Recognizing Adult ADHD: What Donald Trump Can Teach Us About Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

ADHD causes more than just distractibility and restlessness. Dr. John Kruse capitalizes on his training in neuroscience and his decades of experience as a psychiatrist to explain how the concept of “executive function deficits” illuminates why ADHD can manifest as impulsivity, inconsistency, spontaneity, emotional volatility, poor follow-through, extreme candor, and troubles prioritizing. We avert tragedies by accurately identifying and treating adult ADHD, yet far too often we fail to recognize the condition.

Through his political prominence, Mr. Trump nominated himself to be the poster child for adult ADHD. The President also showcases how we frequently ignore or mischaracterize even florid and daily ADHD-driven behaviors, particularly in individuals who also display other mental health conditions. Recognizing Adult ADHD utilizes information in the public record to demonstrate how Mr. Trump robustly fulfills the objective, behavioral diagnostic criteria for ADHD.

Recognizing Adult ADHD explores feedback loops by which sleep, diet, exercise, social media, and Mr. Trump himself, drive our society in evermore ADHD-like directions. Dr. Kruse charts a path for reducing stigma around ADHD and other mental health conditions by delving into the intertwined fields of neuroscience, psychiatry, ethics, and politics. While the frenetic pace and information overload of our ADHD world threatens to submerge each day in new angst, this book adds nuance to help us navigate our lives.

John Kruse has practiced psychiatry in San Francisco for the last twenty-five years, after completing both his MD and PhD (Neuroscience) at the University of Rochester. Witnessing an unending stream of undiagnosed adults with ADHD kindled his awareness that our world needs greater understanding of, and empathy for, those individuals with the complex and potentially disabling condition of adult ADHD. Outside of his clinical work, Dr. Kruse enjoys time with his family, runs marathons, bird-watches, and bakes.