There’s often talk about the proliferation of new technology and the increased rates of ADD in adults and children. And while a decisive answer to such a complex question is difficult, there is a lot of research that very strongly suggests that wireless handheld devices, iPods, cell phones, internet and too much TV are actually creating an ADD audience. There is also talk about a new type of ADD that experts are labelling Acquired Attention Deficit Disorder. While true ADD seems to have at least some genetic hardwiring, Acquired ADD is being used to describe a disorder where ADD-like symptoms are developing in people as our brains become rewired by modern technology.
The primary symptom of ADD is being “easily distracted by extraneous stimuli”, but it goes a lot further than this, including difficulties in sustaining attention, sequencing and prioritizing thereby affecting an individual’s long-term capacity to pay attention, stay focused, and complete high-priority projects. As one’s brains becomes increasingly conditioned to taking in 140 characters at a time, so one’s attention span decreases. The more one is exposed to bites, tweets and instant gratification, the less patient one becomes with more complex, more meaningful information and one compromises the ability to analyze things with any depth and nuance. Experts even suggest that we are short-circuiting our brains by using spell-checkers and contact lists that store telephone numbers. Like any skill, if you don’t use it, you lose it!
Those who feel obliged to respond to every mail and message they receive in a day (this can involve hundreds of messages a day and people checking their devices hundreds of times an hour) often end up in what Dr Hallowell (author of CrazyBusy: Overbooked, Overstretched, and About to Snap!) dubs, the F-State – frantic, frazzled, frenzied. “They get toxic stress and burn up energy rapidly and wastefully,” he says. “In that state, they do bad work, lose friends, and lose clients. It’s bad for them in every measurable way.”
The inability to prioritize, Hallowell goes on to explain, takes people in many directions at once, hence not doing anything well.
In children it has been noted that while a child with ADD can recall the events in a televised story just as well as a child without ADD, they fail to separate out what was important – why an event happened or why a character did something. “This inability to see causal relations creates kids with dramatic social problems,” explains Richard Milich, a professor of psychology at the University of Kentucky. “They’re highly rejected by their peers.”
With internet, DSTV and social media, comes the offer of instant gratification, making children and adults alike impatient, restless, impulsive and easily bored. Hardwired for novelty seeking, people are starting to lose interest halfway through reading an article or completing a task. Mental health experts are claiming that technology and its addictive properties are a major factor leading to the breakdown of interpersonal relationships and have a real impact on relationships and families, knocking our life balance off-kilter.
“The single greatest enemy of creativity is overload,” adds Tim Ferriss, (author of The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich). “I believe creativity requires a relaxed acuity, which is rendered impossible by checking email every half hour.”
What then is the solution? “You really need to be very clear about what matters most to you,” suggests Hallowell. “If you de-stress, if you prioritize, everything gets better – your physical health, your longevity, your enjoyment of life. If you don’t take your time, your time will be taken from you.”
While it’s easier said than done, I suspect we all need to come up with our own boundaries regarding when we will and when we won’t access our technology. A Canadian government agency has barred employees from using their devices to overnight, on weekends, and holidays “because they’re throwing off staffers’ work-life balance”, and this is an interesting thought.
A few small steps:
• Experiment at first with short periods of inaccessibility. While many will experience symptoms of withdrawal and anxiety (as with any addiction) things do get better.
• “Leave your cell phone and portable device at home one day a week. Saturday is a good day to cut off email and cell phone usage. For most people, it will feel like a two-week vacation,” says Ferriss says. “The psychological recovery it offers is pretty unbelievable.”
• Let your family know you are always available – via a phone call – in case of emergency, and then set yourself times in the mornings before which you won’t check your devices, and similarly establish a cut off time in the evenings.
• Don’t interrupt colleagues and associates with mails or calls after hours, over weekends, or when on holiday. (If you have to work overtime, save your mails in a draft file, and send during normal business hours.)
• Ask friends, family members and colleagues what their suggestions are, and work together towards a better place.
