Because I Come from a Crazy Family

The Making of a Psychiatrist

De: Edward M. Hallowell

Narrado por: Paul Boehmer

From the best-selling author of the classic book on ADD Driven to Distraction, a memoir of the strange upbringing that shaped Dr. Edward M. Hallowell's celebrated career.

When Edward M. Hallowell was 11, a voice out of nowhere told him he should become a psychiatrist. A mental health professional of the time would have called this psychosis. But young Edward (Ned) took it in stride, despite not quite knowing what "psychiatrist" meant. With a psychotic father, an alcoholic mother, an abusive stepfather, and two so-called learning disabilities of his own, Ned was accustomed to unpredictable behaviour from those around him and to a mind he felt he couldn't always control.

The voice turned out to be right. Now, decades later, Hallowell is a leading expert on attention disorders and the author of 20 books, including Driven to Distraction, the work that introduced ADD to the world. In Because I Come from a Crazy Family, he tells the often strange story of a childhood marked by what he calls the "WASP triad" of alcoholism, mental illness, and politeness and explores the wild wish, surging beneath his incredible ambition, that he could have saved his own family of drunk, crazy, and well-intentioned eccentrics - and himself.

Because I Come from a Crazy Family is an affecting, at times harrowing, ultimately moving memoir about crazy families and where they can lead, about being called to the mental health profession and about the unending joys and challenges that come with helping people celebrate who they are.

©2018 Edward M. Hallowell, M.D. (P)2018 Audible, Ltd

Gripping, moving, relatable

Being a Ned-nerd and fellow ADDult, I knew I would like this book. I was surprised at the many obstacles Ned had while growing up, given that he comes across as so well-balanced. I was also shocked by the types of experieces he had I could totally relate to, such as the parental alcoholism and the "enmeshed" family (although, because my alcoholic parent drove everyone off when I was very young, most of my enmeshment was not the loving, supportive kind). I was very sad they lost cousin Lyn, this part of the story bringing up melancholic appreciation for the souls, long passed, who also "saved" me. The unearned guilt when his mother died also reminded me how I tried so hard to give my mom a happy life toward the end, and how I so miserably failed. Lyn telling Ned not to feel guilty was Lyn also telling me not to feel guilty.

As a writer, I realized from the start that this medical doctor was really a writer! The melodious prose and just-deep-enough characters could have easily made a best-selling novel. Maybe Dr. Hallowell will take his teacher's advice someday.

Narration was mechanical at times, like an electronic voice assistant. But I thought he did the characters and accents well.

Inattentive ADHD or ADD???

Good book, but he confused me by calling Inattentive ADHD - ADD.... This book was published after the DSM-5 and he still holds an active license.... why use the wrong name for the diagnosis?

Beautiful story!

What a beautiful memoir of a person’s life. Dr. Hallowell is clearly intelligent, so insightful about his life experiences, and shares heartache and love with equal wit and intensity. What a gift to the world, especially people who suffer from mental health issues, to know that those issues can be addressed and overcome. I wish he was my doctor. Thank you!

Kindness rules‼️

I LOVE this book. Well written & I often found myself knotting through out the book. Thanks to Audible to put this great book into audiobook format🤩

Hilarious and heartbreaking, an unexpected surprise

When I bought this audiobook to listen to, I was not expecting the story that I got. I was expecting stories from patients he interacted with. What I got was a delightful story of the authors life. Although some parts were very heartbreaking, there is a lot of hope and inspiration, mixed with hilarious stories. This was definitely an unexpected surprise that I thoroughly enjoyed. I did find it unnecessarily long with something like 70 chapters. I would still recommend this.