Do you have cognitive issues?

[Angst Filled Fuck Up]

With this, I mean things like memory loss, problems concentrating, difficulty following TV plots/conversations, planning and problem-solving, etc.

I am struggling so badly with crippling depression and associated cognitive impairment. I was diagnosed some years ago with major depressive disorder but it's wreaking havoc on my functioning. I feel like I've lost 50 IQ points. A large part of my ongoing anxiety is due to these cognitive problems. I am assured by the doctors that my brain and such is fine, and I just had a brain scan. I know logically if something was wrong, it would have showed up. And yet I just can't relax or feel at peace with it. I struggle to concentrate on anything and I can't absorb things. I barely remember what I did yesterday. Everything is a fractured blur.

Guess I am just hoping to find others who know what I'm going through.

 

[Puffinz]

I have this but only a couple of the symptoms you mentioned. Memory loss is definitely the most prominent one for me. I've forgotten almost everything that happened to me a long time ago and I have some issues with short-term memory as well sometimes. I also have problems concentrating but not too often so it's manageable for me. I'm worried that these issues will continue to get worse though if I don't change something.

 

[Nymph]

I have depression and an anxiety disorder and I also feel like I got "dumber". I'm more numb, my reactions are toned down (almost none), i have difficulty reading and understanding the plot, I have to rewatch certain scenes of movies or videos to understand what's going on, concentration is very energy draining, tired and exhausted no matter how much sleep I get, can't remember anything, forgot most of my early childhood etc...

im not sure if it's because my depression is wearing my brain and heart and somehow that's producing all the issues or my body being on medication, but I notice it has been getting worse over time

 

[ohhgeeitsme]

Yes, all of those. I really don't know if it's all just symptoms of anxiety and depression or if there something else going on, as I can't afford a neurologist. It's getting worse too. I come off way more dumb in person than I really am because of all of it and really stresses me out. It's a huge reason I'm scared to even find a job worth a damn. I've always thought a lot of my memory issues were caused by my temporal lobe seizures, which can affect memory, but I don't actually know that for a fact. It's awful. I really don't know what to do, and I have no advice to give you.. but I am in the same boat and it's definitely one of the reasons I'm so miserable.

 

[Mentalmick]

My concentration is gone. I used to read a lot but I can't get by the first page anymore. Last time I tried I read the first page 15 times then gave up. I also don't "hear" properly anymore. My mind seems to insert or swap words(usually negative) for ones that were never said.

 

[Angst Filled Fuck Up]

Thank you for sharing friends. I had no idea this could get so bad. In addition to the cognitive issues themselves, I feel drunk/high, dissociated and basically demented. But having spoken to some others who have gone through this, it seems it's entirely possible with things like severe depression. Still seems crazy to me.

 

[262653]

It's tricky since recognizing cognitive issues in oneself requires cognition. I do feel like something isn't quite right. Straying from topics, from lectures, from book passages. It could be also the discrepancy between ideal and "real" selves. Maybe writing down things might help. Extend the memory block onto paper. I have several electronic diaries where I write experience and what bothers me today. It helps me to recall the experience of past selves.

I do feel sometimes that there are important details that I'm missing. Issues recalling the appropriate words and mixing similarly sounding words that have different meaning, like property/propriety, mouse/mouth. Straying from topic means it's difficult to maintain informative conversation. You probably won't believe how much time it takes me to write a comment. Sometimes I look at the clock and it was 30 min for a few paragraphs. I take regular retreats into the clouds, thinking about something else. It's difficult to embrace the colorful toothpaste as the means of communication with others but I'd like to think there are benefits of such condition too. So far I haven't come up with any.

Sometimes I forget why I've entered the kitchen, or a specific location in a video game. I don't need structured thinking to survive anyway since my survival is not in my hands, and if no one will carry me anymore, I think I'll be ready to finish the main quest. (That's life.)

 

[stygal]

Yes, in the last 7 years (ever since my depressive episode manifested entirely after my physical decline) I definitely lost about half my starting IQ (which wasn't that high to begin with). So now I have a really hard time understanding things and have to re-read them over and over while moving my lips until the sentence makes sense in my head.

I used to be quiet knowledgeable in my last high school years and memorized all kinds of historical dates and chemical formulas while also being able to use them in the proper context. All that is gone now.
I might remember one or two things without context sometimes but that's it.

Another thing that happened is total lack of interest in learning anything remotely challenging so that for example I can't keep up with new legal regulations I should know for work (I literally google every single time embarrassingly as that is).

Daily tasks got harder to do as well as I start multiple things at once while already forgetting about the first thing.

All in all I'm pretty dumbed down in comparison to my 18 year old me.

 

[Deleted member 15256]

Yes...
I loved to read, now I got lost on the words.
I tried a language test last month and it was so hard. And I remember that I used to do that same level test simulation so smoothly.
I can't even function normally in everyday tasks. Pay bills on date, buy groceries without forgetting what to buy (sometimes I can't even remember why I went to market).

 

[Dr Iron Arc]

I'm pretty sure I definitely have some other issues besides depression and anxiety though I don't fully know what they are. I definitely feel like I have impostor syndrome or something like that. Sometimes I exhibit traits of things like PTSD from things my dad did to me in my childhood but I rarely have to interact with him anymore so it doesn't affect me much these days.

Various people have also told me I might have all sorts of other conditions. I've had people ask if I have Aspergers, Schizophrenia, and even Borderline Personality Disorder but I've yet to get any official diagnosis on any of those.

When I was very little, my parents had me evaluated because they had just found out my younger sister has severe autism and surprisingly the tests said I'm normal. Then again that was when I was like 3 and it's been over 23 years since then so who knows what I really have now.

 

[Life sucks]

I have memory loss and can't focus on plots and similar stuff, I keep repeating until my mind gets it. Of course there are more effects also. Its like having two brains, one that perceives the real world and the other that wanders in their own world.

 

[Fragile]

Yes, and apparently mine are degenerative and not directly related to my depression, rather, depression and anxiety are a symptom of it. My hands shake, my concentration is falling and the cognitive decline that I'm experiencing is now obvious to other people too.

It's gotten to the point that I'm questioning many things about reality and the person who I was. Was I ever intelligent? Did I ever had a chance? Will I ever find joy in reading or following a story again?

Now I feel like I never actually knew the person I used to be, all I was were my memories, but as they start to fade away, and new memories are rare, it's hard for me to find a reason to be strong and endure this for a bit longer.

 

[Callie Arcale]

I have debilitating brain fog. I forget things and I have a hard time concentrating. I also struggle to learn new things, something which came so easily when I was young.

When I am unwell, my brain fog is so extreme that I can literally forget what I just said to someone or what I ordered. Rest and avoiding stress help a little, but I believe a CT scan of my brain would show that my brain has shrunk or that some areas have decreased activity, so there's no cure for my cognitive impairment.