Dr. Milliken begins her book with this disclaiming: “Warning: This book may cause you to play more. The consequences of this can include enjoying work, looking forward to coming home, dealing effectively with challenges and being happy.”
The main problem for the ADHD brain is a lack of dopamine…and what makes our brains produce dopamine? Play! And there are no bad side effects. It works for people who aren’t ADHD, as well. Want to be more creative, more productive, and have better relationships? Try playing. The problem for most adults is that they have forgotten how to play. The pressure to be taken seriously, to act mature, and to appear responsible has crushed our natural ability to play. Dr. Milliken shows why better play results in better work, as well as a more satisfying and successful life generally. Play means something different to everyone. Introverts, adventurers, artists and computer geeks alike -all of us- have different prompts that produce the reward hormones. The book offers a number of exercises and questionnaires to help us remember what used to drive our enjoyment of life, how we used to play as children, and how to incorporate that into adult activities and even into work. Anyone for dress-up?
Review by Janet T., Reference Librarian
