ADHD — A Manufactured Product of Our Times and Society?
"ADHD" seems to be one of the popular "ailments du jour" these days.
If you don't concentrate well and tend to skip around a lot, "they" will soon enough determine that you're afflicted with this particular "syndrome" (or whatever you want to call it) and — in the best interests of society and your alleged well-being — you will be medicated into oblivion.
Ever-busy sandpipers on the beach...
Whoa... Just a Moment...
ADHD was not a common thing when I was a kid, in the 1960's and early 70's.
Sure, there was the occasional "feisty" kid who'd bounce around endlessly in class, but usually such things were just attributed to the general idea that some kinds are more energetic than others.
I suppose we could all debate whether or not ADHD is a "new" ailment, but I don't really care.
Recently, I've been thinking more about the possibility that ADHD is less of an "ailment" and more of simply an adaptation to the way our world works, today.
Consider this: When I was little, we'd watch "The News" on TV, and it consisted of a single newscaster "reading" the news, with an occasional cutaway to a field report from events that were a really big deal.
Now consider the TV news, today: We've got multiple newscasters, picture-in-picture reports, a half dozen "tickers" with ads, programming, the stock market, the weather and God knows what else running across the screen simultaneously.
The endless stream of information...
"Functioning" in Our Modern World
Mrs. Denmarkguy and I were talking about this over coffee, this morning.
Specifically, we were talking about how it is almost a requirement to be able to multi-task our way through daily life in a very "ADHD-like" fashion... and if you can't you sort of get left behind.
Sometimes I look at life and all the things (inputs) that bombard me from all angles and I think less about "being" ADHD (which I am, by clinical standards), than about NEEDING ADHD in order to bloody well function. At all.
Now don't get me wrong here... I'm not pretending that this whole ADHD thing isn't a sincere functional impairment to some folks, but I would also like to submit the distinct possibility that we are — in our ever "quickening" world — creating something akin to a need to have ADHD-like characteristics... simply to navigate the average day.
You know, I wake up in the morning and make coffee, feeding the cats and dog, checking social media, checking emails, checking messages and all these things are "layered" on top of each other.
Watch sunsets! It's very peaceful...
Is a Simple Life Even POSSIBLE?
Compared to when I was younger (let's say, 30 years ago) I really have very few occasions where I have even 30 contiguous minutes to "work on something" without having to break away multiple times to attend to something else.
Does make one wonder if ADHD is really a "disease" anymore, or simply an "adaptation" to the way things around us work.
Now I totally grok that there will be some parents who will pooh-pooh this way and insist that little Johnny or Susan seriously hampered by ADHD, and I get that.
But I also ask you to open yourself to the possibility that you are viewing their world through your 20+ years older lenses of perception; just like I am comparing modern life to that late 1960's newscaster.
And I do "own" the ADHD diagnosis, for myself. But quite honestly? Being medicated/treated for it would probably hinder my functionality in the world more than it would benefit it. And that's really what I am driving at, here.
Quite often, I find myself wishing for "simpler times." But I don't honestly know whether such a thing is even possible, anymore.
Thanks for reading!
What do YOU think? Are we "creating" ADHD, simply through our ever-quickening world? Are you — or one of your family members — diagnosed with ADHD? How does it affect your ability to "function," if at all? Do you think we live in an "ADHD culture?" Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!
(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)
Created at 181013 00:30 PDT
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I took adderall for a while... It helped with concentration, made it impossible for me to sleep. It was so hard to refill, I got tired of being treated like a drug addict. I found meditation and mental exercise was actually more helpful in the long run.
Yup... Mrs. Denmarkguy took ritalin for a while, as much as anything because our state sponsored insurance requires that "treatment" must take place in order for the doctors' visits to be covered. It didn't really help her much, and after a while the effectiveness decline to near... nothing.
I think that ADHD-like symptoms are inevitable if you participate in the parts of life that have been computerized (newscasts being just one example in just one medium, television). I constantly have dozens of windows on several different browsers open at different websites as I sit in front of my computer - with cell phones and tablets also within reach. It is habitual now to click onto something else when I haven't yet finished the article or task I am working on. I think it might be fear of missing out on something important combined with the entrained habits from experiencing rapidly shifting images no matter where you turn your attention to these days (commercials, music videos, newscasts, movies, etc.).
I wished for a simpler life.....but I didn't get my wish :-)
Exactly. We generate SO much information, and if we consider the current exponential rate at which the information distribution is growing, we're simply going to run out of "functional" brain pace within a few decades.
As a result of which I find myself "unplugging" more and more, these days. I have to sit back and examine the deeper question of "What exactly am I missing out on, again?" Much of the time, it turns out to be nothing. Or just the fear that if I don't stay informed about everything, I might miss some important "opportunity." But really? Odds are I wouldn't have time to take that opportunity, even if it showed up.
That is precisely true!
Thanks for the laugh!
Thanks to you my friend. For always giving me the opportunity to snatch you off a healthy laugh through your thought provoking posts. :)
Perhaps school is simply a horrific ordeal for some kids, because they hate being told what to learn, when and how. I've never seen a kid exploring a creek with some mates exhibiting ADHD.
Brilliantly put @mattclarke.
It reminds me a bit of the depression diagnosis. That grew with the creation of the Prozac type drugs (can't remember their name) and then next thing you know there's a massive increase in anxiety and now depression and anxiety seems to be the new norm.
I have pretty much always been somewhat depressed... pretty much since my teens. And I have never been "treated" for it. One of the fewthings my parents got right — perhaps because they were "older" — was an acceptance of the fact that I simply has a "maudlin temperament," and they were OK with that, as long as I wasn't harming myself or others...
Me too @denmarkguy. I've always considered my self to be a bit of an eeyore although I do have my pooh moments. 😁
I did take Prozac some years back which did seem to help. But the next time I tried it it didn't and I'd seen too many friends just getting higher and higher dose so I didn't take it again.
What really "worked" for me was when I gave up fighting and trying to understand it and faced asked myself the question 'what if you are always going to in and out of depression for the rest of your life, no matter what you do?'
'how would you live your life knowing that?'
Since then I have never had a full blown depression. I still get downs, sometimes for weeks but never to the point of not being able to get out of bed or feeling it's all pointless.
I just accept that I'm feeling crap for no particular rhyme or reason (except my thinking) and that it will pass it I let it be.
Don't get me started on the school system!
So many of our problems arise because we insist on developing "standardized" systems for human beings... who are anything BUT standardized. And yes, I can appreciate that there are certain basic things we'd all benefit from learning, but it's the assumption that everyone has the same learning style that troubles me.
Me too. I was sooooo happy once my kids were out of it.
Was a kid in the 60's and early 70's myself as well. Never heard of the word back then. Got the impression nowadays that if a kid is just slightly different, it's already being "categorised" as ADHD.
These days it seems like the medical and mental health professions have grown obsessed with "medicalizing" every aspect of the normal human condition... and the target described as "normal" gets smaller and smaller all the time... meaning that we ALL have some kind of "syndrome" in need of being fixed.
America is the ADHD nation - the world looks on and wonders what the fuck is wrong with Americans.
TV, wifi, phones, coffee, vaccines, GMO foods, schooling, chemicals, propaganda, sugar, medications, food additives, I wonder what the cause might be...
Oh, there are SO many things here I could declare "wrong," but I shall refrain from leaving a dissertation on that here!
That said, I think many of the issues in US culture are the result of unrealistic expectations for what we are "owed" or we need to achieve in order to become some rather nebulous standard of "successful," in the context of the culture.
There's too much "content" to put in our lives, and it requires people to spread themselves too thin to manage to actually fit all of it into their lives.
I just read through this article, but I think you are confusing ADHD with "hyperactivity" a trait common in ADHD, not so much in ADD...
Unfortunately this is a common misconception, and ADHD comes with many other less desirable features and the severity is different case to case...
ADHD is not some trend it's a real disorder, so just think about that when you are writing, many people have a very arrogant attitude against people suffering from ADHD, please don't be one of those people, (people who are suffering from ADHD might take offense).
That being said you have a point, that a few centuries back ADHD was not such a problem, you could be an hour late to work, there was plenty of work, simpler times, I also think many people with ADHD in those times became criminals and outcasts even famous pirates, there is also a much higher chance for people with ADHD to die in accidents because of lack of impulse control/motor skills/patience...
/FF
Well I swear they have meds for everything these days. I say screw that unless it really is something that is causing a lot of trouble they are more than likely over prescribing meds to just fill quotes and get bonus. Down here they push meds like candy and it’s just disgusting.
Are there people who can’t focus worth a dam? Perhaps. Are those people just bored out of there mind? I would think more than likely. Most places you move as the slowest person. Whether that be school, business, or whatever. Some will just be bored out of their minds and appear ADHD. I can’t say that is there fault or needing to be medicated.
If you can’t do a dozen things today at once then you are quite sadly going have a hard time. Sure it be nice to do a single activity for 5-8 hours strait. There are just other priory and downtimes in that one activity I might as well be doing other things during them.
I think society suffers more from trying to be as efficient as possible as time is on the run these days. Just too much to do and yep it’s not like the old days. Every awake hour of every day can be filled doing something. For many when it’s not that a waste of time.
I’ve seen people on those kinds of meds. Look like they had there soul crushed. Granted there are people on the other end as well who are going 10,000 MPH that really do seem to need some kind of help.
End of the day everything a % of everything out there. People wanting to make money off you just want you to think any % and it’s a bad thing. Screw them.
I will say this @denmark. My nephew was diagnosed with it. My sister at the time hardly cooked. Mostly junk food, processed foods and tons of ketchup. He went into foster care to a very good home for I think 5 years before he went back to his mom. While in foster care he only ate homemade food, very little sugars and virtually no ketchup. Within 6 months he was a different boy. He could concentrate, his grades went up to A's and B's, he was no longer bouncing off the walls. He was in "control" of his emotions. So personally I feel food is the biggest culprit. Second is our schools. Children are not meant to sit still for so long and for so many hours a day. To me, that is just an inappropriate way to learn. Today we also no longer have children outside playing like we did in the pre 80's maybe 70's. Now let us look at these same things with society. Too many people are on crap for food, spend too much time on computers, as well as videos online that they can skip through. Music and advertisement triggered to stimulate our thoughts with quick messages, violence, and sex. Drugs for everything. So society has very much become ADHD. Due to that as well as chemtrails, gmo foods HGCS we have also become a society with anxiety and so much more. Only those with extremely strong immune systems, control to shut off the tv and computer and get outside to play, walk, hike as well as eat well might be able to avoid the path the majority of society is on. Thanks for the aarticle and insight.
There is no question that ADHD is a real bio physical affliction. But also there is no question that many parents and kids use it in a loose form where there is no ADHD at all. Just an excuse or like you say an "adaptation" to the times.
I look at it, and I look around... and I totally have some "concentration issues," as do many others, but I think we're really seeing an attempt a adaptation more than an illness.
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