Confusion

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OK, I was thinking here about the subject of an intrinsic general cognition that we all have as a baseline. People generally are consistent with their mental abilities and stay rock solid in the cognition department, unless exhausted or sleep deprived, etc.

I go through periods on a waxing and waning cycle of an inability to ability when around people or just plain doing things. I've noticed that I'll lose social cognition and lose track of things in general, e.g. miss turns while driving in very well known areas, will walk through the wrong doors in a store, try to pay twice or not pay at all . I'm almost sure I've walked out of restaurant once without paying -- it dawned on me a week later.

I seem to get a feeling or sense of confusion that arises from within as a first marker when things start to go south. It's a though you are shutting down via neurotransmitters and are spiraling down to a very mistake prone condition. I recall once pacing the floor at home while this condition was oncoming, with a sense of confusion and loss of control. I'd think and note to myself: "that madness is back" during these times. Another way of experiencing this is it feels that the outside of you has little impact or force on you, and it seems as though you can only be barely distracted by the outside-- you just do not notice much or are not influenced to any degree by things 'out there.'

I've wondered about ADHD and this, or possibly I have something connected with an ASD, but lower leveled.

Has anyone here experienced similar?

And is anyone knowledgeable of whether this an ADHD "shutdown?"

Last edited by Mdyar on 28 Dec 2011, 8:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Yes, I've noticed it, especially in the last 10 years or so. I've always had a low energy level but I realized about 5 years ago that I have the equivalent of about a half tank of gas. I can use it mentally or physically but when it's gone I run into confusion and lack of physical energy to do much at all. The brain literally doesn't work. It's actually gotten worse. When I run into that mental fog it's time to relax and rest the body and the brain.

This drop in cognitive functioning is what I often experience during shutdowns. I have to think really hard to figure out how to do very basic things. I get very confused over very easy things. I make very many mistakes that I would have to make on purpose during normal times. I feel like a zombie. I become extremely clumsy too.

That too.

For me it's overload.

I say to myself "There's too much going on" when it starts because that is exactly the problem. I could more than likely handle (easily) one of the things, or one of stimuli, but not when they overlap and there's 2 or 3 or 5 .... and especially when there is an urgency to them and/or something painful like loud sounds or strong smells or glare.

In this case you have the choice to either shutdown (not always a choice) or try to limit the stuff going on. If you can stop one thing, stop one other thing, ask one thing to wait - do what you can to put them in order so they're not all happening at once.

Hmmmmmmm.........Yeah, Overload.....interesting.

When I think about it now, there is the "having much to do" that coincides with these occurences or "shutdowns." The subtle thing about it is it creeps up on you, little by little, and it seems the "soul" is saturated with the "outside," and the novelty wears down, and wears you down. I can remember collecting unemployment for a time, and the great novelty of returning to work erodes and it beats on you in a different way-- things beat on you differently here than ordinary folks. Not that work is boring, but it seems the brain is more receptive or sensitive to the "outside" and works on you differently--things subtlety and gradually build up and cascade on you.....

I'm not sure if my account is parallel earthmom, with you, and the above posters, but it seems at least similar to me... but IDK.

There are many parallel things between the two conditions.

Yeah.

One thing that is a big problem here, is the great mistakes that are made. It erodes others' confidence in your competence. Sometimes they turn into a "monkey on your back" and hen peck away. When you're down, the Kokomo Dragons sense a meal. As a defense I've learned to keep a confident persona, it keeps them from further trespassing and trampling you down.

Yeah, I experience this a lot at work and at home when others are around.

This might sound silly but as long as I remember to take B12 vitamins 3 times per day, it isn't as bad.

It is still bad and I often have to come straight home from the office and lock myself in my room with no lights on for a couple of hours before I can function again but the B vitamins seem to help my sleep and energy levels so that I don't get overloaded quite as easily.

Hope this helps.

Another thing: after I started taking B vitamins, I noticed the severe ringing in my ears is a lot quieter which is nice.

I am a female engineer working in a highly male-dominated office and this technique has worked for me to some extent. I guess it is the whole "fake it until you make it" thing.

I have this problem so bad that I've refused to work out of the home for 7 years now, just terrified of the mistakes from the 'brain fog' as well as the problem of working bringing on the stress that causes it to get worse.

And it's not an age thing either, one of the worst times I can recall was when I was in my mid 20's. I was working retail and was an assistant manager. I had taken the deposit from the night before with me to the bank and gotten change for the rest of the day, around 1,000 in change/cash. This was the normal routine that I was used to, this was lunchtime and I put the money bag under the seat of my car while then proceeding through a fast food drive thru to get lunch for me and some co-workers.

Then went straight to work. Walked in with the food leaving the money under the seat of my car. I'd totally forgotten all about the money. At the close of the night my manager was frantically looking for the missing money. I HAD NO IDEA WHERE IT WAS! Seriously I was so confused and we were searching and searching.

District manager came in the next day to check things out and audit the books etc. He questioned me about if I thought the manager had taken it and I said I really was surprised but couldn't imagine what else could have happened to it since it was only she and I who had access that day to the safe. I really had absolutely no recollection of not bringing the money back from the bank.

Worked that whole day and sometime in the middle of the night I woke up in a panic as I'd finally remember where the money was. I ran to my car and it was still there. Brought it in the next morning and talked to the district manager about what had happened and explained to him that I seriously had no recollection when we were looking for it.

I actually was so upset and confused by the whole thing I checked myself into the psych ward the next day because I was so distraught by the whole incident, so confused and thought I'd lost my mind.

Wow, st. ^^
I've been there in the land of confusion.

This is the one aspect of myself that has been a significant impairment in my life. I can recall this "feeling" easily by the third grade.

I've always believed my whole problem centered around cognition issues.

It looks like a shutdown.

But I do wonder if ADHD encompasses this, or is it ASD related?

Last edited by Mdyar on 28 Dec 2011, 8:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Well, for me I def. don't have ADHD or ADD, was even on ritilyn once and that completly ruled it out as it was like cocaine for me.

And i have major cognitive and memory problems but that doesn't mean that someone with ADHD doesn't have the same 'symptoms'. Just that it doesn't have to be ADHD or ADD to have the cognitive problems.

Yes and thanks.

I tried the vitamin regimen and it does help. I added other things in too.

SeekingTruth - what happened at the psych ward? Did they just calm you down and did they have any insight about the confusion thing?

Gave me a clinical depression diagnosis with possible Bipolar diagnosis in which they 'tried out' lythium on me. Bipolar was ruled out as I was completely nuts on it, higher then s**t and was watching my thoughts tumbling all over the place, even sometimes seeing my thoughts as words in the air above me, totally the wrong medication for me. Yikes!

I do remember this: I hated myself so much and I will never forget a nurse who asked me "Do you think the others here are worthless?" I answered no, these were some of the most caring and interesting people I'd ever met. and she said "You are just like them, if you like them you need to like yourself." That nurse may have saved my life, it was the first time someone filled me in on the idea that I wasn't a strange entity that was nothing like the other people in the world.

It took a lot of time and another hospital stay 5 years later to fully understand that my severe depression was due to the abuse my husband at the time was inflicting on me. Seems it's really hard (or was then) for doc's to realize how damaging emotional abuse can be to a person. Or perhaps I just didn't explain myself well enough and they hadn't even considered abuse, I was pretty confused at the time.

When I left him my suicidal thoughts left me. But still have cognitive/memory issues but then it was figured to be PTSD causing it.

It's only come to light that a lot of my issues could be an Asperger's diagnosis since my 6 year old son has been diagnosed with Asperger's. But the whole abuse stuff and the PTSD really clouds things and has altered some of my 'natural' tendencies. So I guess I'm a melting pot of problems, but the more i look into this, the more I 'remember' aspie traits that I'd started out with that made it easy for me to be vulnerable and unsuspecting of what my ex was when I met him and how it was so easy for him to suck me into a life of horror.

On the bright side, I'm re-married to a sweet, caring man who also has Aspie traits and we seem to be so fit for each other and are best friends. when we met it was seriously the first time I'd met anyone who understood me and he felt the same as well. We had no idea of the possibility of us being Aspies (didn't know what that was) all we knew was we were both the 'black sheep' or our families and we were now the family that we'd both been missing.

p.s. please forgive spelling errors, I'm having cognitive issues regarding spelling lately