[Sometimes psychotic]

I have a ton of books in my kindle library and read extensively before that too. Now I hardly read. I’m just wondering if this type of change is typical with bipolar or whether it’s the psychosis part of my dx that caused this break in reading. My reading comprehension has dropped dramatically. It’s not just a change in what I like to do so for you, did you read similarly or lose reading ability either after bipolar or after medication?

I got a lot of recommendationations on this forum to use audiobooks, either from your local library or Audible. I found that audiobooks have helped me immensely. It helps you block out the world and focus on what you want to do (reading).

I don't know about any link between psychosis and difficulty reading. I guess I can say that when I was psychotic I wasn't exactly reading. I was mostly in the hospital, or at home in a manic crisis. I do not have psychosis outside of severe bipolar episodes, so am unaware how psychosis may or may not affect people who have long-term psychosis.

I have indeed had periods when I had great difficulty reading. I suspect that period was due to certain bipolar medications that affected me cognitively, perhaps some depression, anxiety and/or hypomania/mania that affected my ability to concentrate on one thing for long, and/or just my brain being affected by severe episodes. In any case, my current mix is pretty friendly in terms of cognitive impairment. I can pinpoint high doses of Lamictal and pretty much any significant dose of Lithium as impairing me cognitively. I also think that some medications that were highly sedating affected my ability to read. If I'm extremely tired/sedated, I can barely do anything. In early periods of taking Seroquel, Seroquel XR and Geodon (and maybe some others I forget) I struggled with sedation. I did, however, adjust to these medications over time. I don't regard Seroquel XR to be overly sedating anymore. Perhaps if it was even less sedating I'd be prone to hypomania or mania.

I am a believer that bad episodes hurt my brain in ways that resembled cognitive impairment. Depression definitely hurts me cognitively. But time and healing seems to clear that cloud.

[Sometimes psychotic]

Originally Posted by bluebicycle

I got a lot of recommendationations on this forum to use audiobooks, either from your local library or Audible. I found that audiobooks have helped me immensely. It helps you block out the world and focus on what you want to do (reading).

Yes I just recently found that audiobooks do work for me, but they don’t often make audiobooks for school texts so I’m hoping to fix the underlying problem.

[Sometimes psychotic]

Originally Posted by BirdDancer

I don't know about any link between psychosis and difficulty reading. I guess I can say that when I was psychotic I wasn't exactly reading. I was mostly in the hospital, or at home in a manic crisis. I do not have psychosis outside of severe bipolar episodes, so am unaware how psychosis may or may not affect people who have long-term psychosis.

I have indeed had periods when I had great difficulty reading. I suspect that period was due to certain bipolar medications that affected me cognitively, perhaps some depression, anxiety and/or hypomania/mania that affected my ability to concentrate on one thing for long, and/or just my brain being affected by severe episodes. In any case, my current mix is pretty friendly in terms of cognitive impairment. I can pinpoint high doses of Lamictal and pretty much any significant dose of Lithium as impairing me cognitively. I also think that some medications that were highly sedating affected my ability to read. If I'm extremely tired/sedated, I can barely do anything. In early periods of taking Seroquel, Seroquel XR and Geodon (and maybe some others I forget) I struggled with sedation. I did, however, adjust to these medications over time. I don't regard Seroquel XR to be overly sedating anymore. Perhaps if it was even less sedating I'd be prone to hypomania or mania.

I am a believer that bad episodes hurt my brain in ways that resembled cognitive impairment. Depression definitely hurts me cognitively. But time and healing seems to clear that cloud.

Thanks I’ve only had one episode of mania/psychosis so I’m trying to figure out why my reading is still decreasing. It seems strange really.

[Blueberrybook]

I only had psychosis once too, and reading has been very hard for me, especially considering it's always been my biggest hobby. And forget understanding complex stuff - I used to be able to follow scientific papers, read complex materials, but I just can't.

I don't know if it's being mixed, the bipolar back-and-forth racing thoughts, medications, whatever making it extremely hard for me to read. New pdoc just tacked on a diagnosis of ADHD and gave me Adderall. I am unsure as to whether I have real ADHD or medication/bipolar-induced ADHD. The Adderall has helped me a ton with reading though, at least fiction. I'm not sure I can ever go back to reading biochemistry texts and having it make sense. As for now, I'm happy with the fiction and nonfiction that is not overly complex or confusing.

I dont think that I've noticed a difference except perhaps a lower attention span. I do best when I avoid distractions. I used to be able to read anywhere and often read on the train into work, so deeply I had to watch not to miss my station.

Originally Posted by Sometimes psychotic

Yes I just recently found that audiobooks do work for me, but they don’t often make audiobooks for school texts so I’m hoping to fix the underlying problem.

Try writing things down as you go. It helps you study later on, anyway.

Read each paragraph and write down the purpose of that paragraph. For example, "Mosquitoes bite people and can spread diseases. The CDC warns us that mosquitoes are dangerous. They can spread malaria and other diseases. Mosquitoes are dangerous, and mosquito bites can itch like any other bug bite."

You would simply write, "CDC warns us that mosquitoes can spread malaria and other diseases." You don't need to write down that mosquitoes make itchy bites. That's useless information.

Then when you go back to studying for exams, you'll have a pretty good "cheat sheet."

Once you're done with all of that, make a more condensed cheat sheet. Remove any redundant information or combine sentences of yours to make things shorter.

The trick is, though... Try not to memorize anything unless it's dictionary words. Instead, focus on understanding what the material is about. If you understand it, then you don't really need to study all that hard, because there's nothing to "memorize." At least that's my experience.

[nikon]

i've experienced difficulty reading for the past few years, if not longer. i'm not sure whether it's because of my mental health (episodes have become stronger in the past few years) or because of meds (am on five at the moment). i used to read a lot as a child and teenager, but now i rarely read, and trying to concentrate is horrible. the suggestion of reading a paragraph and writing down the gist isn't really realistic sometimes - my eyes skip through each sentence so i have to read a couple of sentences again and again just to comprehend them. i'm also studying, and a lot of the time it feels like there's no point...

[Sometimes psychotic]

Originally Posted by bluebicycle

Try writing things down as you go. It helps you study later on, anyway.

Read each paragraph and write down the purpose of that paragraph. For example, "Mosquitoes bite people and can spread diseases. The CDC warns us that mosquitoes are dangerous. They can spread malaria and other diseases. Mosquitoes are dangerous, and mosquito bites can itch like any other bug bite."

You would simply write, "CDC warns us that mosquitoes can spread malaria and other diseases." You don't need to write down that mosquitoes make itchy bites. That's useless information.

Then when you go back to studying for exams, you'll have a pretty good "cheat sheet."

Once you're done with all of that, make a more condensed cheat sheet. Remove any redundant information or combine sentences of yours to make things shorter.

The trick is, though... Try not to memorize anything unless it's dictionary words. Instead, focus on understanding what the material is about. If you understand it, then you don't really need to study all that hard, because there's nothing to "memorize." At least that's my experience.

Originally Posted by nikon

i've experienced difficulty reading for the past few years, if not longer. i'm not sure whether it's because of my mental health (episodes have become stronger in the past few years) or because of meds (am on five at the moment). i used to read a lot as a child and teenager, but now i rarely read, and trying to concentrate is horrible. the suggestion of reading a paragraph and writing down the gist isn't really realistic sometimes - my eyes skip through each sentence so i have to read a couple of sentences again and again just to comprehend them. i'm also studying, and a lot of the time it feels like there's no point...

This is Interesting...I don’t have as much trouble with things that are basically lists of facts like the cdc example but if there is even the slightest literary magic like say in an English class then I can read a sentence and not know exactly what it means even reading carefully.

[BeyondtheRainbow]

Reading is such an up and down skill for me that my pdoc asks about it to help know where I am if I am even slightly up/mixed. We also share books as we have the same taste in them but she started asking as a way to judge my mood before we discovered we could refer each other to good books. When I'm not up/mixed I can read much better (but not like I used to; in grad school my classmates would groan at me because I had a nearly photographic memory. That's gone now) but when I'm bad I resort to children's books, specifically the Laura Ingalls Wilder books. I've read them all many dozens of times and even bought a 2 volume set so when I go IP so do the only books I can read.

It's tough when you love reading and can't.

[Wild Coyote]

I used to have a near photographic memory, too. No more!
I think this is caused, at last in my case, by some meds and by illness.

I used to read tons of books and now rarely read. I miss it!
The upside? I do not buy books anymore.


WC

[Faltering]

I suffer from lower reading comprehension and concentration when mixed. Mixed episodes seem to be the most impactful on my cognition.

[BipolaRNurse]

Originally Posted by Sometimes psychotic

I have a ton of books in my kindle library and read extensively before that too. Now I hardly read. I’m just wondering if this type of change is typical with bipolar or whether it’s the psychosis part of my dx that caused this break in reading. My reading comprehension has dropped dramatically. It’s not just a change in what I like to do so for you, did you read similarly or lose reading ability either after bipolar or after medication?

I used to be a voracious reader. Then bipolar and meds came into my life, and my ability to read has gone down the toilet. I have the attention span of a goldfish, and about all I can handle at a time is a magazine article. I own probably 200 books and can't read a one of them anymore. I miss it...there was nothing better than settling down on the sofa in front of the fireplace with a cat or two and a good book.

[luvyrself]

Originally Posted by nikon

i've experienced difficulty reading for the past few years, if not longer. i'm not sure whether it's because of my mental health (episodes have become stronger in the past few years) or because of meds (am on five at the moment). i used to read a lot as a child and teenager, but now i rarely read, and trying to concentrate is horrible. the suggestion of reading a paragraph and writing down the gist isn't really realistic sometimes - my eyes skip through each sentence so i have to read a couple of sentences again and again just to comprehend them. i'm also studying, and a lot of the time it feels like there's no point...

—-talk to yr pdoc about this. One of my meds and stress really effected my ability to read and concentrate. Colleges can assist w accommodations of various kinds, a friend of mine did that for her bachelors and masters in early childhood education. Moment of silence here meditating about the beautiful mind Nobel winner or Stephen Hawking. Hold yr chin up high and ask.