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Individuals in North American society are constantly rushing. Whether it be adults rushing from place to place, from deadline to deadline, working two jobs and overtime. Or children being involved in too many activities throughout the course of their day and in constant stimulation of the new highly intensive video games or television programs. Regardless of age, gender, race or social class, this preoccupation with speed has created a lessoned focus and attention in all individuals, creating attention disorders amongst all. With this quick lifestyle comes a quick solution, medication. Diagnosis and prescriptions of attention disorders throughout the continent have created a society that is dependent on these speed orientated pharmaceuticals, the most common of these being ritalin. Thus, society has become what can be called a “Ritalin Nation.” Speed orientated drugs are at an all time high throughout first world nation. From coffee to cocaine, individuals are seeking more speed stimulating drugs to both relax and complete their already hectic lives. The individual perception of entertainment has changed both in value and in quality to meet the needs of the short attention spanned receptors. The media therefore can be concluded as one of the main contributors to the constant rush within society. Children’s education is also being altered with society on going need for stimulation, children are having a tremendously difficult time remaining attentive in the classroom. However, the issue remains that the individual children, rather than society are being diagnosed for what is evidently a societal attention disorder. However, pharmaceutical companies are thriving. For every symptom of stress, attention disorders, anxiety are now offered a simple solution, medication. For it is a common misconception that it is the individual that is need of medication, once again not a societal issue. With the rampant prescription solution to these speed orientated disorders, doctors and medical companies are profiting obscene amounts of money, for a problem that is clearly not medical or personal. Finally, what matters most in this rush is the family. The institution that once only decades ago held the backbone of society together is collapsing. No longer a place where each individual holds a specific responsibility within this close knit unit, the family has fallen victim to this speed induced society. Every individual suffers within the family, and family time is no longer expected but rather cherished, for there is no longer time for the family unit. The result of this, is devastating, and society is now without a backbone for now there is something far more powerful than a backbone, and that is speed. North American culture advances at a far greatest pace than any other cultures around the globe. With these face paced lifestyles, comes the indulging and addiction to both legal and illegal stimulants. Eighty-nine percent of the entire world’s recreational industry is supplied for the North American public. Within this industry, coffee and other stimulant drugs are among top products bought and sold by the general public. Why? Because, North America has both the funds as well as the obsession with mind altering drugs with speed effects to co-exist with their already speed driven lives. Caffeine is the most common sensory addiction in North America, found in coffees, teas, colas, chocolate. While relatively harmless, it is the most commonly used mind- altering drug in the world. When used in moderation, caffeine acts as a mild stimulant to the nervous system, resulting in a feeling of well-being and alertness. It increases the heart rate, increases urination, and stimulates secretion of stomach acids; excessive intake can result in restlessness, insomnia, and heart irregularities. There is no irony in the fact that much of the side-effects of such drugs as caffeine are also some of the most common symptoms of anxiety, attention disorders and stress. The effects of caffeine vary from person to person, as people excrete it at different rates. Physical dependence and unpleasant symptoms upon withdrawal (headache, fatigue, depression) are common in regular caffeine users. Which aids in the conclusion that it is not necessarily a sudden increase of these disorders within society, but rather the lifestyles of individuals living in a speed induced society. Individuals take drugs for many reasons: peer pressure, relief of stress, increased energy, to relax, to relieve pain, to escape reality to feel more self-esteem and for recreation. Although each of the reasons why people indulge in drugs seems individual, all of the problems listed are due to the influence of society. Not only do drugs create a list of endless side-effects both psychological and physical, the most frightening effect of illicit drugs id that they are highly addictive. Much like many contributors in society, drugs create individual addictions and dependencies, creating a society that relies entirely on products, (some illegal some not) and on the consumption of these products in order to both cope and live their everyday lives. So it comes as no surprise that not only are sensory addictions created in a speed induced society, but also a drastic change in the entertainment industry.
Approximate Word count = 3304
Approximate Pages = 13.2
(250 words per page double spaced)
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