Re: Blocks/ Techniques / Identity:

This is such a familiar feeling, I can't tell you what a relief it is to hear someone express the same difficulty. I have a feeling that the difficulty focusing / nausea is sort of a two-part problem. Difficulty focusing/ problems sustaining attention + difficulty retaining new material is one of the areas that folks treated for bipolarity tend to complain of very frequently. Whether it's the disease's aetiology itself or the neuropharmacologic intervention that causes this cognitive defecit (again: very often reported and demonstrated in clinical studies by folks diagnosed with [and presumably treated for] bipolarity), I won't speculate on in this space.

The nausea I'd suspect, is a perfectly understandable state of anxiety akin to "Oh no! My intelligence, having been a large component of my identity to say nothing of substantively informing my plans for the future, is now gone--" If that's the case, you've gotta challenge it, as you have been with positive affirmations--even so, those still leave room for massive doubts like: "good lord, I'm lazy then." You're certainly not--you're strategizing on how to wrangle with a somewhat compromised neurological state!! (wowie.) I'd say this further--your native intelligence (which I'd guess from your writing-style / course-of-study is substantial) has very little to do with what's happened to your ability to sustain attention at this point, which has probably been impacted to some extent: How to fix it?

The best information I've been able to find on this stuff says things that might seem obvious, but probably bears repeating. The principle of 'healthy body, healthy mind' is very much at work here. Exercise and nutrition will, via some pretty incredible alchemy of the body/mind, increase your ability to stay focused. Often more cerebral folks (maybe I'm projecting here) will say something like 'that's far too tenuous a connection to produce the cognitive results i absolutely need to see to reassure myself that i can tackle difficult mental tasks successfully.' To avoid running on (more than I already have) I won't bother with a long-winded non-expert speculation of the dynamics of neurophysiology at work there. Smoke less (none's better) / drink less (none's better) too.

I'm wrestling with this topic right now myself. The thought usually goes "durnitall, i'm just lazy! (have become stupid, damaged, etc)" Fight that. And it sounds like you're already having successes doing that: awesome! Getting the study submitted was a major success with this condition, and you should be really proud! (Going out and celebrating with cocktails is something I've had to remind myself repeatedly is a no-no.)

Anywho, if something else occurs to you that works really well, let me know, cause I'm struggling with it too.

Best,
Knos'