ADD: Attention Digital Disorder

I'll probably get in trouble for this, but I believe Attention Deficit Disorder to be a myth.

Don't get me wrong. I don't think ADD is interchangeable with, say, learning disabilities. I suffer from mild dyslexia and non-verbal learning disorder. So far be it for me to diminish or discount these factors.

However, you better know that when it came to subjects I didn't enjoy studying -- physics, geometry, computer programming -- I totally had...wait, what was that? Oh, right, I was making a point about Attention Deficit Disorder. Anyway, why was it that I excelled at creative subjects like English literature, creative writing, or history, and that I sucked at math? Because that's the way my brain is wired, that's why!

We're living in an age where everything is overdiagnosed and overprescribed. According to a New York Times article on Sunday, kids are pointing-and-clicking since birth. With all of these distractions today, who's to say that we're not going to see more diagnoses of ADD and even the demise of true social relationships (You know, like talking. Um, that's it).

"The worry is we’re raising a generation of kids in front of screens whose brains are going to be wired differently."

Isn't adding a layer of technology bringing people closer together but also making divides even more prominent. Take for instance some of these high schoolers profiled in the article. Think back to when you were in high school. It was awkward enough, and very easy to withdraw into yourself. Yet, even with levels of social gaming and social networking, it appears as though the "shy" and "quiet" kids aren't becoming more outgoing and social but LESS so.

What is causing this disconnect? Well, I think plain and simple it's a distraction, we're making ourselves less social and putting off what we can do tomorrow to the day after tomorrow. Is technology really doing all that good?

Technology use clearly cannot be curbed, as we are in an eat-or-be-eaten world with computers. However, whatever happened to being active? Going outside to play? Whether you are an adult or high schooler or even a tween, this always stands true.

Yet Dee and I have talked about this ad nauseum: is this the new "busy?" (You'll probably see a post on that soon too) We claim to be "busy." We just add another layer of these complex relationships and technology, and the before we know it, the day has gone by and we've passed the time, how? Writing on people's walls and sharing pictures!

How did this become the new "normal?" Going back to when I was in school, I didn't pay attention in biology class because I found it boring. Are we reduced to mundane lives because of our new addictions to voyeurism and being reduced to never talk vis a vis in real life, stunted critical thinking skills and becoming recluses?

If you have seen a running theme here on Coop Dee Ville, you will see that we notice that unless you are a sociopath, we crave human contact, social and fulfilling relationships.

Our attention to digital media may be causing another level of social dysfunction. I don't know about you, but I'd rather go to boxing class, and not do boxing on Wii at this point.