Better Health & Living: Article: Brain Overload!

Issue: July 2008

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Brain Overload!

Feel like you have attention deficit disorder?

by Sarah Mahoney

Published in health •living_well •METRO •METRO Story | 0 Comments, Talk about this article »

It’s midmorning, and I’m trying to write a really good first sentence. I’m also trying to ignore the intermittent ping of incoming e-mail, the steady chirp that means I have a new text message, and the ding of my Instant Messenger program. As I reply to the editor who wants to know when to expect revisions, the FedEx van pulls up, setting off three minutes of barking and howling (the dogs, not me). I sign for the package, quiet the dogs, check my voice mail, take a sip of tepid coffee, and sigh. I stare at the screen for a few seconds, realizing I’ve forgotten what I’m trying to write a sentence about.

It turns out there’s a name for what ails me: Along with millions of other Americans, I may have what Edward Hallowell, MD, calls ADT, or attention deficit trait. In many ways, ADT is like ADHD, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. It can make people irritable, distracted, unfocused, and inefficient, says Dr. Hallowell, a psychiatrist and founder of the Hallowell Center for Cognitive and Emotional Health in Sudbury, Massachusetts.

Unlike ADHD, a permanent neurological condition present from birth, ADT is something we’ve brought on ourselves. Immersed in technology that tricks us into believing we can accomplish an unrealistic number of tasks each day, we flit from memo to e-mail to voice mail, feeling frazzled and distracted. And at the end of the day, we realize all this technology hasn’t helped a bit. We don’t get more done; we just generate longer to-do lists.

While true ADHD probably only affects about 5 percent of the U.S. population, ADT is an epidemic. “Modern culture practically demands it,” says Dr. Hallowell, author of Crazy Busy: Overstretched, Overbooked, and About to Snap—Strategies for Coping in a World Gone ADD. “Between cell phones, the Internet, and e-mail, we’ve broken down all the boundaries of time and space. Never before have we been able to send and receive data as copiously and constantly as we do now. It sets us apart from every era in human history, and it happened very suddenly,” he says. “Because we can be in communication with people 24/7, we think we should be.”

brain overload

The Myth Of Multitasking

Dr. Hallowell believes a big part of the problem is that we’ve actually convinced ourselves that we can do many things at once and do them all well. Baloney. “People don’t want to believe this, but you cannot pay full attention to two cognitive tasks,” he says. “It’s just impossible to think about two things simultaneously. You may think you’re paying attention, but what you’re really doing is switching back and forth and inferring what you miss.”

Obviously, this isn’t a big deal if the tasks are sautéing onions while half listening to a complaining family member or rummaging around in the kitchen drawer for a pen that writes. But trying to perform two tasks that require thinking—like talking to a client while reading an e-mail—means we’re not doing two things. We’re just alternately ignoring two things. “How many times have you been on the phone with someone and you hear their voice go flat and monotone? You know what they’re doing—I call it e-mail voice,” Dr. Hallowell says.

Slang for our inept attempts at multitasking has gotten so common that a large cable company even uses it in television ads, making fun of the hapless “snurfer” (surfing the Internet when he’s supposed to be listening to his girlfriend) or the middle-aged “televisorphonernetting” oaf who can’t hear someone sitting right next to him.

It’s nice that someone is laughing because our brains sure aren’t enjoying this. As all this input floods the brain, with each item asking for a rapid cognitive response, Dr. Hallowell says, the brain reacts as if we work in caves, not offices. Fear and stress kick in, and the body floods with stress hormones. The heart rate goes up, and breathing gets shallow. As we get cranked up in that fight-or-flight mode, we become less and less effective. (Unless, of course, “effective” means punching the guy from human resources or sprinting away from our snarling teenagers.)

Not surprisingly, health researchers are finding that the more we rush around trying to concentrate on five things at once, the more at risk we are. A recent study at the University of Pittsburgh found that older adults are more likely to fall while multitasking. And teens are even more vulnerable to distractions, resulting in many states completely banning the use of cell phones by teens while driving. In fact, legislating cell phone use for all drivers is widespread, and it’s a good thing. I still can’t shake the image of a Kentucky woman who rolled her SUV; rescue workers found her severed arm with the hand still clutching a cell phone. Some states have even felt the need to ban DWT—driving while texting.

brain overload

Dial Back

The good news, though, is that ADT is something we can eliminate whenever we want. “People rationalize and say, ‘I have no choice—my boss demands that I be constantly available, my clients demand it, my kids demand it,‘“ says Dr. Hallowell. “But people can take back control.” Here are his ADT-fighting suggestions.

Take care of yourself
Getting enough sleep, eating well, and being sure to exercise at least three times a week will help you feel more in control.

Talk to people
Walking down the hall to chat with a friendly coworker—a face-to-face conversation Dr. Hallowell recommends having every four to six hours—is a way to promote positive emotion and not just whip yourself to work harder.

Make room to think
No need to go nuts organizing, Dr. Hallowell says. Simply clearing off a space on your desk is helpful.

Do something simple
When ADT strikes, with racing thoughts and an unreasonable sense of urgency, tackle a simple, neutral task. “Reset your watch,” he suggests. “Look a word up in the dictionary. Write a very easy, rote memo.”

Prune back the lilies a little
Much as we like to blame work or family for this constant distraction, Dr. Hallowell says, “We become victims of our enthusiasm. There are so many things we can do, and we want to do them all—like eating at a buffet, we just pile our plates way too high,” he says. “I love the expression, ‘Cultivate lilies, not leeches.’ Lots of people are living with ADT because they’ve got many lilies.” So while you’re getting rid of the leeches, take a look at that lily patch and see if there aren’t some activities that are less wonderful than others that you can pare down.

The doctor is right. Since chatting with him, I’ve taken great comfort in unkinking my phone cord and checking the printer paper. These simple little tasks remind me that life, brimming with lilies, is far more enjoyable when I take it one task at a time.

Frequent contributor Sarah Mahoney juggles marriage, motherhood, and a thriving writing career at her home in Maine.

Corral Your E-Mail

Worldwide, we send about 170 billion e-mails every day, according to technology market researchers at the Radacati Group. That translates to about two million e-mails per second. It could make you crazy. Fight it, suggests psychiatrist Edward Hallowell, MD, by checking it only a few times a day and avoiding it first thing in the morning when it’s too easy to let requests from others overwhelm the day’s real agenda. “There are people who feel they have to answer e-mail all day instead of doing their real job,” says Dr. Hallowell, “and then they wonder why they burn out, feeling like they never get anything done.”