[faerie_moon_x]

I have a cognitive functioning disorder! I can't always freaking tell when I've made an error! Give me a ****ing break you stupid *****!!!!!



Is exactly what I would like to scream in the face of people like 60% of the time.... Just give me a break. Stop with the condescending tone! Leave me alone! I do a better job that you, because I do it without being perfect like you!

Cognitive functioning disorder? What is your diagnosis? Bipolar illness is a mood disorder,
not an intellectual one.

Nobody's perfect; try to remember that. As for mistakes, we all make them and plenty
of them at times. Don't see yourself as a cognitive dysfunctional person, please.

If your medications aren't helping to control your moods 60% of the time, talk to your
doctor about tweaking them or changing them. Mood stability is what you're aiming
for. If we don't have that I can see that it might distort intellectual functioning, but
medications are designed to help stabilize emotions.

[comicgeek007]

I'm in the middle of writing a letter to appeal the decision to take away all my scholarships because of how poorly I did while on all the wrong cocktails of medications. I feel your pain. (((Faerie)))

[faerie_moon_x]

Originally Posted by genetic

Cognitive functioning disorder? What is your diagnosis? Bipolar illness is a mood disorder,
not an intellectual one.

Nobody's perfect; try to remember that. As for mistakes, we all make them and plenty
of them at times. Don't see yourself as a cognitive dysfunctional person, please.

If your medications aren't helping to control your moods 60% of the time, talk to your
doctor about tweaking them or changing them. Mood stability is what you're aiming
for. If we don't have that I can see that it might distort intellectual functioning, but
medications are designed to help stabilize emotions.

Dealing with Cognitive Dysfunction
Associated with psychiatric disabilities

Written by:
Alice Medalia, Ph.D.and Nadine Revheim, Ph.D.

Some facts about cognition:

• Cognitive skills are different from academic skills
• Cognitive skills are the mental capabilities or underlying skills you need to process and learn information, to think, remember, read, understand and solve problems.
• Cognitive skills develop and change over time.
• We are born with certain cognitive capabilities - we may be better at some skills than others, but we can improve the weaker skills.
• Cognitive skills can be measured.
• Cognitive skills can be strengthened and improved.
• When cognitive skills are strong, learning becomes easier.

Myths about cognition

• The cognitive problems will go away when the hallucinations and delusions stop.
• The cognitive problems will always go away between episodes of depression and mania.
• The cognitive problems simply reflect a lack of effort.
• The cognitive problems are all caused by medications.
• The cognitive problems are caused by being in the hospital for too long.

People who have affective disorders, like bipolar disorder and recurrent depressions, often experience problems in the following aspects of cognition:

• Ability to pay attention
• Ability to remember and recall information
• Ability to think critically, categorize and organize information and problem solve.
• Ability to quickly coordinate eye-hand movements

Dealing with Cognitive Dysfunction

Calling bipolar disorder a "MOOD DISORDER" is the biggest stigma perpetrated by the very doctors who are treating most people. The REAL problems comes from the issues with cognition.

"I can't pay attention."

"I can't remember what I just read."

"I forget where I put my keys/purse/wallet all the time."

"I forget what someone said right after they said it."

"I jump from one project to the next."

"I never finish what I start."

Etc. etc. etc.

Some have it worse than others.

Stabalizing your mood is only one aspect of bipolar. But if your cognition continues to fall apart, you are no longer able to function at school, work, home. Period. And a good mood won't help that.

[Victoria'smom]

When we noticed those issues in our son we took him to learningRx partly because I don't believe in other ways autism is treated. We have now all used that program in our home. I'm sorry you're dealing with this on top of bipolar. What are you doing to treat it if you don't mind me asking ?

[bluemountains]

Thank you for sharing all of that information, faerie_moon_x. I am always searching for more research to define who I am and who I am not. Some of the cognition problems apply to me. I will probably be looking for more information on this in just a few minutes!
Bluemountains

[Trippin2.0]

People are stoopid sis.
There's nothing common about common sense.
I'd want to scream at them too if I were you

Btw. I agree, "mood disorder" is a load of ********. There's so much more too bp than moods, but thats why many people think they have it I guess, due to a gross over simplification in definition. Bipolar Mood Disorder my a.s.s....

[faerie_moon_x]

Originally Posted by Miguel'smom

When we noticed those issues in our son we took him to learningRx partly because I don't believe in other ways autism is treated. We have now all used that program in our home. I'm sorry you're dealing with this on top of bipolar. What are you doing to treat it if you don't mind me asking ?

I have the free version of FitBrains on my phone and play cognitive functioning test throughout the day. Each test has 3 games in it. I can't play all of the games to train, though, since I have the free version. Which is fine, I like doing the test (which gives me all the games that way at least.)

Also the Cabridge Brain Sciences has a very nice free website with cognitive functioning games. But I always forget to log in at home.... (haha.... the irony...)
Welcome - Cambridge Brain Sciences

Also, I play match 3 games and word games like Text Twist or Triple Town or Jewel Quest (and similar.) Also, playing games like Free Cell is good. These are all problem solving games, some with reaction time (if there is a timer.)

I'm looking for a therapist now and I am trying to find one who understands about the cognitive problems as well. Not just the "mood" side. I can deal with my moods. I need help with my functioning.

Faerie

Sorry you're struggling, and sorry nobody is cutting you any slack I totally agree though: if it was just a mood disorder, it wouldn't be so bad!! Cognitive issues suck!

*Willow*

[EternalWinter]

Once my brother in law`s GF saw me in the store and came up and said Hi, I didnt even reconozie her at all even thought I had just seen her the day before when they came over for dinner.

My brother in law was like I heard you didnt recognize my GF what the **** kind of family are you. every one just thought it was really funny and im just a very slow in the head guy or something.

I couldn't believe I didnt know who she was, I was like umm who are you... then she told me and I was still trying to recognize her for a few seconds. Oh well what ever at least it dont happen often

[middlepath]

No doubt cognitive problems make things tough... and I have a swiss cheese brain to prove it!!! i use to be very into deep scientific principles, but now...its pretty cool if I can remember a few of the elements on the periodic table! And please, please don't expect me to answer a two part question. There is so many things I struggle with...oddly though, since i have been taking lithium and my episode has passed, I feel like i can use my brain a fair bit better now. Not sure why/how that happened. Anyhow, sorry people are a**holes sometimes.

[BipolaRNurse]

Originally Posted by faerie_moon_x

Dealing with Cognitive Dysfunction

Calling bipolar disorder a "MOOD DISORDER" is the biggest stigma perpetrated by the very doctors who are treating most people. The REAL problems comes from the issues with cognition.

"I can't pay attention."

"I can't remember what I just read."

"I forget where I put my keys/purse/wallet all the time."

"I forget what someone said right after they said it."

"I jump from one project to the next."

"I never finish what I start."

Etc. etc. etc.

Some have it worse than others.

Stabalizing your mood is only one aspect of bipolar. But if your cognition continues to fall apart, you are no longer able to function at school, work, home. Period. And a good mood won't help that.

AHA!!! Somebody gets it!!!

For me, this is the worst part of having bipolar, even worse than the depressions. I used to have such a good mind---I could memorize long series of verse, read 1000-page books, remember people's faces, and so on. I MISS THAT SO MUCH!!! I'm lucky now if I can remember a phone number long enough to dial it, or a person I met a week ago. I have to use post-its for everything, including reminders to take my pills. And reading? I've only recently been able to read a newspaper, and that's only because I'm completely in remission right now.......but I still can't remember the content 10 minutes after I've read it. Exasperating!

Intelligence encompasses cognition. Cognition is the method by which people assimilate
and integrate knowledge, while intelligence is both the assimilation of knowledge as
well as the ability to apply such knowledge, i.e., the proficiency one has in a given area.

It's the emotions that are affecting cognition; if the emotions are not being cared for
properly, it's no wonder that cognition would be affected. Attention needs to be directed
to the medication prescriptions, in my view, or to psychotherapy.

A psychiatrist once described it to me this way: "your emotions get in the way of your intelligence". At the same time he said "you are an intelligent person". (I don't like to
say that, but it is being done only in an effort to try to separate by explanation the differences between cognition and intelligence.) The illness is not one of intelligence. That's a pretty solid statement of what bipolar illness is, excluding the fact that it is a dynamic illness, not a static one.

Get the emotions correctedl (which are affecting the way one sees things); then
the intelligence is going to act rather than the emotions. Cognition seems to me to
apply more to the way one sees things, not to the way one applies intelligence.

I really do not agree with the idea that bipolar illness is one of diseased intelligence
and have never been told that.

It may be that there is a disagreement on what "mood" means. I take it to mean
the emotions. Others may see it differently.

[A Red Panda]

Originally Posted by EternalWinter

Once my brother in law`s GF saw me in the store and came up and said Hi, I didnt even reconozie her at all even thought I had just seen her the day before when they came over for dinner.

My brother in law was like I heard you didnt recognize my GF what the **** kind of family are you. every one just thought it was really funny and im just a very slow in the head guy or something.

I couldn't believe I didnt know who she was, I was like umm who are you... then she told me and I was still trying to recognize her for a few seconds. Oh well what ever at least it dont happen often

I tend to forget people too.. or at least not place who they are. When someone comes up to me and I don't quite remember them.... I'll give generic responses/inquiries. "HEY! How are you?" "It's good to see you!" "What are you up right now?" etc etc. Eventually they'll let something slip that will point out who they are.

((Once though... it turned out that I actually hadn't known the person! That was a bit embarassing for both of us!))

I hate forgetting what someone's said RIGHT after they've said it. I feel like an idiot and like I'm being rude. Really, I was listening to every word being said.. I just didn't seem to process any of it!

[~Christina]

Sis ! I can so feel your pain !

I understand and agree 100% "mood disorder" is absurb in my opinion.

[Confusedinomicon]

I think medications can contribute to cognition problems.

I virtually have no issues with mood anymore but my cognitive abilities have diminished.

[faerie_moon_x]

Originally Posted by genetic

Intelligence encompasses cognition. Cognition is the method by which people assimilate
and integrate knowledge, while intelligence is both the assimilation of knowledge as
well as the ability to apply such knowledge, i.e., the proficiency one has in a given area.

It's the emotions that are affecting cognition; if the emotions are not being cared for
properly, it's no wonder that cognition would be affected. Attention needs to be directed
to the medication prescriptions, in my view, or to psychotherapy.

.

No, Genetic, you're not understanding. You didn't look at that link I sent you.

Families often ask what causes the cognitive problems. Research has shown us that it is the illnesses themselves that cause much of the cognitive dysfunction.

For many years people thought that the cognitive problems were secondary to other symptoms, like psychosis, lack of motivation, or unstable mood – but now we know that is not the case.

Cognitive dysfunction is a primary symptom of schizophrenia and some affective disorders.

That is why the cognitive problems are evident even when other symptoms are controlled – even when people are not psychotic, or in an affective episode.

Furthermore, research has shown that those parts of the brain that are used for specific cognitive skills, often do not function normally in people with schizophrenia and certain affective disorders.

This indicates that mental illness affects the way the brain functions, and that is what causes the cognitive problems.

There are many myths about mental illness and cognitive dysfunction. Some of the most common ones are listed in the sidebar below.

Dealing with Cognitive Dysfunction

There's the link again.

After learning that my cognitive functioning was so low and being given this to read and understand what has happened to me, my entire understanding of bipolar is changed forever! FINALLY I have answers. The key is healing. Which, I am doing, and today someone gave me her condesending "why do I have to deal with worthless simpletons like you?" talk.

Remember: we learn more all the time about all things. And that is what will lead us to wellness, not outdated ideas.

[mimi2112]

Faerie: I feel for you. I have actually been laid off from work because of cognitive dysfunction. I also have been accused of being on dope, I guess because of my being so slow. This was all when my "mood" was fine and stable, and I wasn't taking meds then, so it wasn't the meds.

One of the reasons I am in Vocational Rehab. is so I have the back-up support.. Employers knowing that I have a disability---not just mood, but cognition.

[gruvingal]

Wow! I didn't know this. Thank you for the helpful info! Now I know why I usually always remember a face, but a name, forget it! There are other things too especially as I get older.

Originally Posted by faerie_moon_x

No, Genetic, you're not understanding. You didn't look at that link I sent you.


Dealing with Cognitive Dysfunction

There's the link again.

After learning that my cognitive functioning was so low and being given this to read and understand what has happened to me, my entire understanding of bipolar is changed forever! FINALLY I have answers. The key is healing. Which, I am doing, and today someone gave me her condesending "why do I have to deal with worthless simpletons like you?" talk.

Remember: we learn more all the time about all things. And that is what will lead us to wellness, not outdated ideas.

_________________________________________

Outdated? My eye.

If you look at your opening thread you will note that everything was printed
in broad red letters; if that's not emotional, I don't know what is.

I readily admit that cognition problems are characteristic of some with affective disorder, but they are not the whole story. Have you never heard of people who describe themselves in a "fog"? That's what disordered cognition is like, and it's very much part of the mood swings in bipolar illness. And have you never heard people speak of the "fog lifting"? That's the cognition problems they are talking about. If it's with you constantly, I'm very sorry for that, but in every instance in my life when cognition was distorted it was because of stress that acted as a kind of "fog" that affected emotions.

That's the major thing to get under control in bipolar illness: the emotions, mood, whatever you want to call it, cognition distortion, or mania or depression. They are not the intelligence; they are emotions and that's what bipolar illness is. One of the best bits of advice given to me (and there have been many efforts over the years) is that every thought should be turned to a prayer. It works, but it is extremely difficult to do when emotions are in the way. (It's so helpful to be reared in a home in which emotions are subdued so that intelligence functions at high levels.)

I've lived too long with this not to know about as much as most people do who have had the illness for years. Unmedicated, I can see that cognitive failures would abound and even distort intellectual thinking over a period of many years. Properly medicated, and with reduced stress, intelligence levels should not be affected. People feel and people think; they are two totally different things. Enter emotional coloring and everything is cognitively distorted, unless the emotions are healthy--and they may not be in bipolar illness, probably in some more so than in others, frankly.

Someone on this same thread mentioned that he was threatened with loss of scholarships because of distorted cognition due to improper medications. With proper medications, there's really no reason that a bipolar patient cannot function as well as (and probably better than) many members of the general population.

I just cannot abide the implication that bipolar patients have little intelligence as a result
of the illness. That's just not true, and it gives the general public the wrong idea about
mental illness from the word go. There are just too many conditions that cause illness
that have nothing to do with intelligence, but can distort cognitive functioning when one
is in an episode or the victim of ADD or ADHD or major depression, or schizophrenia or
any other mental condition.

It's no wonder that the general population (among some) feel awkward in the presence
of someone in an episode; they have no idea what lies beneath the volcanic feelings; it
just might be a highly creative intelligent artist working quietly. And that's not stupid,
nor is it outdated, nor is it a wrong impression. It's a fact of bipolar illness and bipolar
creativity and contributions to society.

[faerie_moon_x]

Of course I was emotional. Someone just walked into the room and told me I wasn't intelligent for making an error. Who does that sound like? Someone else around here but I can't think of her name right now....

According to Dr. Frederick Goodwin and Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison, the co-editors of
"Manic-Depression Illness", cognitive distortion occurs during an episode, more
commonly called either depression or mania.

The following characteristics of mood disorder are identified as it may occur
in:
bipolar depression
blunted effect
creativity
emotional turmoil
expansive mood
inappropriate affect
instability
leadership in mania
unexplained affective bursts

So that's what's meant by mood disorder. Each of those has a section of the
text which is expanded and explained.

What was offered in the original thread by the Phds has been suggested as
early as the 1990's when "Manic-Depression Illness" was published and is clearly
explained in the earlier work by Dr. Goodwin and Dr. Jamison.

So cognitive symptoms occur during a mood disorder.

(I wish I had been alert enough to post this originally; I feel as though I lost a
couple of friends by suggesting as I did that the problem was a mood state rather than suggesting--as I thought--that the writer was perhaps ADD or ADHD.)

[Trippin2.0]

Originally Posted by genetic

_________________________________________

Outdated? My eye.

(A) If you look at your opening thread you will note that everything was printed
in broad red letters; if that's not emotional, I don't know what is.

(B) Properly mediciated, reduced stress, intelligence levels should not be affected.

(C) I just cannot abide the implication that bipolar patients have little intelligence as a result
of the illness.

(D) It's a fact of bipolar illness and bipolar
creativity and contributions to society.

cognition

noun (plural cognitions)
- The process of knowing.

See the dictionary says cognition is the processing of intelligent information. So with cognitive difficulties, we are not stupid, we just have trouble processing what we already know (know~knowledge〓 intelligence)

Now I will address your comments from A - D

(A) Just because someone IS emotional, doesn't mean its got shyt to do with how their brain processor works. Faeri is not in the midst of an episode, so emotions are a moot point at this time. She could have bolded and coloured for our benefit, to highlight the parts she struggles with. That's how I read it anyway, its text, open to interpretation which only she can explain for sure.

(B) Nobodys intelligence was affected.

intelligence

noun (plural intelligences)
- (uncountable) Capacity of mind, especially to understand principles, truths, facts or meanings, acquire knowledge, and apply it to practice; the ability to learn and comprehend.
synonyms
- (capacity of mind) wit, intellect, brightness

See dictionary excerpt above? She has already expressed her intelligence by acquiring the knowledge and skills to perform her duties at work.
Her issue is recalling and processing this information. So again, she does NOT have intelligence issues.

(C) See comment above, nobody said bipolar makes you stupid, thats how you have chosen to interpret this thread. But if we are on the correct path and talking actual cognitive decline, then yes gen, it does happen, see all the comments by people who experience it. Just because you say it isn't so, doesn't make it so. No amount of shoving your head in the sand will change reality.

(D) Yes it is undeniable that people with / presumably with bp have contributed majorly to our society. What is NOT fact, is that every bp'er is somehow a genius or creatively gifted. Not all of us are Einsteins and Van Goghs. Period.

Just to clarify, I am not being a b!tch, I readily admit when I am, I just thought to clarify things for you bcoz you're getting your panties twisted over incorrectly interpreted information.

I just rely on other sources than a dictionary for information.

I have just listed pertinent information about mood disorders and cognitive problems
in mood episodes. That should help to explain the meaning of "mood" which I think
may be the problem. If not, I am certain that I never suggested anyone here is
stupid.

Both doctors whom I have chosen as sources agree that cognitive distortion both
can and cannot damage intelligence. The whole issue is one that is highly technical
at this point and often unclear based on different research projects about that
subject. I wish everyone had a handbook on bipolar illness to use before
presenting information; it's just so much more than can be expressed in a "brief
response" as we're supposed to give.

I think it's best for me to walk away from this thread; I gave the information from
Dr. Goodwin and Dr. Jamison in very, very brief form that explained the meaning
of mood which, in my view, is the problem here.

[Confusedinomicon]

I think the severity of the illness often dictates whether or not cognitive deterioration will occur. I also think many of the medications may have a side effect of cognitive deterioration and that there aren't enough studies comparing brain damage from the medications that are prescribed.

I KNOW for a fact that as I get older I am experiencing cognition problems and will be speaking to my pdoc about it, in July. My symptoms probably mimic adult ADD and unfortunately I will not know what exacerbated these symptoms in my cognition.

On another note I am under the notion that poor sleep can cause many of the cognition problems. I'm taking seroquel for sleep, but haven't slept well in the past 2ish-3? weeks. (Something else I will talk to my doctor about!) If sleep really contributes to better cognition then a history of poor sleep could cause the eventual deterioration of the mind. It's something to think about. This is also why Dr. Goodwin and Dr. Jamison may not have touched on it in regards to "mood" itself.