The ability to attend to the stimuli around us is one of our most basic capabilities and at the same time most essential for survival: after all, even to feed ourselves or to escape from predators we need to be able to attend to and focus our resources on what is around us.

Therefore, having a low attention span is a relevant difficulty in nature, as well as in the social environment: it is harder for us to learn about things, understand them and be able to relate to the environment. Therefore, it may seem that having a high attention span is always a good thing. And the truth is that, as a general rule, having a high attention span can favour our adaptability.

However, there are conditions under which there may be an excess of attentional capacity which implies the emergence of difficulties similar to those that would generate its deficit. This is what happens with hyperprosexia , which we will discuss throughout this article.

What is hyperprosexia?

We call hyperprosexia the condition characterized by the presence of an excessive focus of attention on environmental stimuli . This is a quantitative alteration of attention, specifically an exacerbation of it. It involves a highly pronounced interest in stimulation and the presence of hypervigilance and hyperligidity, as well as the highest possible degree of alertness and concentration. It is considered within the disorders or alterations of attention, although it is generally considered more as a symptom than as a disorder per se.

While it may seem that having heightened attention is a good thing, in reality hyperprosexia often leads to a high level of distractibility due to difficulty in maintaining attention or moving it away from a particular stimulus.

Hyperprosexia can negatively affect the adaptation to the environment of those who suffer from it : it is difficult to learn at school, or to be productive in a company. It can also be problematic at the level of personal interaction, and can even be a danger when carrying out activities such as driving.

Thus, the most important effects of hyperprosexia have to do with the time dedicated to fixate on the really important stimuli, or in the inability to direct the attentional focus towards what is important because there are other stimuli that are too distracting and do not allow the person to focus.

Types

There are two major areas in which there may be an exacerbation of attention span, although it is the first that is most likely to be considered hyperprosexia.

The first of these implies that the subject cannot concentrate, since he or she is unable to keep the attention on one point , since in reality the person only directs the attention superficially towards the different stimuli before the rest of them claim his or her attention. This alteration implies an exacerbation of attentional mobility. In other words, it fixes on everything but does not focus on anything, so that the subject actually presents a high level of distractibility or attentional instability.

The second major option implies that the exacerbation is in the capacity of fixation : in this case the person concentrates extremely and persistently on one stimulus, being unable to attend to other stimuli. Thus, the person only concentrates on a single stimulation and cannot react adequately to what is happening around him.

Thus, in practice, the excess of attention has the paradoxical effect that we cannot concentrate on what is relevant, which serves to question whether there is really an excess or lack of attentional capacity. We must not forget that the criterion of whether or not we pay enough attention depends on our ideas and beliefs about what is important and appropriate in each case; in other words, it is something that is debatable. Hyperprosexia is another example of how psychological disorders are always analysed through social conventions and agreed ideas about what is good and what is bad.

Disorders associated with this attention deficit disorder

Hyperprosexia is an alteration of attention that, as we have seen, usually appears as a symptom of some physical or mental pathology rather than as a disorder in itself .

Among the different conditions in which this can occur we can find intoxication by substances or consumption of exciting drugs such as cocaine. It can also be found in manic episodes, delusions or very high states of anxiety (not necessarily an anxiety disorder). On the other hand, it is observed in disorders of psychotic type, such as schizophrenia.

Treatment

The treatment of hyperprosexia is usually linked to that of the disorder that generated it , and different therapeutic strategies can be used depending on the causes of its appearance.

Thus, if we are dealing with drug intoxication, it may be useful to use blockers such as naloxone, euthimizers in the case of manic episodes or antipsychotics in the case of schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders. The use of benzodiazepines or other anxiolytics may be helpful. In any case, the use of these medications should only be done with a doctor’s prescription.

Bibliographic references:

  • Barlow, D. H. and Durand, V. M. (2003): Psychopathology. Madrid: Thomson.
  • Dunn, D.W. and Kronenberger, W.G. (2003). Attention-deficit / hyperactivity disorder in children and adolescents. Neurol Clin N Am: 933-940.
  • García, J. (1997). Psychology of care. Madrid: Síntesis.
  • Mantilla, S.P. (2006). Neurological diseases and attention problems. Acta Neurológica Colombiana, 22:190-194.