Thinking Ability Decline

[adaptive1]

HI Guys

Hope everyone on the forum is doing well.

I was wondering if anyone knows or has experienced this. Over the years I have noticed my ability to concentrate seems to have gotten worse. It was never great to begin with but now I find doing things like watching movies, performing parts of my job that require mental effort or just things that involve mental effort are alot harder for me. I do better when things are crazy busy, I can get a lot of things done, but when there is a lull and I am expected to perform at a normal pace, I can barely function at work. Am I just lazy or is it possible that many years of mental health issues that I didnt take medication for when maybe I should have, have left a permanent effect on my thinking ability. Does this make sense to anyone else? I am not depressed at the moment or in one of my obsessive spirals so to speak, but I am struggling with doing the basic elements of my job and I dont know why.

 

[Daniel E.]

Re: Thinking Abilitiy Decline

when there is a lull and I am expected to perform at a normal pace, I can barely function at work.

There could be several psychological factors at play without even considering biopsychology.

For example, as a layman, this comes to mind:

Do you have fun on the weekends with friends? In other words, even though you say you aren't depressed, are you happy in your personal life?

Maybe it's just a boring, underpaid, or career-plateauing job? Do you have friendly acquaintances at work, or do you dislike your co-workers? In other words, maybe you don't find the work very motivating or personally rewarding? (In industrial psychology, one classic example is that a secretary who used to work for a bubble gum factory didn't like her job. She later did the same job for a more personally meaningful company and had much better job satisfaction.)

When there is a lull at work, are you concentrating on something else? (With OCD and I guess some other disorders, when people have problems concentrating at work, it's not that they have problems concentrating per se since they are concentrating very well on their obsessions.)

Are there certain times of the day that you are more likely to have problems concentrating? Many people are more productive in the mornings than the afternoon. For example:

Many Europeans scarf down a carb-loaded lunch and then shut down from 1 to 4 in the afternoon. But with unemployment soaring, let's assume a three-hour nap won't play well at the office. If you find yourself entering what amounts to a food coma after lunch, you're probably eating too many carbohydrates in the morning. And what you're not getting enough of is making it worse.

http://health.msn.com/health-topics/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100235358&gt1=31036&ucpg=2

 

[adaptive1]

Thanks for the good questions, you are right in that my job has become a little dull to me and perhaps my motivation is not where it should be, but I still feel like something is wrong, but the more that I think about it, I guess I have always felt like something wasn't right about my concentration. You are right though, when I obsess about something, I can concentrate like nothing you have ever seen so I am really not sure.

I looked online the other day and I saw this place that tests adults for learning disabilities. It looks like it is mainly for kids, but it says they test adults too.

I guess, bottom line is I have always felt like I had a learning disability of somekind. I am wondering if it makes sense to go and get tested, it is pretty expensive, it is done by clinical psychologists. I just wonder, as an adult that is working, not in school or planning on ever going back to school, would there be an advantage to knowing if I had some kind of learning disability? Would it just make me feel worse about myself, if they told me my intelligence was lower than I wanted? Or would it give me some answers to somethings I have always wondered about? Sometimes I wonder if I have some kind of processing disorder or something, I dont know.

What do you guys think, I could put it in my benefit carrier I guess so that would pay for most of it, but being in my thirties now, would this really be of value to know?

 

[forgetmenot]

Hi Adaptive1 there are many adults that are not tested for learning disabilities until they do hit college or university. I think it is very beneficial to get tested if indeed you feel you have a processing disability or adult Attention Hyperactive Disorder. In knowing then the proper treatment can be given. Heck your still young and if it can make your life easier I say get tested. Take care mary

 

[Daniel E.]

You are right though, when I obsess about something, I can concentrate like nothing you have ever seen so I am really not sure.

On a related note: "In children, [OCD] is often misdiagnosed as a learning disability or as part of an attention deficit disorder. Misdiagnosis results from the way children describe the problem..." (Grayson 2003, pp. 168-169)

If you would benefit from going back to seeing a therapist or psychiatrist anyway, then you may want to get their opinion about the need for testing at this time.

 

[adaptive1]

Good points you guys, I think I am going to hold off for now on doing anything, obviously I do have the ability to concentrate, I guess I just dont know how to do it on a consistent basis or I chose not to for some reason and dont seem to put my mind to the best use. But, I am not sure I will ever have the answers I am looking for, I guess I have to live with the uncertaintly. Thansk for the insight.

 

[Always Changing]

" I do better when things are crazy busy, I can get a lot of things done", Safe to say you are not lazy

" but when there is a lull and I am expected to perform at a normal pace, I can barely function at work".
I find I work best under (a certain amount of) pressure and if the "pressure" is not there then my thinking\actions slow down to the point where it would appear to the others that my work is too hard for me to do (when in fact the opposite is true).
For me I believe what happens is, for inst., I would have a certain thing to do, under pressure I would just do it, almost automatically, job done!
with no pressure I start thinking about it and wonder if I am doing it right (even though I know it is ), a bit like procrastinating I guess.

Maybe this is similar to what you are experiencing.
Maybe one way to counter this is to apply "your own pressure" of some sort but allow it to slow down before you leave work so that you can relax at home when you should be relaxing\resting or whatever. (Others may have a better idea than this).

 

[sarek]

There is no harm in checking out the possibility of some kind of AD(H)D or mimicking condition.
Do not be misguided by the popular folk-tales about it. Hyperactivity is not always a necessary ingredient.

 

[David Baxter PhD]

That's correct. The H part of ADHD was added in DSM-IV to group the different types of ADD together, with and without Hyperactivity.

Diagnostic criteria for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

A. Either (1) or (2):

1. inattention: six (or more) of the following symptoms of inattention have persisted for at least 6 months to a degree that is maladaptive and inconsistent with developmental level:
   
   • often fails to give close attention to details or makes careless mistakes in schoolwork, work, or other activities
   • often has difficulty sustaining attention in tasks or play activities
   • often does not seem to listen when spoken to directly
   • often does not follow through on instructions and fails to finish school work, chores, or duties in the workplace (not due to oppositional behavior or failure to understand instructions)
   • often has difficulty organizing tasks and activities
   • often avoids, dislikes, or is reluctant to engage in tasks that require sustained mental effort (such as schoolwork or homework)
   • often loses things necessary for tasks or activities (e.g., toys, school assignments, pencils, books, or tools)
   • is often easily distracted by extraneous stimuli
   • is often forgetful in daily activities
2. hyperactivity-impulsivity: six (or more) of the following symptoms of hyperactivity-impulsivity have persisted for at least 6 months to a degree that is maladaptive and inconsistent with developmental level:
   
   Hyperactivity
   • often fidgets with hands or feet or squirms in seat
   • often leaves seat in classroom or in other situations in which remaining seated is expected
   • often runs about or climbs excessively in situations in which it is inappropriate (in adolescents or adults, may be limited to subjective feelings of restlessness)
   • often has difficulty playing or engaging in leisure activities quietly
   • is often "on the go" or often acts as if "driven by a motor"
   • often talks excessively
   
   Impulsivity
   • often blurts out answers before questions have been completed
   • often has difficulty awaiting turn
   • often interrupts or intrudes on others (e.g., butts into conversations or games)

B. Some hyperactive-impulsive or inattentive symptoms that caused impairment were present before age 7 years.

C. Some impairment from the symptoms is present in two or more settings (e.g., at school [or work] and at home).

D. There must be clear evidence of clinically significant impairment in social, academic, or occupational functioning.

E. The symptoms do not occur exclusively during the course of a Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Schizophrenia, or other Psychotic Disorder and are not better accounted for by another mental disorder (e.g., Mood Disorder, Anxiety Disorder, Dissociative Disorders, or a Personality Disorder).

Code based on type:

• 314.01 Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Combined Type: if both Criteria A1 and A2 are met for the past 6 months
• 314.00 Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Predominantly Inattentive Type: if Criterion A1 is met but Criterion A2 is not met for the past 6 months
• 314.01 Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Predominantly Hyperactive-Impulsive Type: if Criterion A2 is met but Criterion A1 is not met for the past 6 months