He then proceeds to share his own growing up experiences having ADHD, and the case studies he has collected over the years. Hallowell points out that research through the years discredits the theory that ADHD and related disorders are the results of bad parenting. As children with ADHD enter school, the most difficult challenge ahead of them will be to maintain a healthy self-esteem. Not everyone responds well to medication. Hallowell, however, emphasizes that ADHD is complex and therefore, requires a complex treatment.
Medication is only one part of that complex treatment for both children and adults.
Other components may include education, behavioral modification, environmental changes, and psychotherapy. This leads to chronic limit-setting by parents, with increasingly stringent penalties and increasingly tight limitations on the child. Gradually, the child's role in the family solidifies around being the 'problem child,' and he or she becomes the designated scapegoat for all the family's conflicts and problems. To alleviate the resulting conflicts of control issues, Hallowell details a helpful system of negotiation for families to implement. The person who has ADD may also have other related disorders which significantly affect his or her daily life.