The rise in inattentiveness is no doubt real. But rather than blaming this on ADHD, we should look at the cultural factors at play. There really are far more things to distract us nowadays than there were in even the recent past, especially thanks to social media and our phones. On average, people check their phones an estimated 144 times per day – that’s once every 10 minutes. According to one report, Americans spend 5.4 hours per day on their phones, with social-media use is responsible for nearly 2.5 hours of time spent online by an average daily user.

Last year, a Pew Research Center survey reported that nearly half of teens in the US used the internet ‘almost constantly’. And while 31 per cent of boys admit that they spend too much time on social media, this rises to 41 per cent among girls. This might explain why so many young people think they are chronically distracted, and why a higher proportion of girls are diagnosing themselves with ADHD.

Worse still, an ADHD diagnosis can sometimes appear fashionable. …

Of course, some people genuinely suffer from ADHD. But for the rest of us, we needn’t take a pill to solve minor ills. There’s a good chance that the whirling dervish of digital life is really what is behind most of our chronic fidgeting. Perhaps instead of diagnosing ourselves with ADHD, we should just learn to put our phones down.

[Long before I had a smartphone, a supervisor/admin working for me was convinced I had undiagnosed ADHD based on my behavioral patterns, to which she had a front-row seat. We had a long conversation about it once and she made a convincing case, but — since the effects seemed beneficial to me, if so — I never bothered to look into it. My wife just thinks I’m a fidgeter, and I trust her judgment even more. — Ed]