in my personal life。
Laura Böekling
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