[A-List] AMA: Political Attention Deficit Disorder (PADD) is a psychiatric disorder

[Leigh Meyers]

Political Attention Deficit Disorder – New Psychiatric Condition Written
by Joel S. Hirschhorn
Monday, 25 June 2007

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It is recommended that the disorder be included in a widely used
mental illness manual created and published by the American
Psychiatric Association.  The current manual was published in 1994;
the next edition is to be completed in 2012.  The benefit to people of
an official classification is coverage by health insurance.

"The symptoms of PADD are all around us and treating it professionally
can do more for our country than any election," said Dr. Mable Wank in
the report's introduction; she is chairwoman of the Council and a
professor at UCLA.

Here are the Council's main findings on PADD:

Nearly 80 percent of adult American citizens are unable to pay
sustained attention to issues and problems associated with their
government.  They are unable to accept their responsibility as
citizens, including their obligation to vote, read in-depth articles
and books on political issues, become active members of politically
oriented groups, and initiate discussions on current events with
friends and family.  "The decades-old decline in voter turnout is a
direct result of a national epidemic of PADD," said the report.

The chief cause of PADD is the desire to avoid the very real pain of
cognitive dissonance, the difference between what Americans want to
believe about the greatness of their country and the disturbing
reality that their government and country are in terrible shape, which
is a constant reminder when there is normal, healthy political
attention.  Such pain suppression, however, is counterproductive and
was found through careful studies at several universities, including
the Harvard Medical College, to correlate with depression and anxiety
disorders, as well as a heightened level of cynicism and despair.
According to the report, many suicides and possibly many criminal acts
result from PADD.
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In Full: http://www.atlanticfreepress.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1869&Itemid=81