Is ADD a bad thing?
By mati. Filed in Life |Tags: ADD, attention deficit disorder
ADD – it stands for Attention Deficit Disorder. The diagnosis itself shows the arrogant and narrowminded lack of understanding in the people studying this phenomenon. What they are trying to describe, by calling it Attention DEFICIT, is that the individual can’t keep his focus on one single task long enough to get it completed before starting something else. But, does that necessarily mean that we are dealing with attention “deficit”? Or could it be because the person is so attentive that he will notice all kinds of other things as well? Maybe it is not a deficit at all? Maybe it is actually a natural survival mechanism?
Everyone knows how easy it is to distract a baby. Something happens, baby cries, and all you have to do is wave the rattle in front of his face, play peekaboo or sing a song, and he forgets the whole issue in a flash of a second. This is how we come in! This is how nature made us! This is what we are like before we are molded with expectations from the society, and maybe there are reasons why we should actually be that way!
From a survival perspective, paying attention to everything in our environment is very beneficial. This kind of awareness is actually essential when it comes to staying alive. And, anyone who is a mother, knows that this ability is also essential to the survival of her baby. We must always keep an ear open for what is happening with our children while we are doing other things.
Anyway, the definition of ADD is obviously made by men who only work in linear fashions, and there is a huge difference between men and women when it comes to this issue. Take a simple thing, like making lunch. If my husband goes to make lunch, he doesn’t care that the kitchen looks like the three little piggies live there, with dirty dishes and crumbs everywhere. He is only focused on making his lunch, and nothing else matters.
Compare that to what I do when lunchtime is there. I go to the kitchen and see the mess. I fill the tea kettle with water and turn on the water in the kitchen sink at the same time. Instead of pushing things aside to make a space for my sandwich, I scoop things into the sink so it can soak while I eat. As I go back to the fridge to get the cheese, I grab a sponge, dip it in the water, squeeze it and mop away the crumbs as I go. On the way back to the sink, I grab a cup for my tea. I empty the trash and turn off the water in the kitchen sink while waiting for my sandwich to toast. By the time it is done, the kitchen doesn’t look to bad, and it didn’t take me any longer to make my sandwich than it took for my husband to make his. But, I have “attention deficit,” and he doesn’t. Or, maybe he is the one with attention deficit, since he can only focus on one thing at a time???
Who knows? It is all a matter of perception, I guess…
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