Hyper (eBook)

A Personal History of ADHD

Timothy Denevi (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2014 | 1. Auflage
288 Seiten
Simon & Schuster (Verlag)
978-1-4767-0259-9 (ISBN)

Infos

The first book of its kind, this compelling and moving memoir about what it's like to be a child with ADHD also explains the history of the diagnosis and how we have come to medicate more than four million children today.

Among the first generation of boys prescribed medication for hyperactivity in the 1980s, Timothy Denevi took Ritalin at the age of six, and during the first week, it triggered a psychotic reaction. Doctors recommended behavior therapy, then antidepressants. Nothing worked. As Timothy's parents and doctors sought to treat his behavior, he was subjected to a liquid diet, a sleep-deprived EEG, and bizarre behavioral assessments before finding help in therapy combined with medication. In Hyper, Timothy describes how he makes his way through school, knowing he is a problem for those who love him, longing to be able to be good and fit in, hanging out with boys who have similar symptoms but meet different ends, and finally realizing he has to come to grips with his disorder before his life spins out of control.

Skillfully and seamlessly using his own experience as a springboard, Denevi also reveals the origins of ADHD, from the late nineteenth century when hyperactivity was attributed to defective moral conscience, demons, or head trauma, through the twentieth century when food additives, bad parenting, and even government conspiracies were blamed, to the most recent genetic research. He traces drug treatment from Benzedrine in 1937 through the common usage of the stupifying chlorpromazine and brand new Ritalin in the 1950s to the use of antidepressants in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.

Riveting, thought-provoking, and deeply intelligent, this is a remarkable book both for its sensitive portrait of a child's experience as well as for its ability to illuminate a remarkably complex and controversial mental condition. Rick Lavoie, author of It's So Much Work to Be Your Friend, says Hyper is 'a significant and singular contribution to our field.'

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The first book of its kind about what its like to be a child with ADHD, Hyper is a haunting narrative that explores the worlds most scrutinized childhood condition from the inside out (Nature) that also illuminates the history of how we came to medicate more than four million children today.Among the first generation of boys prescribed medication for ADHD in the 1980s, Timothy Denevi took Ritalin at the age of six and suffered a psychotic reaction. Thus began his long odyssey through a variety of treatments. In Hyper, Denevi describes how he made his way to adulthood, knowing he was a problem for those who loved him, longing to be able to be good and fit in, and finally realizing he had to come to grips with his disorder before his life spun out of control. Using these experiences as a springboard, Denevi also traces our understanding and treatment of ADHD from the nineteenth century, when bad parenting and even government conspiracies were blamed, through the twentieth century and drug treatments like Benzedrine, Ritalin, and antidepressants. His insightful history shows how drugs became the treatment of choice for ADHD, rather than individually crafted treatments like the one that saved his life. Thought provoking and deeply intelligent, this is a remarkable book both for its sensitive portrait of a childs experience as well as for its thorough exploration of a remarkably complex and controversial mental condition and its treatment. Theres much to be learned in Hyper, about pushing boundaries and respecting them, about parenting, and about the special kind of triumph that can come as a result of hard-earned self-knowledge. Denevi has written a book about a condition that has been studied for a long time, but, truly, it hasnt been talked about like this (BookPage).

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 2.9.2014
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Biografien / Erfahrungsberichte
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Gesundheit / Leben / Psychologie ► Psychologie
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Psychologie ► Allgemeine Psychologie
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Psychologie ► Persönlichkeitsstörungen
• ISBN-10: 1-4767-0259-4 / 1476702594
• ISBN-13: 978-1-4767-0259-9 / 9781476702599