I used to think that I have ADHD because of my inability to concentrate. My psychiatrist didn't think so, and thought it is anxiety. I wasn't convinced, as my lack of concentration is independent of my anxious feeling. So, I did some quizzes, and the results seem to point to Bipolar II. I am usually depressed for 10 days to 2 weeks, and then I experienced some high moments, up to a couple of days, and then return to my low state or somewhat normal, and repeat the cycle (Is this typical for Bipolar II?)

My question here: is concentration a problem for bipolars, like reading a book or watching a movie?

[cmorales]

My focus/concentration is crap. Reading, watching TV, even listening to music sometimes. For example, I can only read a paragraph or two at a time and when I watch TV, I might watch for a few minutes then move on to something else.

I had hoped, once upon a time, that my meds would remedy that, but alas, they have not. I'm not sure what the cause is. I was going to bring it up with my doc when I saw her on Monday, but we spent most of the time discussing my last episode. But I see her again in 2.5 weeks, so I'll see about bringing the issue up then and see about reporting back what she says might cause such issues (even though I'm sure it's different for different people).

When I am manic, my ADD is horrible. I can't focus on anything, sit still, stop fidgeting, etc.

[lacerta]

When I'm low or high my concentration abilities are really low.

[jacky8807]

I have been told by docs over and over that my focus/ concentration ect is all bipolar related. I never agreed because it has been my baseline for as long as I can remember ( although has gotten worse)
Now my bp is being tx with abilify maintena and my mood is straight right now but the other issues remain. I'm going to talk to him this month

[Pastel Kitten]

Ironically, I was actually misdiagnosed as being ADHD for a few years before my MDD and GAD diagnosis, and now my recent bipolar II diagnosis. I guess the poor concentration must be a bipolar related thing.

[gina_re]

I feel like it may be med related in my situation because the more I take the worse it gets. Reading something you're not interested, it can be easy to get lost and not concentrate. But even when I'm reading books for pleasure I get lost and have to reread paragraphs. I can get lost in tv and music too and have to rewind to what I missed. My memory is horrible and I'm finally coming to that realization and attempting to accept it.

[Ocean Swimmer]

I'm rebounding from ECT. I wish I was never subjected to it.
I too sometimes need to reread paragraphs because I find I'm drifting away.
My guess, medicacion induced.
When I self medicated for all those years I was really sharp.

Are you taking medication? I know for me they seem to be the culprit.

How do I try to cope with this? I force myself to do crosswords and puzzles. I even download basic math worksheets - all in an effort to keep myself sharp and practise focusing.

[Avril01]

My focus is terrible unless I'm obsessed with someone or something. I wasn't this way, as far as I know, before meds, I could do a protect and finish it. Now I start and then start something else. Thank God I'm a housewife I'd be so fired. I hear thing differently from other people. It drives my husband crazy. Ha ha. I have to ask him to repeat himself all the time even when I really try to focus. Im bp1. I used to read all the time. When I was self medicating, before I went to the funny farm, I was super sharp. Sharper than ever before in my life. Now I have the cloud. But phentermine and now Qsymia are helping with that and should also help maintain weight.

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[Avril01]

I believe something in the phentermine and the Qsymia effect my serretonin

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I don't take medications, and I haven't been diagnosed officially by Bipolar II. For me, if I am reading a book, I would be lost in words; I will focus too much on single words, and miss the whole meaning of a sentence. Sometimes, forget what the big picture of the section or chapter is about. With movies, if there is a subtitle, I cannot follow it as fast as it goes. Same for the audio track, at least sometimes. I need to read or listen and then retrieve and process it before I understand it. Is this something you experience?

[Nix]

I've noticed if I'm stable I'm able to read, study, and concentrate, but if I'm depressed it's hard to concentrate or stick with anything. For many months recently, I was depressed and could only read children's level books, and sometimes not even those, but lately as I've come out of the depression I find I can concentrate to read and focus on adult level material.

[LacunaCoiler]

I'm on adderall for concentration due to bp1. ADD has been ruled out through extensive testing and even though my bp has been under control for a little over two years now my new pdoc actually took the time to see how stressful attention was to me.

Originally Posted by Are you suffering?

I'm on adderall for concentration due to bp1. ADD has been ruled out through extensive testing and even though my bp has been under control for a little over two years now my new pdoc actually took the time to see how stressful attention was to me.

Is it effective?

[LacunaCoiler]

It is extremely effective. I've seen a huge improvement in my work and I've noticed the decrease in stress has also helped stabilize my mood since it's one less stressor in my life.

Originally Posted by Are you suffering?

It is extremely effective. I've seen a huge improvement in my work and I've noticed the decrease in stress has also helped stabilize my mood since it's one less stressor in my life.

Thanks. Can you please describe how your concentration would be without medications? I am just trying to relate.

[seoultous]

Having trouble concentrating on things, such as reading the newspaper or watching television is a hallmark symptom of depression. So, if you are frequently depressed then that could explain your trouble concentrating. When I am hypomanic I am too impatient to read or watch tv so I don't do it. So, in that sense, being bipolar can wreck havoc with concentration.

I am currently stable. My concentration is not all that great. I attribute it to my meds which I tolerate well but am certain that my concentration suffers somewhat from taking them.

I suspect you know that being bipolar does not mean you will necessarily have concentration issues and having concentration issues does not mean you automatically are bipolar. Only a psychiatrist can accurately diagnose you. If you haven't already seen one, you may want to consider it.

[LacunaCoiler]

With regards to my job, I often found myself walking around the office because I didn't want to be at my desk fighting to concentrate on things that didn't hold my attention. Not being able to sit down and do my work frustrated me, which only made it harder to concentrate. I would pick up a tax return and start it but it took me nearly 2x as long as others to finish because I couldn't concentrate on finishing them and everything and anything would pull my attention from the task at hand. Even when others were on the phone it would pull my attention. I'd start to read pages in the tax law and would read half a sentence and guess the rest (which btw, doesn't work all that well) or I'd have to reread it a bunch of times because I wasn't paying attention the first time. I made careless mistakes (misspelling of words or typing the wrong number or even putting the wrong number in the wrong field because I didn't read the form completely). I had trouble listening to instructions from my boss because my mind would race or wander and instead of asking for him to repeat himself I simply guessed at what he really wanted. My desk is a mess and I lose a lot of my notes because in all honesty, I don't know where I put them... could be in client files for all I know.

With regards to personal life, I often tune out of conversations even if I'm really interested in what the other person has to say. I couldn't read anything (and I love to read my graphic novels) because my mind would wander. I would start projects and once I lost interest I would drop them like a rock (when I'm manic this is much worse because I'll have multiple ones going at the same time and more in the planning stages). I haven't finished a video game from start to finish in a long time. I can't do movies with subtitles because I get easily distracted by the video and stop reading the captions.

These are the only ones I can think of off the top of my head.

[Imah]

I too occasionally have concentration problems. I call it disjointed thinking because my thoughts work in spurts and freezes up. It happens more around mania then depression.

I also have the opposite - fixate. Although then I am so absorbed on one path that I cannot concentrate on anything else.

[gina_re]

Originally Posted by Imah

I too occasionally have concentration problems. I call it disjointed thinking because my thoughts work in spurts and freezes up. It happens more around mania then depression.

Oh wow this so happens to me. When I'm working I can be doing well and then all of a sudden my brain wanders off and freezes up. It's so frustrating!

Originally Posted by Are you suffering?

With regards to my job, I often found myself walking around the office because I didn't want to be at my desk fighting to concentrate on things that didn't hold my attention. Not being able to sit down and do my work frustrated me, which only made it harder to concentrate. I would pick up a tax return and start it but it took me nearly 2x as long as others to finish because I couldn't concentrate on finishing them and everything and anything would pull my attention from the task at hand. Even when others were on the phone it would pull my attention. I'd start to read pages in the tax law and would read half a sentence and guess the rest (which btw, doesn't work all that well) or I'd have to reread it a bunch of times because I wasn't paying attention the first time. I made careless mistakes (misspelling of words or typing the wrong number or even putting the wrong number in the wrong field because I didn't read the form completely). I had trouble listening to instructions from my boss because my mind would race or wander and instead of asking for him to repeat himself I simply guessed at what he really wanted. My desk is a mess and I lose a lot of my notes because in all honesty, I don't know where I put them... could be in client files for all I know.

With regards to personal life, I often tune out of conversations even if I'm really interested in what the other person has to say. I couldn't read anything (and I love to read my graphic novels) because my mind would wander. I would start projects and once I lost interest I would drop them like a rock (when I'm manic this is much worse because I'll have multiple ones going at the same time and more in the planning stages). I haven't finished a video game from start to finish in a long time. I can't do movies with subtitles because I get easily distracted by the video and stop reading the captions.

These are the only ones I can think of off the top of my head.

I can relate to many of what you just described. For me, when I am watching a movie with a subtitle, I usually read the last half of the sentence and guess the first half . But I am the same almost. I am currently reading a book, and I exert a lot of effort to read a couple of pages a day, and when I read, it takes me may be 30-60 minutes long because I keep losing track by wandering in my thoughts (besides, English is not my native language, but mostly because of wandering).

Originally Posted by seoultous

Having trouble concentrating on things, such as reading the newspaper or watching television is a hallmark symptom of depression. So, if you are frequently depressed then that could explain your trouble concentrating. When I am hypomanic I am too impatient to read or watch tv so I don't do it. So, in that sense, being bipolar can wreck havoc with concentration.

I am currently stable. My concentration is not all that great. I attribute it to my meds which I tolerate well but am certain that my concentration suffers somewhat from taking them.

I suspect you know that being bipolar does not mean you will necessarily have concentration issues and having concentration issues does not mean you automatically are bipolar. Only a psychiatrist can accurately diagnose you. If you haven't already seen one, you may want to consider it.

It is a possibility that depression is the cause. But I cannot concentrate in virtually any situation from a simple conversation, to reading scientific articles, not just newspapers and movies. I visited a psychiatrist once, but didn't continue with him. His tentative conclusion was that I might have anxiety or learning disability, but I don't think so.

My concentration is fine now that i have my mild to moderate Winter depression. I play competitive Scrabble and memorize obscure words for it and i enjoy it. It's a hobby. It's nice to do something i'm good at. Not all the players do it. Some just play by their wits.

As far as reading goes -- it's hard to find a book WORTH reading these days. Every book seems to be about murder -- so boring. I read the recent Giller Prize winner [Canuck] "Fifteen Dogs" by Andre Alexis and thought it was quite good. I had no trouble concentrating.

I find popular TV is quite dreary too -- again all about murder or some tacky sitcoms rife with sexual innuendos, all these jokes about sausages.

When i have my Spring mania i am easily distractable, however. I get really interested in something but it bores me quickly. I get hypersexual and with my x i'd initiate sex which he really liked but after a few minutes i would want to get up and go send an email.

[BipolaRNurse]

My ability to concentrate has been severely compromised by BP and the meds I take to control it. I used to be a voracious reader; now I can barely make it through a magazine article. I had to stop working because I was so afraid I'd make a med error or some other horrible mistake on the job, and I probably would have if I'd gone on any longer than I did. I used to have such a good mind, and now it's pretty mushy. So I do the best I can with what I have to work with---some days are better than others.