ABSTRACT
This is not just another book on ADHD. This book tells the side of the story most of us are otherwise unlikely to hear. ADHD has become a clinical phenomenon, a modern-day epidemic of incredible proportions, unlike any we have seen before. It has swept over us like a tidal wave. "The Other Side of ADHD" brings into sharp focus some of the controversial aspects of ADHD that help maintain its status as the most hotly debated subject in children's mental health. The book draws together the many issues that ADHD raises, clinically, socially, philosophically, ethically and politically. The result is a challenge that goes far beyond this diagnostic label, and reaches into just about every aspect of our lives. Everyone who cares about social issues will want to read this book. This passionate and illuminating work is a clarion call for clinical and educational psychologists and other health and social care professionals including counsellors and therapists. It is a life-line to parents with hyperactive children, and teachers, youth and social workers will also find it invaluable. "ADHD has become a clinical phenomenon, a modern-day epidemic of incredible proportions, unlike any we have seen before. It has swept over us like a tidal wave. I have found myself in a position where I have been at odds with the prevailing view about these children's problems. As the situation has unfolded, it has seemed to me that the subject of ADHD touches on other important issues, some of which are pivotal to our thinking about mental health. It seemed to me that there was a need to pull together the different strands of the debate so that parents and clinicians could build up more of a complete picture and make their own informed decisions." - Angela Southall, in the Introduction.
