Attention Deficit : The Brain Syndrome Of Our Era

It is universally accepted that happiness pushes human society to progress. Happiness brings euphoria which all human beings naturally enjoy. To magnify happiness, people study philosophy to contemplate what brings happiness thus inventing new devices to ease their lives. Philosophy teaches people that acceptance, sharing and love arouse happiness. Consequently, new inventions implement their spiritual understandings about happiness in real life by facilitating communication. In Daniel Gilbert’s article “Reporting Live from Tomorrow”, he proposes that because there is not a single human encyclopedia in the world, communication is necessary to human beings and happiness stems from communication. Traditionally, people needed to make tremendous effort to communicate, but fortunately, new technologies bring easier communication. A good example is that electronic devices are extensively used now. However, immoderate usage of new technologies are harmful. In Richard Restak’s article “ Attention Deficit: The Brain Syndrome of Our Era”, he exhibits that attention deficit which is referred to as a psychological disability, is becoming a label of modern society. With almost addictive symptoms, people pass the boundaries of proper use of new technologies again and again and are now emotionally dependent on them. However, is it possible that people can get true happiness through electronic-devices communication? Although technology heightens people’s happiness temporarily, the fake

In “Attention Deficit: The Brain Syndrome of Our Era,” Restak expresses his theory of how in this age, the brain’s attention is constantly being divided by our advancing technology so often that our brains may be rewiring themselves to multitask excessively,therefore dampen its ability to focus. This is his way of explaining the spike of people being diagnosed with ADD and ADHD. These “disorders” could be the latest way of life, although this is widely doubted due to the fact that this is an aboriginally fresh change from the norm and it can be nearly impossible to convince a mass of people to stray from the familiar. Within the years, the number of people with ADD and ADHD will likely keep rising, resulting in life will slowly adjusting to

Today’s society is drastically different from the previous. In the past, the most advanced technology was working electricity, no one had to worry about checking their work emails at home. Today we are constantly surrounded by technology, in fact we come in contact with it so often we are almost fully dependent on it in the work place, and at home. Richard Restak shows us the negative effects of that dependency in his essay “Attention Deficit: The Brain Syndrome of Our Era”. We are constantly at work with technology, and it is literally changing the way we operate. Matt Richtel has proof of this in his article based off a study by some neurologists titled “Outdoors and Out of Reach, Studying the Brain”. Today, we have little to no control over our addiction to technology and our work life, the two have merged into one stress filled existence. However, Alexandra Samuel lets us know there are better ways to deal with our technology based work addiction than quitting cold turkey in her article “’Plug In Better’: A Manifesto”. Due to technology, our work and personal lives have become impossible to decipher, leaving no time for a stress free and balanced life away from the office.

Howell and Huessy (1985) reported on a study of 386 children who had, and had not, exhibited symptoms of attention deficit disorder (ADD)—previously known as hyperkinesis or minimal brain dysfunction—during childhood. In 1965 teachers of all second-grade school children in a number of schools in northwestern Vermont were asked to complete a questionnaire for each of their students dealing with behaviors commonly associated with ADD. Questionnaires on these same children were again completed when the children were in the fourth and fifth grades and, for purposes of this data set only, those three scores were averaged to produce a score labeled ADDSC. The higher the score, the more ADD-like behaviors the child exhibited.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (also referred to as ADHD) is a common emotional and behavioural difficulty problem. According to the HADD Ireland Website (2014), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is a medical/neurobiological condition in which the brains neurotransmitter chemicals, noradrenalin and dopamine do not work properly. ADHD is a disorder that without the correct detection, treatment and management can have considerable and long lasting effects and consequences for an individual. It is a genetic and long term condition which results in different learning and behavioural issues. ADHD is typically described as being made up of 3 main behaviours which include; Predominantly hyperactive; impulsive, poorly

“ADHD: we think more things before breakfast than most people think all day” (“We Think…, 2012). “Neurodevelopmental disorders are a group of disorders in which the development of the central nervous system is disturbed. These disruptions can include developmental brain dysfunction, which can manifest as impaired motor function, impaired learning, impaired language or non-verbal communication” (“Neurodevelopmental disorders,” 2015). A specific type of neurodevelopmental disorder,

What is Attention- Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder? Well it is one of the most commonly developed disorders among children, teens and adults (National Institute of Mental Health). In fact 5-8% of school-aged children are affected by attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (Mikami, Reuland and Griggs). According to the Mayo Clinic staff, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is a mental health condition exhibited by difficulty maintaining attention, as well as hyperactivity and impulsive behavior.

It may be hard to grasp the idea that developing electronical multitasking lifestyles may in turn develop an inability or prevention to learn at full capacity. Electronic multitasking may inhibit the way a person is capable of receiving and retaining important information, whether it be in school or in a person’s everyday life. In order to truly learn, a student or person must develop the proper skills of paying attention. Over the past decade, as electronic technologies have advanced and become more and more integrated into everyday life, studies are showing that electronic multitasking has not only brought along the persistent belief that one must learn to do many things at once, but

However, this ability is not innate with humans and we have limitations to such “skill.” Furthermore, multitasking is a lifestyle that some people might yield to, for instance, because their workplace demands it from them, or because of its compulsion from being recognized as a popular trend. Employees who are demanded to multitask an abundance of assignments have a likelihood of

Multitasking makes you feel good because you accomplish more at once. Parents should let kids use media while doing homework. “Then the stress will be moved evenly. “Ages 30 and under multitask more than older ages. This is due because they have the technology all around them. Therefore they use it. So scientists surveyed 63 people aged from 13 through 39 to see if multitasking was effective. They found that multitasking“Was good for the brain.”

We have chosen to do our project on ADD or otherwise known as Attention Deficit Disorder. Although attention deficit disorder has been a concept for hundreds of years, until fairly recently in the scientific community it has not been considered a disorder. It’s believed that early famous leaders and philosophers such as Napoleon and Galileo could have had ADD or ADHD. Sir Alexander Crichton, who was a Scottish physician and author, describes "mental restlessness" in his book, “An inquiry into the nature and origin of mental derangement”, which was written in 1798. Before this disorder was truly discovered most people thought of it as brain damage or a form of Autism. In 1902 there was an English pediatrician named George Still who became first doctor to begin clearly describing the symptoms of ADD and ADHD. For the next two or three decades there is no real movement on this disorder. Then in the early 1930’s the United States government approved a new amphetamine classed drug called Benzedrine to be used for medical applications. Even though there was no textbook definition for ADD at the time, the first use of stimulants to treat the disorder can be traced back to 1937. The first real published appearance of ADD was in the DSM-1, which dates all the way back to 1952, and is classified as, “minimal brain function.” The last significant change made was in DSM-IV in 1994, which classified ADD and ADHD into three subcategories: ADHD inattentive type, ADHD hyperactive-impulsive

Sarayu Caulfied, a 17 year old at Oregon Episcopal School, says that “ Today's teens on the other hand are digital natives- people who have grown up using the internet and digital technology. This makes them better at media multitasking.” This evidence proves that unlike adults kids and teens have grown up with technology in their lives. According to the researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong say that although their findings don’t show any causal effect there's a big possibility that multitasking can possibly affect certain cognitive abilities. This suggests that the brain can be assisted on its path of development by

Multitasking is an excessively general term that is used to express the action of doing two or more task simultaneously. It is also a much desired skill by a majority of the population. As research increases so has the understanding of the human brain and its functions. With the research of many doctors the question of whether humans can truly multitask or whether the concept is a myth. On top of that debate there is also others about evolution, productivity and perception.

By using technology, you can decrease your attention span by a lot. The prefrontal cortex helps with understanding the effect of your behavior (Knox). This part of the brain matures later than other parts of the brain. This also helps with thinking ahead and sizing up risk and rewards (Scholastic). Being connected to too much technology can change our brain. Our ability to focus is being affected by bursts of information. Synaptic pruning makes focusing harder. Social interactions over technology changes how people think and behave. If our ability to focus is being affected, then we need to lower the usage of technology. When you play video games, you are more likely to have consequences and get in trouble. As you can see, technology can decrease our attention

As Loe and Feldman (2007) have noted, many children and adolescents who have Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) suffer from anxiety, depression, disruptive behavior disorder and learning problems. Specifically, the effects of stress show significant academic under-achievement, poor academic performance, and educational problems. As Bunketorp et al., (2015) have noted, many students who suffer from anxiety disorder find it hard to concentrate, have a destitute engagement in the classroom and rank lower than their peers in reading and math standardized test scores. Children in preschool who have Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder experience academics difficulties and fall behind in reading and academics skills (Allison et al.,