ADD does not add Up!

AD/HD as seen from a different perspective.

I believe “Attention Deficit Disorder” or ADD is a term that is both inaccurate and misleading. It obscures a very simple and normal human state, the state we call “scattered” or “undisciplined”

“There is no scientific test to determine ADD or ADHD as if it were a disease. Since ADD is simply defined as inability to sit still and concentrate for long periods of time—-something which is common in most children—-diagnosis is mostly a subjective opinion.”¹

Many adults cannot also sit still for long periods without sensual stimulation.  A more accurate term, then, for what Attention Deficit Disorder attempts to define would be “Attention Discipline Deficit Disorder”. In other words the person suffering ADDD does not have the necessary discipline to control his attention.  The deficit lies in the lack of discipline, not in any lack of attention.

Since the word “deficit” indicates a shortage or a lack, the term “Attention Deficit” would indicate that the individual to whom this term is applied suffers a lack of attention. This, however, is not possible, for attention and life are synonymous and as long as the individual is alive, he has the necessary attention required by life. When the attention is withdrawn from the body, then death occurs. A lack of discipline, however, or a “deficit in discipline” is not only possible but is quite common and very normal. What the person suffering from ADDD lacks is the necessary discipline to control the direction or focus of his attention. The person has no lack or deficit of attention when he directs it to a desired focus, but he may not have the necessary discipline to direct and hold his attention on duties, obligations and responsibilities. The common complaint of teachers, parents and psychologists is “This child won’t do what he is supposed to do when he is supposed to.” Catherine Carrigan sums the situation up in a nutshell in the first paragraph of her article entitled Attention Deficit which appeared in “Energy Times” March 1998. She writes.

“Who hasn’t had trouble at one time or another paying attention?  Sitting through a long lecture or wading through a complicated book...you daydream, your mind wandering; before you know what’s happening you’re lost in your own thoughts.”

If you read this quote carefully, you will see that there is no deficit of attention. The attention under the control of the mind goes to daydreams and other wanderings. What is lacking here is a deficit in discipline, not in attention.

All creatures possess attention. There can be no deficit of attention at any time except when we fall asleep or when we die. In deep sleep there is no attention at all. In our dreams we do possess attention, but when compared to the attention we possess in the wakeful state it is dim. Attention deficit applied to the attention possessed in the dream state would still be a misnomer for it is only the quality of the attention that has changed from dim to bright, not the quantity. In the dream state the attention is still not under control or discipline so the term that aptly describes this state is Attention Discipline Deficit Disorder.

The solution to the ADDD problem is easily stated but difficult to achieve. It is a matter of gaining control of our natural faculties by means of a disciplined life. A disciplined life is the struggle that has faced all human beings since time immemorial for it is only by means of a disciplined life that one achieves success in this world or the next. Of all the species, human beings alone have the ability and the possibility of gaining control over their natural faculties. It is this endowment by the Creator that sets the human being apart from all other species who, by Divine Design, are victims of their instincts.

The biggest obstacle to removing the deficit in discipline lies in one’s own mind.  The mind loves pleasure and it is the mind that carries the attention along with it to wherever it wants to go.  In the above quote it is the mind that is doing the daydreaming and the wandering, opposing all efforts to remain still and be concentrated in its center. If the person who is sitting through a boring lecture or wading through a complicated book had his mental faculties under control, he would have experienced no day dreaming or wandering of attention.  He would be able to maintain his focus and not become a victim of ADDD.

Children have boundless energy. They have not yet had the experience of leading a disciplined life. It is difficult for them to postpone instantaneous gratification for a superior deferred state. Their endless energy is both uncontrolled and undisciplined. Since the mind loves pleasure regardless of subsequent consequences, their attention is attracted to that which will give them immediate gratification and repelled by anything which might require any kind of temporary inconvenience. For example, they love to play and hate to wash dishes. They love to roam and hate to stay at home to do their homework. It is in the raising of children where adults become absolutely necessary. Adults are the only examples and models that children have. Children cannot look to the animal creation for an example of what they should be like when they grow up. If the adults that surround the children have not experienced the joy, the peace and the happiness that comes from leading a disciplined life, how can they expect their children to postpone an instantaneous gratification by accepting the pain that goes with acquiring discipline?

Since a disciplined life is an age old problem that is part and parcel of the human condition, history shows us that the solution to this problem has always been available to those who have sought it.  All of the religions and philosophies knew exactly what Attention Discipline Deficit Disorder was. Their writings discuss this problem and point the way to its cure. We have only to pay them the necessary heed.  To expect that a drug such as Ritilin can solve an essentially mental and spiritual problem is an oxymoron, for drugs upset the mind-body relationship that may take many years of right living to correct, if it can be corrected at all. 

It has long been recognized that what we take into our bodies affects how we will think and react. “You are what you eat!" is unfortunately a platitude whose depth is not ordinarily fathomed.  Purification of mind and body are essential keys, and since a disciplined life is absolutely necessary for overcoming ADDD, we should focus our attention in the area of proper nutrition and right living rather than in that of drugs or other chemical substitutes.

                                                                Thomas  Curtis

1.   Excerpted from Government Schools Endanger Children’s Health by Dr. Paul Clark. Media Bypass, October 1998.