Adult ADHD: How to Succeed as a Hunter in a Farmer's World

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It wasn’t until I started working in an office setting that I really started to recognize how hard it could be for me to focus. This society has become so lazy we would rather slap a label on a kid, medicate them into zombies and not have to parent. When humanity experienced the agricultural revolution 10,000 years ago, a vastly different type of personality–the methodical “Farmer”–became dominant. This book kind of falls apart near the end (in true ADD form), but it is still a thought provoking and insightful (if not outright revolutionary) read that anyone struggling with, living with, or in any relation to, someone with ADD or ADHD should not only read, but absorb. He then goes on to describe the related characteristics, strategies for overcoming or embracing them and gives us some perspective on very successful historical figures who took advantage of ADHD to thrive.

Learning to concentrate can be very difficult for the Hunter without consistent feedback, feedback that can be available in the classroom from the teacher. At one point the author asserts that it is teachers, not doctors, that insist on medicating students. As hunters, they would have been constantly scanning their environment, looking for food or threats (distractibility); they'd have to act without hesitation (impulsivity); and they'd have to love the high-stimulation and risk-filled environment of the hunting field.In this groundbreaking book, Thom Hartmann makes a unique contribution to our understanding of ADHD. In my childhood, I couldn’t pay attention to the teachers who had a bland teaching style, but I flourished with those who had an interactive, hands-on approach to learning. Some believe that learning is fastest and best when there is a constant shift between focused and an open state of consciousness. My guess is the latest version hasn't been sufficiently updated with the newer scientific understandings in the field.

Humans devised better innovations and organizational structures to boost their living, and the need for hyperactivity slowly diminished over a long period of time, regardless of whether they were in a gathering or farming society. Ritalin as a stimulant that creates a greater sensitivity to sensory input makes risk-taking unnecessary to feel the sought after sense of aliveness. In considering the prison and the alcoholic populations, the high proportion of ADHD individuals would suggest a genetic ADHD predisposition for these problems.

It was also stated that the lack of "hyperfocus" should not be the only dichotomy of "farmers versus hunter-gatherers" that was identified in Hartmann's theory. Schools, employers and families are missing out on what could be attained if these individuals were provided with what they need to attain their potential. About the time I got diagnosed with ADHD, Thom Hartmann produced the first edition of ADHD: Hunters in a Farmer’s World.

I also thought that it was incredibly wordy for the concepts to get across, which are commonly shared in many ADHD related books and circles on the internet. However, the Hunter skill set offers many opportunities for success in today’s Farmer society--if you learn how to embrace your ADHD traits instead of fighting against them. These questions and some possible answers are woven through this book, providing basic factual information about ADHD with a twist that helps readers recognize the value—sometimes quite special—of people who have it. The sections on meditation for ADHD and EEG biofeedback were sadly predictable, and presented a rather tired and superficial picture, especially as they didn't include any of the recent detailed and nuanced understandings of ADHD neurobiological correlates. constantly alert to dangers and possible prey (others see that as distracted) ready to sprint at a moments notice; flight or flight always switched on, just as a Hunter-Gather (HG) would be.

To fit into the Farmer’s world the Hunter needs to break down a task into smaller tasks to compensate for their short concentration span. After I was diagnosed, I tolerated my ADHD at first, but I learned to celebrate ADHD as time went on. Unfortunately for ADHD children, traditional schools teach for the patient "farmers", and not the alert and quick reacting "hunters. There was no longer a tribal culture and hunters and their spouses lost their esteemed place in life’s hierarchy.