Problem with Cognitive Functioning

Hi there, I hope that you’re having a wonderful day. I’ll try to be as brief as possible with my problem. I don’t know if it’s depression, anxiety, ADHD, autism or merely the fact that I could have a low IQ maybe?

When I was a kid up until middle school, my grades soared as I always used to be the highest grader in my class, but afterward by grades unexpectedly went down. Maybe the situation in my home had a negative impact on me. My parents used to fight a lot. Whenever this happened, I used to go to my room & completely shut myself down.

The problems I’m currently facing:

1.) When I’m talking to someone, I forget what I was saying mid-sentence. It’s like my brain shuts down. Similarly when the other person is trying to make a conversation with me, it feels like everything is going over my head.

2.) When I read something, I have to read it multiple times or more to be able to fully grasp the concept.

3.) I feel like I process information slowly compared to others—I’m slow.

4.) I’m usually lost in my own thoughts and overthink a lot over everything.

5.) Sometimes my mind is just blank.

6.) I have low energy—I don’t have the mood to do anything.

I’m feeling severely sad because of all these symptoms. What could this possibly be a cause of?

Thank you for taking your time reading this, I’ll be waiting for your reply. (From India)

I can appreciate how difficult it must be to not feel in control of your own mood, attention, emotions, thoughts, or memory. All of these things you have correctly postulated that they may be symptoms of depression, anxiety, ADHD, autism or low IQ. But they could also be symptoms of a physical issue. The two primary possibilities for these symptoms are depression and ADHD.

Depression symptoms can vary from mild to severe and can include:

• Feeling sad or having a depressed mood
• Disengaged, with a loss of interest or pleasure in activities once enjoyed
• Changes in appetite (weight loss or gain unrelated to dieting)
• Insomnia or sleeping too much.
• Loss of energy or increased fatigue
• Anxiety-related physical activity (e.g. hand-wringing or pacing) or slowed movements and speech (actions observable by others)
• Loss of meaning or purpose, feeling worthless or guilty
• Difficulty thinking, concentrating or making decisions
• Thoughts of death or suicide

You can take this assessment tool here at PsychCentral and learn more about depression here.

As far as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) here is a link to an overview with some more good information about ADD and ADHD. You can also take this quiz.

The easiest way to sort this all out — to see if it is physical or psychological in nature, is to have a visit with a neurologist. A good neurologist or neuro-psychologist will be able to do testing that can reveal how you can best manage the symptoms. Without the kind of medical and psychological testing you will be guessing in the dark about what is going on.

Wishing you patience and peace,
Dr. Dan
Proof Positive Blog @ PsychCentral

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