Paris Hilton: A.D.D. & Sympathy?

HARD TO MUSTER MUCH SYMPATHY, EH?

For the first time in the Paris Hilton saga, I now a have glimmer of understanding about the demons lurking deep within this wackadoodle of a celebrity poodle whom we seem to so loath and adore. I maybe even have some sympathy for her. Maybe.

This is because of the news that the Heiress Paris apparently suffers from "extreme" Attention Deficit Disorder and claustrophobia, two anxiety-related disorders that do not forgive her transgressions but may help explain the decision of Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca to spring her from a jail after only three days and place her under home confinement before she was unceremoniously yanked back to the slammer.

I know zip about claustrophobia, being relievedly free of that bad bit of business, but I know a great deal about ADD because of a close relative who has had to live with it, a task made more difficult by his great intelligence.

In a classic case of the "cure" being arguably worse than the disease, this relative long suffered from the pernicious effects of Ritalin, the oft-prescribed ADD and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) fighter. He would be Ritalin free on weekends during the school year and over the summer, but needed his fix if he was to make it through the school day. His father, also an ADD sufferer, was not so fortunate and took his own life, blaming his son and others who loved him the most in a suicide note for his tortured life.

As it is, Gay Paree apparently is taking Adderall for her ADD, which like Ritalin has a high potential for abuse.

Not everyone is inclined to be as understanding as I am.

A very angry blogger at The Populist who says he himself has ADHD, suffered through daily doses of Ritalin for 14 years and was a school dropout as a result simply does not believe that the Hotel Heiress With the Bad Wig is an ADD sufferer:

“I don't normally get my apples in a uproar over something silly like this, But when I see people who are just guilty of or are born with a bad case of blatant stupidity, try and blame their behavior on ADHD I tend to get a little ticked. It's an INSULT to those of us, who have struggled with ADHD all of our lives.”

Oh well.