Fast Minds How to Thrive if You Have ADHD or Think You Might

FAST MINDS is an acronym for common symptoms that are often seen in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Millions of adults have ADHD or some of its traits, but they are under-recognized, under-treated, and often under-supported.  This book empowers people with ADHD, or some of its characteristics, to adapt and thrive. By working through the program in this book, you will develop personalized strategies to take control of your life.

Forgetful. Achieving below potential. Stuck in a rut. Time challenged.Motivationally challenged. Impulsive. Novelty seeking. Distractible. Scattered. If any or all of these symptoms are making it difficult for you—or someone you know—to live life to the fullest, then the clinically proven, cutting-edge program in this book will help you understand your struggles and challenges. Whether you have been diagnosed with ADHD, think you may have it, or just exhibit many of these traits, FAST MINDS will help you: 

• Figure out what isn’t working in your life, and the keys to fixing it.
• Build personalized strategies for managing your time, tasks, and relationships.
• Learn organizational habits that work for you.
• Stop communicating poorly, making impulsive choices and taking pointless risks.
• Eliminate negative thinking patterns that waste your mental energy.
• Create environments that support your challenges.
• Make the most of both medical and nonmedical resources (medication, coaching, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, mindfulness, support groups, lifestyle change).

 With inspiring stories of real people who have adapted and thrived using the methods in this book, FAST MINDS will help you create the kind of life you want to live.

“Finally, somebody gets ADHD!”—Patricia Quinn, M.D., director, Center for Girls and Women with ADHD

“[An] easy-to-read, yet sophisticated guide to what will help you most if you have ADHD… A superb book.”—Edward Hallowell, coauthor of Driven to Distraction

“A great resource for adults with ADHD and their loved ones. This book offers clear, effective, solution-focused strategies for dealing with the challenges of ADHD.”—Kathleen Nadeau, Ph.D., coauthor of ADD-Friendly Ways to Organize Your Life

Why ADHD could be the key to your success

For decades physicians delivered the diagnosis of ADHD to patients as bad news and warned them about a lifelong struggle of managing symptoms. But The ADHD Advantage explodes this outlook, showing that some of the most highly successful entrepreneurs, leaders, and entertainers have reached the pinnacle of success not in spite of their ADHD but because of it.

Although the ADHD stereotype is someone who cant sit still, in reality people with ADHD are endlessly curious, often adventurous, willing to take smart risks, and unusually resilient. They are creative, visionary, and entrepreneurial. Sharing the stories of highly successful people with ADHD, Dr. Archer offers a vitally important and inspiring new way to recognize ADHD traits in oneself or in ones loved ones, and then leverage them to great advantage—without drugs.

As someone who not only has ADHD himself but also has never used medication to treat it, Dr. Archer understands the condition from a unique standpoint. Armed with new science and research, he hopes to generate public interest and even debate with his positive message as he guides the millions of people with ADHD worldwide toward a whole new appreciation of their many strengths and full innate potential.

Craig Surman, M.D., is an expert on ADHD in adulthood.  He is an assistant professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and scientific coordinator for the internationally recognized Adult ADHD Research Program at Massachusetts General Hospital.

 

Tim Bilkey, M.D., is a physician specializing in adult ADHD, having completed more than thirty-four hundred assessments. He is an international presenter and has produced two films on ADHD. He started one of the worlds first ADHD clinics for women. In 2009, he developed a nationally accredited educational program for the rapid recognition of ADHD in adults called FAST MINDS.

 

Karen Weintraub is an award-winning journalist and a freelance health writer for the Boston Globe, USA Today, and other publications. Ms. Weintraub also teaches journalism at the Harvard Extension School and Boston University. Her first book, The Autism Revolution, was also published by Harvard Health Publications.