Inattentive and Overactive Population Up 21% in Roughly 1,000 Days

The Wall Street Journal yesterday reported that some 49.1 million prescriptions for ADHD drugs were written last year in the U.S., up 21% from 2008. Some 46% of the prescriptions in 2010 were for people aged 20 and above.

This should not surprise us.

Since 2008 the world has  added numerous to-do’s to our daily routine that were not previously there:

-Facebook status updates. The world has to know what I’m up to, right?

-Twitter beckons us to tweet. If Gaga has something to say, I should too.

-Foursquare check in. I’m at Taco Bell and you should care. After all, they have a diet menu now.

-Polish my LinkedIn profile. E-Resume’s are cool.

-DVR . Now we can watch every show on television. We used to have to pick just one.

-Starbucks occupies near every corner with a stoplight. I need a soy latte` now! And again in an hour.

See how it has taken only 3 years, about 1,000 days, for the population that doctors classify inattentive and overactive to grow 21%?

Now, none of these things are bad. I’m just asking you to be aware to what’s unfolding around us and what can steal us from daily accomplishment if we’re not careful.

I’m haunted right now about the essence of today. Today matters. Today counts. Today things have to move and art has to be made.

I fear the iphone display that’s burning permanently in our retinas. I fear being more caught up in the man on Twitter than the man in the mirror.

There’s work to be done. Let’s do it.