Scattered Minds: The Origins and Healing of Attention Deficit Disorder

I wasn’t diagnosed until I was in my 30s. This book was a revelation. It helped me understand, accept, and even love my scattered mind. I’ve bought several copies for friends.

This book is well worth a read - very enlightening, written from his own dealings and experience with ADD and as a physician.. highly recommend

Amazing book

Excelente libro. Si eres padre quizá te cueste digerir lo que plantea, habla de que hay un componente genético en el déficit atencional pero que también influye el ambiente en que este se desarrolle. Y no es que sea culpa de los padres, es imposible transmitir seguridad y tranquilidad a un niño si vives en una zona de guerra, con depresión posparto, o en un entorno de violencia intrafamiliar... Por mucho que lo intentes como padre. Si puedes entender que puedes haber hecho tu mejor esfuerzo y que aún así o haya sido suficiente, creo que este libro te será de mucha ayuda para acompañar a tu hij@. Por otro lado, si eres tú quién experimenta el déficit atencional, realmente es un libro esclarecedor. Lo recomiendo 100%

This book was a real eye-opener. I realized that what I thought was just nervous behavior was actually ADD, and I deeply resonated with the part about always being late. Gabor Maté explains ADD with such compassion that it made me feel truly understood.

Great book, echoes the adhd experience perfectly

This book is (by some considered) the controversial book “Scattered Minds” by Gabor Maté (1999). It’s about the origin and healing/how to deal with of ADHD, where he argues that it’s not only genetics that are a cause for ADHD, but also how <b>environmental factors</b> (already starting as early as in the womb - this not an attempt to blame the mother btw!) can be contributing to the development of ADHD. It is one of the first books that considered this angle and it would be interesting to see what new research will have to say about it. It’s definitely far more nuanced than the “haters” say about it, typically hyper fixating on one sentence instead of considering the message of the book as a whole. When reading it I’d recommend you to keep an open mind and acknowledge what resonates to be true to you based on your own situation and history. This book was recommended to me by my therapist to better understand the condition for what it is as a whole, as I have long suspected having ADHD myself (as well as ASD, but I am still on the waiting list for that), in particular after noticing how perimenopause amplified traits that are classic for this condition and present in me, but overlooked in me my whole life, as ADHD presents differently in girls & women. I was finally professionally diagnosed with it in August 2024 at the tender age of 53.

i have been following Gabor Mate for some time now. he is authentic and a leading voice in many of trauma based subjects. i love his approach and how he writes things. this is not just a book, it is an excavation of the self. it’s a journey into understanding the complexities of attention deficit disorder (ADD) and its roots, not as a pathology to be fixed but as a signal calling us back to ourselves, to our wounded inner child. Maté weaves his personal story into the scientific, a method i deeply appreciate as an autoethnographic writer myself. it’s a vulnerable invitation to look at ADD not merely as an individual disorder but as a symptom of a broader societal disconnection. he boldly asserts that the roots of ADD lie not in genetics alone but in the early environments that shaped us, environments dictated by societal norms, economic structures, and familial dynamics. what stands out is Maté’s relentless compassion. he does not lay blame on parents but rather critiques a system that fragments families, alienates individuals, and prioritizes productivity over connection. he shows us how ADD is not a moral failing or an individual defect but an intricate dance between the developing brain and its environment. reading Scattered Minds reminded me of my own journeys with healing, of navigating complex PTSD, unpacking societal traumas, and making sense of how political structures such as patriarchy and capitalism wound us on a cellular level. Maté’s work echoes these ideas, as he masterfully links personal suffering with the broader socio-political context. the book is tender yet unflinching. it challenges us to understand how we’ve internalized chaos, how we’ve become “scattered” in a world designed to fragment us. and yet, Maté offers hope, hope rooted in the belief that understanding is the first step to healing. For those who have ever felt lost, misunderstood, or broken in a world demanding linearity, this book is a balm. It’s a call to reclaim our wholeness, to remember that we are not our diagnoses or disorders but beings capable of profound connection, creativity, and healing. as I turned the last page, i couldn’t help but wonder what kind of world we could create if we truly prioritized the nurturing environments Maté describes. a world where the scattered find their center, where children are seen, and where healing becomes a collective act of resistance against systems that scatter us.