Attention Deficiency

Everyone has ADHD these days. Doctors are handing out more ADHD diagnoses than ever before. In 2010, there were 10.4 million ADHD cases diagnosed compared to the 6.2 million in 2000. That's a lot more ADHD. This, of course, does not necessarily mean that technology or corn syrup has ruined our society's future leaders, it might have more to do with doctor awareness. "The magnitude and speed of this shift in one decade is likely due to an increased awareness of ADHD, which may have caused more physicians to recognize symptoms and diagnose the disorder," explains researcher Dr. Craig Garfield. [Academic Pediatrics]

This is something I’ve been thinking about for a very long time. I used to wonder if I didn’t have ADD because I had trouble focusing and concentrating on tasks that I thought were boring. I realized after a while that it wasn’t me that had ADD but everyone around me. I can’t count on my fingers or toes the number of times various co-workers check their cell phones for personal emails or texts from friends not at work. On top of that the constant disruption of work instant messaging and people forget to do things because they get interrupted by either an instant message or an email in their inbox. People can’t focus and technology makes it worse.

Work is one thing but this behavior happens outside the office so often. A number of times I’ll sit at a restaurant reading a book and I see couples or groups of people at tables next to me. One minute in the middle of a discussion, then next checking their phones for a message from God, their best friends or their significant others. And no one remembers anything anymore. It’s so much easier to look something up on Google than to just keep it in their memory. I do it too but it’s really sad. For all the convenience we’ve gotten from technology, it’s allowed us to get early Alzheimer’s and to run around consistently like chickens without heads. Personally I’d rather not feel like this. I fondly remember 8 hour blocks of time in college when I could focus on my studies. Now I am lucky if I can get an hour of time to concentrate on a work task without an incoming email, an instant message, some loud office worker talking on the phone, or a call from someone with an issue. It would be nice to not have all these interruptions. It would feel wonderful to actually be productive again.