ideal home life that is not conducive to raising a stable
child. For my part, I will say that growing up in a home with a
drug dealer stepfather did not contribute to me becoming a
model student in school. It may very well be that I became
more inattentive than hyperactive simply out of fear of being
beaten to death for gross misconduct.
As our society has become increasingly frantic in its pace, it
seems the incidence rate of ADD/ADHD diagnoses has
increased correspondingly. In the last few decades, TV has
become more stimulating. MTV debuted the concept of
changing visual stimulation every few seconds, accompanied
by loud (at least at my house when my parents were gone)
music. We now have personal electronic devices, internet
micro bites of information, all at the touch of a finger. Is it
possible that there are those who are genetically more
sensitive to stimuli, or have a higher distractibility, who could
have easily coped in the world of the 18th or 19th century, but
are overwhelmed by stimuli in today’s world? Entertainment
is much faster paced. Stand-up comedians of today must make
quick sound bites. A perusal into standup comedians of the
50’s and 60’s, such as Johnny Carson or Andy Griffith, finds
them spending several minutes in elaborate stories before a