"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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