David Diana

In 1999, I was just about done with the mental health profession. I was an eight-year veteran in the field, licensed and managing several programs in Boston, MA. I was newly married and wondering how in the world I was going to grow in a profession I loved while living in one of the most expensive cities in America.

At nine years old I received my first marketing lesson and experienced the power of a deliciously outrageous story. “Can you believe Mikey’s dead?” A concerned young girl shouted to a group of friends.  “It was Pop Rocks!  He ate Pop Rocks, drank a soda and his stomach exploded.”

Two months ago my wife and I were trying to decide the best way to teach our six-year old son how to swim. We signed him up for swimming lessons sponsored by the local recreation center until a friend of ours started talking about a swim instructor who offered one on one instruction. Here was the instructor’s marketing message. “I guarantee your child will be swimming in six individual sessions or I will continue to teach your child, free of charge, until he/she is able to swim. It doesn’t matter who the child is or what their natural abilities are. I will get them swimming in six sessions.”

I miss the experience. This is the umpteenth time I’ve browsed the shelves of my local Barnes & Noble Bookseller, and I could be anywhere. It feels like I’m shopping in Walmart – lot’s of stuff here and there, but not much substance. No matter which section I browse I feel nothing.

David Diana Interviews Dr. Russell A. Barkeley an internationally recognized authority on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children and adults. Would you offer us some insights/advice about the disorder as it manifests itself in adults? Many clinicians tell me there is a challenge and problem with the potential of undiagnosed/unrecognized ADHD in adults. Symptoms change with age, as hyperactivity is more significant of an issue in younger children. We know that impulsive symptoms start earlier than attention deficits and processing issues. But as you get older, the issue of inattention and processing begins to take center stage.