Unwrap the Gift: ADHD 2.0 by Dr. Ned Hallowell

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Letter from Dr. H

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Unwrap the Gift: ADHD 2.0

Dr. Ned Hallowell's new term for ADHD is VAST

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About Dr. Ned Hallowell

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Edward (Ned) Hallowell, M.D. is a board-certified child and adult psychiatrist and world authority on ADHD. He is a graduate of Harvard College and Tulane Medical School, and was a Harvard Medical School faculty member for 21 years. He is the Founder of The Hallowell ADHD Centers in Boston MetroWest, New York City, San Francisco, Palo Alto and Seattle.

Latest book: ADHD 2.0

He has spent the past four decades helping thousands of adults and children live happy and productive lives through his strength-based approach to neurodiversity, and has ADHD and dyslexia himself.

Dr Hallowell is a New York Times bestselling author and has written 20 books on multiple psychological topics. The groundbreaking Distraction series, which began with Driven to Distraction, co-authored with Dr John Ratey in 1994, sparked a revolution in understanding of ADHD.

Dr Hallowell has been featured on 20/20, 60 Minutes, Oprah, PBS, CNN, The Today Show, Dateline, Good Morning America, The New York Times, USA Today, Newsweek, Time Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, the Boston Globe and many more. He is a regular columnist for ADDitude Magazine.

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Key Points

‘ADHD’ or ‘VAST’ is a gift that’s meant to be unwrapped

Find the right difficult

Channel your abundance of attention into a creative outlet

Be organized enough so that your disorganization doesn't impede you

Any movement that challenges your balance is good

Notes from Clubhouse talk

the people who changed the world had diff brains - always the case

Dav Pilkey - 80M children impacted by his Captain underpants books

was beaten in school for making people laugh

Seth Godin, Tony Robbins

ACES score more than 4 = meant life outcomes would be bad:

unemployed

depressed

alcoholic

Early death

his score is 8 - but he's 71, written 21 books, 3 children

71 and still wants to change the world

create a more welcoming world

by the grace of God

through connection that he found his strength

guy who invented COVID testing - has ADD

get over your fear of difference

you are blessed with an ability to think outside the box, to be entrepreneurial, dreamer, explorer, pioneer

I don't help people with disabilities; i help people unwrap their gift

if you never unwrap it, it can cripple you; it can be a very crippling condition

like you have a ferrari engine for a brain

but you've got bicycle breaks

need to learn to channel that energy

He is a brakes specialist

morbidity assoc with ADHD

but if u learn to manage it, can become a superpower

reason for success - JetBlue

The term ADD - not only demeaning but not accurate - deficit of attention? no, it's that we have an abundance of attention and need to control it

engine of curiosity

we become victims of our own curiosities

that's where we need breaks

then to call it a disorder - if u line up all those who innovated, it's just a trait

need to stop bashing it so it can be your strength

before he dies, he wants ppl to WISH they had it

ADD is misleading and demeaning

VAST - Variable Attention Stimulus Trait

expands the definition, literally

Trait vs. Disorder

no deficit

means he can also help ppl who are outside the narrow DSM criteria

one of the best things u can do: creative outlet - a place to channel the flood, like the hydroelectric plant at Niagara Falls, can power NYC

the right difficult or else we r bored

he was born w talent of writing - his right difficult

if he doesn't have a book going, he gets depressed

like a cow, needs to be milked

wants people to see it as a trait, not a disorder

removing the shame and misconceptions and dark clouds

its a terrible cloud that has hung over the entire realm of mental health

if you are depressed, you’re told well cheer up; back in the day, if you were really depressed, you must have a demon in you

if you can't suck it up, you're shamed

all comes back to work ethic

now he is writing a graphic novel

he takes things on that he can't do

so he fails all the time but also succeeds

just have to be organized enough so that your disorganization doesn't impede you

be proud of your messes - show that you're home and life is lived in

we don't live spick and span, neat and orderly lives

😖 Relationship between HSP and VAST

HSP: Highly Sensitive Person

VAST: Variable Attention Stimulus Trait

completely congruent

diff names for the same thing in many ways

to be Highly Sensitive = to be in tune with what most aren't

it hurts bc we're tuned in to the pain and deception

part and parcel of ADD

women are particularly vulnerable to shame and overwhelm

they tend to stop before they hurt

tend to see others hurting and it hurts them

they're the great consolers

his wife - biggest failing - she's too nice; she'll find a way to stick up for anyone...except Trump

men can be like a bull in a china shop; his bullish side can override his sensitivity

pic: light shining out of darkness

he wants to help women so much bc 9 out of 10 will get diagnosed with depression and given an SSRI which is the last thing they need

they need the right edu'n and framing of it

come to a whole new way of seeing the past and get the correct view of who they are; their sensitivity

trying to reach adult women

🧠 Cerebellum

cerebellum - at the top of spinal cord; base of brain; imp for gait, balance, coordination

only occupies 10% of brain but contains 70% of neurons - connected to pfc, essential for higher mental function

exercise stimulates the cerebellum and improves emo'l control

ANYTHING that challenges balance; standing on one leg, wobble board, exercise ball, bosu; close an eye

anything that challenges your balance is good for your cerebellum and ADD

you should get the book, have a conversation with him or someone like him

bc you'll have a whole new life

need to unwrap your gift

Wrap-up

if left in the wild, untamed, can be very dangerous

need to be careful about not just seeing strengths-based perspective or it as a sweet little trait

there's more morbidity assoc with ADHD than any other mental health cond'n

it deserves research

the goal is not to become Joe or Jill normal

the right partner, the right career can provide structure

it's about the love of the game, as long as you enjoy the game, you're winning

med school - about organizing mass amts of info; if you're in, then they believe you can do it

Danielle's story

her and her daughter just diagnosed with inattentive ADHD two weeks ago

finally feels free and seen, which never happens with black women with mental challenges

both also HSP

nothing made sense

his books literally changed her life and saved them

so happy that her daughter can see her brain is beautiful like her mama's

speaks to commonalities - a 71 yr old white man can relate to and free a 36 yr old black woman and her daughter

common bonds are that strong

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