*I’m glad you asked! Full disclosure: I hesitated to respond because whenever I get into this subject I write text walls. And alas, I did. Hope it is useful!
Hallowell’s books can be great introductions but to me they have also been great for my ongoing learning about my brain and how to live & do better. My “gateway” was actually the YouTube channel HowToADHD, which is great too. Books and videos can not replace professional help, but they were how I realized I needed professional help. Completely changed my life… Hard to understate the extent.
Also, either can be worth checking out regardless of whether you have ADHD or not, or diagnosis or not. most especially if you are a Creator type (or Enneagram type = Individualist), or know many who are like that. Big overlap in the cohorts of creatives and entrepreneurs, and those born with non-neurotypical brains. (Non-neurotypical, for example: ADHD – of which there are ~7 pretty well defined variants, not all what you expect! – and mood things as well, which often happen together). In my case, actually, I have surrounded myself with creatives for as long as I can remember, and I always knew someone who had “worse” issues with distraction, hyperactivity, depression, anxiety, etc. So I underrated my seemingly-lesser struggles with those things. Was not until some Shit Really Hit The Fan in my life that things started spiraling and old coping mechanisms failed, and that eventually led to getting Outside Help as I mentioned.
Anyways, Hallowell’s books emphasize that attentional differences are not a disorder unless they are not fitting with circumstances. Adaptive/maladaptive is all about environment. So he considers ADD “a way of being in the world,” and emphasizes treatment that focuses on talents and strengths - while emphasizing the causes are neurodevelopmental. His books were influential and really changed the field. And his writing style is fun and enjoyable, as nonfiction goes. Full of insights.
Lastly, the interesting thing about the Driven to Distraction at Work book, is that he wanted to give advice to people with some traits of ADHD, who did not meet diagnostic criteria - ie who actually have neurotypical brains and so, would not respond to medication. So there are chapters of different narrative vignettes for different subtypes of this modern condition. For each, there are suggestions on what is going wrong and tips to help. There is also a chapter about true ADHD. So any reader might see some of themselves in each chapter, but probably one of the personalities will fit most well. So, pretty relevant if you like personality and lifehacking kinda things, not just the mental health aspects
